There are women who take wonderful care of themselves and eat only vegetables and run ten hours every morning and take the right vitamins, and they will do just fine. I'm bringing up the rear.

• Lose weight
• Lower cholesterol
• Become fit
• Lower blood sugar
• Clear our arteries
• Have a stronger heart
• Reduce stress

• Determine how many calories of food we need a day and eat less than we burn
• Plan our menu for the week to have foods that are good for us
• Spend 15 minutes during lunch and after dinner taking a brisk walk
• Have healthy alternative snacks available when we need them
• Avoid eating foods high in saturated fats or hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
• Take time each day to do one thing we enjoy
• Prioritize what we need to do and eliminate low priority items when we a stretched for time

One of the most important things you can do is to determine if you have food or environmental allergies or sensitivities, and then identify ways to treat them.

The most common allergenic foods include:

• Wheat
• Dairy foods
• Corn
• Soy
• Fish (especially shellfish)
• Nuts
• Fruits

Dr. Larrian Gillespie, an expert on hormones and diet, is a firm believer that unsuspected and unidentified allergenic reactions may be causing inflammation and contributing to the autoimmune process. Says Gillespie:

"Many people are allergic to food products. This causes the gut to 'leak' highly charged byproducts of metabolism into the lymphatic system. In turn, the byproducts alter the protective surface layer, called glycosaminoglycans, which act as the first barrier between the joint/muscle tendons and the fluid bathing them. Think of this as a giant bug zapper trying to prevent the bugs from getting through. When the membrane is damaged by altering the charge on the surface of the membrane, it allows larger molecules to pass in, causing inflammation. By using a diet that avoids allergens you can help prevent attacks of inflammation."

Food allergies are high on Dr. Donna Hurlock's list of possible triggers and culprits in some autoimmune reactions. Hurlock, a women's health and hormonal medicine expert, gynecologist and surgeon, urges her autoimmune disease patients to find out whether they have food allergies.

But don't waste a lot of money doing food allergy testing. You can spend $500 to $800 to do food allergy testing, and you'll find out you're allergic to wheat, or dairy, or another common allergen. Instead, a simple elimination diet – where you remove foods from your diet, and then reintroduce them, noting symptomatic reactions -- will tell you all you need to know.

Dr. Hurlock found that her own food allergy to citrus juices caused her to have joint pain approaching the level of rheumatoid arthritis.

"My hands hurt quite a bit. I immediately started an elimination diet, and discovered that I was allergic to orange juice. I stopped drinking it entirely, and no longer had joint pain. But every time I break down and drink it, I get joint pains."

Dr. Hurlock believes that while conventional medicine can solve some problems, with autoimmune diseases that have no clear cure from the outset, all autoimmune disease patients owe it to themselves to go on an elimination diet to assess food allergies. Says Dr. Hurlock:

"If you have a ruptured appendix, go get surgery. But if you have rheumatoid arthritis and all they can do is give you steroids and methotrexate, then at least do an elimination diet."

To do an elimination diet, you need to remove an item completely from your diet for 2 weeks. Then, eat a large amount of the food you're testing, to see if you have any noticeable reaction over the next 72 hours. You're looking for diarrhea, nausea, gas, headache, rashes, skin eruptions, itching, fatigue, irritability, and other strong reactions or symptoms.

According to registered dietitian and nutrition educator Rick Hall, insensitivity to foods may be more prevalent than we know, and he also advocates an elimination diet for autoimmune disease patients. Says Hall:

"The most known food sensitivities are to dairy, corn and wheat. There's additional evidence that soy may also be problematic. A food challenge test can be conducted to isolate which foods cause adverse reactions."

Functional medicine practitioner Dr. John Dommisse is a believer in more formal testing.

"I like the IgG4 and IgG1 (delayed) food allergy testing in the blood, by the ELISA method. This test is not popular with allergists but I have found it to be very useful in my practice. For one thing, it reveals those food sensitivities that are virtually impossible for patients to discover themselves, because the reactions are delayed."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

The above was excerpted from Living Well With Autoimmune Disease: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You...That You Need to Know by Mary J. Shomon, copyright 2002. http://www.autoimmunebook.com The book was just released in early October, and for those of you who have Hashimoto's disease, Graves' disease, or any autoimmune condition, it's a key step in living well. Living Well With Autoimmune Disease was published by Harper Collins, and is the second book in my ongoing "Living Well..." series. The book focuses on various autoimmune diseases and subclinical autoimmune syndromes, their symptoms, and the conventional - and alternative - treatments that can help reduce the risk of developing these conditions, help to keep them from worsening - and in some cases, even CURE them! It's also the only book to look at autoimmune diseases as one group of conditions with common or similar causes and triggers, and many common treatments to help.

Here's what "Alternative Medicine," the nation's top magazine on holistic and complementary medicine, had to say about Living Well With Autoimmune Disease.

'Living Well With Autoimmune Disease' should not only prove inspirational for those afflicted with these mysterious conditions, but also offers solid, practical advice for getting your health back on track." (Alternative Medicine magazine, November, 2002)

Publisher's Weekly had this to say:

"...those with autoimmune illnesses are being shortchanged by the medical establishment. Since those who suffer from one are more vulnerable to other autoimmune disorders (not to mention that they may have a genetic predisposition toward a disorder), this informative self-help manual is badly needed. Drawing on extensive research, as well as doctor-patient anecdotes, Shomon's guide is designed to empower patients to participate in their own care..." (Publisher's Weekly, July 2002)

And Amazon.com recommends the book as well:

"...Living Well with Autoimmune Disease helps readers pinpoint symptoms, find the right practitioner, and learn cutting-edge approaches to reduce symptoms and reverse their disease. Shomon, a patient advocate and Web guide for people with thyroid disease...includes a 30-page checklist of risk factors and symptoms (helpful when you have no idea what condition you might have), a guide to finding and working with the right practitioner, and an extensive resources section that includes patient support organizations, Web sites, and books..." (Amazon.com)

To read a chapter, see the table of contents, read reviews, and find out how to order the book - online or by phone, go to