Scientists officially link processed foods to autoimmune disease

Have you seen this article? They believe that processed foods could be a cause for alopecia. What are they putting in our food?

Scientists Officially Link Processed Foods To Autoimmune Disease

July 11, 2013 at 10:18 pm

The modern diet of processed foods, takeaways and microwave meals could be to blame for a sharp increase in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, including alopecia, asthma and eczema.

A team of scientists from Yale University in the U.S and the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, in Germany, say junk food diets could be partly to blame.

continues:

http://www.undergroundhealth.com/processed-foods-to-autoimmune-dise...

Views: 231

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on July 28, 2013 at 10:01pm

Hi

Thanks for posting this. I found the link interesting. My daughter has many auto immune conditions and even though I have always felt I had a reasonably healthy diet, it makes sense to me that this could be a contributor. I live in the Western culture where salt is prolific....I will pass this article on to my daughter (she is a medicinal chemist) and I'm sure she will be able to possibly make some changes to her diet which may help...who knows.

Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on July 29, 2013 at 1:21am

Hi its Libby here :). I just read some of the journals/papers associated with this interesting article and I thought I would maybe shed some light on this exciting stuff. All the studies I will be talking about were published in 2013, which is great! It means people are actively interested in the underlying causes of autoimmune conditions. Unfortunately this also means that they are definitely in the very early stages of research. So far, it looks like they have found a bunch of T (CD4+) cells (the ones that tell all the other immune cells what to attack) that are being overly sensitized by a protein that is produced more in the presence of salt (although only the NaCl variation of salt has been focused on so far). The studies have basically seen some relationship between this and the increased expression of MS in mice (no humans yet). You have to take this with a grain of salt though ;), by their own admission these studies are not yet statistically relevant and are contradicted by the low prevalence of autoimmune conditions such as MS in Asian countries (who have statistical evidence [like tons of papers!!] showing that they consume far far more salt, NaCl, than pretty much all western diets [except maybe maccas 6X a day :)]). In saying that though, this is a promising field of study, there are definitely human studies being thought up as we speak and by the looks of things the research community is excited. So overall, sounds good for us :)
Hope this helps a little.
Libs :)

Permalink Reply by Lexi on July 31, 2013 at 9:09pm

I don't understand. I have never eaten very many processed foods, that I know of. Take outs, haven't eaten in years and years and never to any excess. NEVER. No microwave meals. I only eat mostly freshly cooked meals I make. And that doesn't explain very young children with alopecia. How much exposure to those things have they had?

Permalink Reply by Wonder on August 2, 2013 at 11:33am

Processed food is everywhere, even baby foods. I hope more info will come out, and more reseaarch will be done. I have a son who has alopecia universalis, so any research is appreciated, We would love to know what caused this.

Permalink Reply by Tuesday on August 4, 2013 at 5:59am

I am like Lexy. I have been very healthy my entire life. I rarely eat processed foods and make strong effort to eat fresh produce, water and any cooking from scratch. I think fast food and junk food is disgusting! If processed food was the cause of alopecia, the junk food aisles of stores and McDonalds Would be filled with bald people.

Permalink Reply by Lori Van Decker on August 5, 2013 at 1:36pm

Even if there is no link, people should avoid processed foods. They're full of chemicals, disgusting by-products, and GMOs.

Any of Dr. Joel Fuhrman's books are well documented and easy to read. They outline why we should eat whole foods and avoid animal protein and dairy products. My favorite of his books is the original, Eat to Live. I highly recommend it as well as the eating plan Dr. Fuhrman prescribes.

Nonetheless, I have AU. ;)

Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on August 5, 2013 at 2:25pm

Hi

I think any research around auto immune conditions is worthwhile. The article relating to salt intake is something that is not proven...that's what Libby was trying to explain. At this stage nothing is proven or factual, but still at the hypothesis stage. Especially the salt study...as the western world eats far less salt than Japan but seems to have a higher incidence of immune problems...so the facts don't fully correlate.

Rosy

RSS

Disclaimer

Any mention of products and services on Alopecia World is for informational purposes only; it does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by Alopecia World. Nor should any statement or representation on this site be construed as professional, medical or expert advice, or as pre-screened or endorsed by Alopecia World. Alopecia World is not responsible or liable for any of the views, opinions or conduct, online or offline, of any user or member of Alopecia World.

© 2024   Created by Alopecia World.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service