What does your digestive system have to do with your immune system? What changes can you make to improve your digestive system?
In The Autoimmune Solution, Myers argues that because your digestive and immune systems overlap, healthy digestion helps balance your body’s immune responses. In addition, a healthy digestive system helps your body absorb the nutrients from the food you’re eating, which supports your overall health.
Here are the two changes you should make to improve your gut health.
Change 1: Implement a Strict 30-Day Diet
To improve your digestive system, Myers recommends a strict 30-day diet where you don’t eat any toxic or inflammatory foods.
(Shortform note: If following a strict diet for 30 days feels challenging, you might take comfort in knowing that it’ll likely get easier. In The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod argues that the first ten days of building a new habit are the “unbearable phase” where change seems impossible. Days 11 to 20 are the “uncomfortable phase,” but you’re more confident because you’ve already survived the unbearable phase. Days 21 to 30 are the “unstoppable phase,” when you move from trying to living the habit. The key to getting through the painful beginning is realizing that the discomfort is temporary and the benefit is long-term.)
As we’ve discussed, toxic and inflammatory foods disrupt your digestive system, triggering or exacerbating autoimmune conditions. Eliminating these problematic foods and replacing them with nutrient-dense, healing foods will reduce inflammation, support digestive healing, and restore proper immune function—all crucial aspects of reversing autoimmune dysfunction.
Myers shares several toxic and inflammatory foods to avoid during the 30-day diet: corn products, dairy, gluten, grains, and soy. Myers also suggests eliminating some foods commonly thought to be healthy which are actually inflammatory, including legumes, nightshade vegetables, nuts, and seeds. She argues that these foods trigger inflammation because they have compounds that irritate the gut, similar to gluten.
The healthy foods to focus on eating are high-quality proteins, organic vegetables and fruits, and healthy fats.
- High-quality protein sources include grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, and organic poultry.
- Healthy, organic fruits and vegetables include leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, squash varieties, berries, citrus, melons, and tree fruits.
- Sources of healthy fats include avocado, coconut oil, and olive oil.
After the initial 30 days, you can reintroduce some of the inflammatory foods you eliminated in small amounts. However, Myers argues you should never eat gluten and dairy because they cause major inflammation, even in very small amounts. In addition, the health-promoting foods she recommends eating should be the bulk of what you eat daily.
| Comparing Myers’ Advice to That of Other Experts Some of Myers’ dietary recommendations overlap with other experts’ suggestions—and some of her guidelines seem to contradict their advice. Let’s explore both these overlaps and differences. To start, many experts agree with Myers that you should keep your diet natural. For example, in Fast Like a Girl, Pelz recommends prioritizing healthy, organic foods over processed ones containing hydrogenated oils, preservatives, or artificial dyes and flavors. She explains that consuming nutrients in their natural form enables efficient absorption without the burden of processing harmful additives, minimizing the cleanup your body has to do. Michael Greger (How Not to Diet) adds that processed foods desensitize your palate, making you more reliant on sweeteners and excess salt to enjoy your food. Many experts also agree with Myers that you should focus on eating healthy fats. They clarify which unhealthy fats you should avoid or eat limited amounts of: –Always avoid trans fats. These fats, found in fried and highly processed foods, raise inflammation levels. Avoiding trans fats will also help you apply Myers’ advice to consume less corn, soy, and gluten because these ingredients are also found in processed foods. –Reduce saturated fats. They’re linked to inflammation but aren’t as harmful as trans fats, so you may not need to eliminate them. Saturated fat sources include red meat and chicken skin. However, grass-fed, organic red meat has less saturated fat. –Incorporate unsaturated fats mindfully. Unsaturated fats reduce inflammation, but they can contain other compounds that make them hard to digest. Pay attention to how each food affects your digestion. For example, if nuts trigger uncomfortable symptoms, look for other sources of unsaturated fats, such as wild-caught fish. However, other experts’ advice seems to conflict with Myers’ suggestions to eat natural foods and avoid unhealthy fats. For example: -Myers’ claim that legumes, nuts, and seeds trigger inflammation seems to contradict other health advice that promotes these foods as anti-inflammatory. -While Myers recommends avoiding dairy, gluten, and grains, some research suggests that low-fat dairy and whole-grain gluten products don’t correlate with high levels of inflammation, unlike full-fat dairy and refined grains. -In addition, Steven Gundry (The Plant Paradox) argues that casein A-1, the protein in cow’s milk that causes inflammation, isn’t present in goat’s milk. While advice such as this seems to conflict with Myers’, it’s not necessarily contradictory—different experts may just be focusing on different aspects of such foods. Nutrition advice often focuses on what specific foods can give you. For example, some studies show that legumes and whole grains are rich in antioxidants and fiber, which can lower inflammation. However, Myers also looks at how your body works to absorb these elements. She argues that some foods make your body work too hard to digest them, triggering inflammation. That said, you’re likely to encounter conflicting nutritional advice at some point. What can you do when you’re unsure whose advice to follow? One idea is to pay attention to how your body reacts to specific foods. For example, while Myers is confident that nightshades trigger inflammation, other experts on diseases like arthritis—inflammation of the joints—recommend eating them. You know your body best, so try eliminating them from your diet, and see if you notice any positive effects. Another approach is to avoid getting caught up in the details of what to avoid versus eat. Instead, find a diet with a reputation for fighting inflammation. A tool called the dietary inflammatory index (DII) synthesizes almost 2,000 scientific studies to assess how various diets affect inflammation. For instance, the Mediterranean diet, the pescatarian diet, and the vegetarian diet score well on the DII. |
Finally, Myers advises avoiding all non-essential medications during the 30-day diet because they can interfere with liver detoxification. However, you should never stop taking essential medications without consulting a healthcare provider.
(Shortform note: If you’re taking essential medication but still want to support liver detoxification, you can eat foods that nourish the liver. In Fast Like a Girl, Pelz recommends prioritizing root vegetables and fruits. Dieticians explain that root vegetables such as beets and carrots contain plant flavonoids and antioxidants that support your liver and gut by reducing cell damage and inflammation. Meanwhile, fruits such as grapefruit and blueberries are high in vitamin C and polyphenols, which help to neutralize toxins and protect cells.)
Change 2: Use Supplements
While a healthy diet is fundamental, Myers believes it’s not enough to ensure proper nutrition. Therefore, supplements are necessary for everyone. This is because the modern food system compromises food quality with industrial farming, pesticides, and GMOs. She explains that toxins are so ubiquitous that even foods marketed as healthy or natural are likely to contain some health-disrupting chemicals. In addition, leaky gut, environmental toxins, common infections, and high levels of stress hamper your body’s ability to absorb the nutrients it needs.
(Shortform note: Michael Pollan (In Defense of Food) explains why modern food is less healthy. He argues that the food industry promotes quantity over quality. Many manufacturers breed specific types of food sources for high yields, such as seeds and certain types of livestock. But when you breed for a certain outcome, other elements go by the wayside. In the case of food, it’s often nutrients. For example, wheat is bred to increase its yield output, which has nearly tripled over the last century. But as a result, today’s wheat contains 28% less iron than before.)
The specific supplements needed vary by individual, but Myers suggests some that can benefit everyone:
- Probiotics and L-glutamine to heal your gut lining
- Omega-3 to reduce inflammation
- Vitamin D to heal hidden infections
- Glutathione and vitamin C to support natural detoxification processes
| Additional Supplements to Support Your Health In The Plant Paradox, Gundry agrees that everybody needs supplements. He explains that the fields where our food crops are being farmed and harvested have lost much of their vitamins and minerals. As a result, no matter how much healthy food you’re eating, you can’t get all the nutrients you need from food alone. That’s where supplements come in. Gundry clarifies that supplements can’t fix an unhealthy diet—but when paired with healthy, balanced eating, they close nutritional gaps and enhance the positive effects of that diet. In addition, supplements can help kill harmful gut bacteria, fungi, and molds more quickly. In particular, he strongly recommends supplements if you have a leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or an autoimmune condition. Gundry recommends some of the same supplements as Myers, but he offers additional reasons to consider taking them: –Long-Chain Omega-3s: Besides reducing inflammation, as Myers mentions, omega-3s are essential for memory and brain health. You get omega-3s from fish, but few people eat enough fish to get a sufficient amount, so supplement your diet with fish oil that contains DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid). –Vitamin D3: In addition to healing infections, vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium. –Sugar blockers: While Myers recommends taking glutathione to help your body detoxify, Gundry argues that detoxifying from sugar requires specific supplements. He recommends taking berberine, chromium, cinnamon bark extract, selenium, turmeric extract, and zinc. –Prebiotics: While Myers recommends taking probiotics, Gundry also suggests taking prebiotics, which feed the probiotics in your gut while starving bad microbes. The prebiotics he recommends include inulin powder and psyllium husk. |
