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33 reviews for:
The Autoimmune Solution: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases
Amy Myers
3.48 AVERAGE
33 reviews for:
The Autoimmune Solution: Prevent and Reverse the Full Spectrum of Inflammatory Symptoms and Diseases
Amy Myers
3.48 AVERAGE
I came across Amy Myers's podcasts - which are fabulous, and was immediately captivated because she suffered from Graves' Disease, which is a condition that I have. She has some great tips on eating better and removing toxins from our lives. However, I did try to read this with a grain of salt, because one of the biggest things she says is to avoid stress and if I read and worried about everything in this book, my life would be one great big ball of stress. Read and take what resonates with you from this book. Excellent research, I learnt a lot of new things and gave me hope to treat the condition naturally ...
What she calls The Myers Way, I call The No Way.
No grains
No gluten
No beans
No nuts
No peppers
No tomatoes
No dairy
No caffeine
No alcohol
No thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No grains
No gluten
No beans
No nuts
No peppers
No tomatoes
No dairy
No caffeine
No alcohol
No thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the third health related book I have read and reviewed in the past few months (the others being ‘Brain Food’ by Lisa Mosconi and ‘How not to die’ by Michael Greger). It can be difficult to reconcile the advice offered – as there are contradictions. And yet some conclusions are clear – we severely underestimate the role the food we eat plays in our health and the benefits of consulting a good dietitian. My interest in reading this book was because of some prevalent autoimmune conditions in people close to me. As I read on, I found I have an autoimmune condition myself.
This book makes an interesting start – it delves on the various types of autoimmune diseases ranging from allergies, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and others. The first section of the book details how the immune system mistakenly attacks inflammatory agents it encounters. The key principles of addressing this includes: healing the gut, reducing intake of inflammatory foods, limiting exposure to toxins and managing stress. This is referred to as ‘The Myers Way’ – a phrase which repeats multiple times on each page. The author talks about how conventional medicine does not help much – progressively requiring more medication, compounded by the fact that people with one autoimmune condition are at high risk of developing others. I cannot agree more that better solutions are needed to treat autoimmune disorders.
Amy details the foods we should strictly avoid – gluten, grains, dairy and legumes. She explains how she ate largely vegetarian food herself but changed her diet to come out of her autoimmune condition. She states that vegetarians & vegans have no way to improve their autoimmune condition. While this view came across as disappointing to me – I also know this to be incorrect as I personally know a few people who have improved their autoimmune condition with a strictly vegetarian diet. Also, a lot of her diet recommendation contradicts studies on people living long and healthy lives. So, assuming ‘The Myers Way’ does work for limiting autoimmune conditions in the short term, what about the longer term? Unlike the other two books I have referred at the start of this review, this book refers to almost no research.
There is detailed discussion on inflammatory foods, especially gluten, grains, dairy & eggs and the harm they cause us – even people without a current autoimmune condition can progress towards one. The book includes a detailed 30-day diet plan and recipes of many of the dishes mentioned. The author claims that people taking up this diet will feel better in a week, and are most likely to significantly limit their symptoms in a month.
If people are able to take up this diet, I suppose there cannot be any harm in trying this for a short period (after all the author says the difference should be noticeable in a month). I would be very wary of adopting something like this for the long term.
I considered my review and rating carefully to see to what extent I am allowing my personal values & diet habits to influence it. This book suffers from an egotistical tone, repeating material, non-evidence based conclusions and almost no references to credible research. So, not guilty.
This book makes an interesting start – it delves on the various types of autoimmune diseases ranging from allergies, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and others. The first section of the book details how the immune system mistakenly attacks inflammatory agents it encounters. The key principles of addressing this includes: healing the gut, reducing intake of inflammatory foods, limiting exposure to toxins and managing stress. This is referred to as ‘The Myers Way’ – a phrase which repeats multiple times on each page. The author talks about how conventional medicine does not help much – progressively requiring more medication, compounded by the fact that people with one autoimmune condition are at high risk of developing others. I cannot agree more that better solutions are needed to treat autoimmune disorders.
Amy details the foods we should strictly avoid – gluten, grains, dairy and legumes. She explains how she ate largely vegetarian food herself but changed her diet to come out of her autoimmune condition. She states that vegetarians & vegans have no way to improve their autoimmune condition. While this view came across as disappointing to me – I also know this to be incorrect as I personally know a few people who have improved their autoimmune condition with a strictly vegetarian diet. Also, a lot of her diet recommendation contradicts studies on people living long and healthy lives. So, assuming ‘The Myers Way’ does work for limiting autoimmune conditions in the short term, what about the longer term? Unlike the other two books I have referred at the start of this review, this book refers to almost no research.
There is detailed discussion on inflammatory foods, especially gluten, grains, dairy & eggs and the harm they cause us – even people without a current autoimmune condition can progress towards one. The book includes a detailed 30-day diet plan and recipes of many of the dishes mentioned. The author claims that people taking up this diet will feel better in a week, and are most likely to significantly limit their symptoms in a month.
If people are able to take up this diet, I suppose there cannot be any harm in trying this for a short period (after all the author says the difference should be noticeable in a month). I would be very wary of adopting something like this for the long term.
I considered my review and rating carefully to see to what extent I am allowing my personal values & diet habits to influence it. This book suffers from an egotistical tone, repeating material, non-evidence based conclusions and almost no references to credible research. So, not guilty.
A lot of helpful information and points in this book. I think it's probably best to work with this book in tandem with your own primary or specialist if you're able, but mostly to take it with a grain of salt (sea salt only!).
If you have ADHD/ASD/ND, then I suggest taking this book VERY slowly. This book was NOT written for NDs in mind, and may be overwhelming and feel quite doom and gloom/all or nothing, but there IS helpful information in here.
She stresses the 30 day purging process of eliminating all the "no no" foods from your diet to see if you experience improvement and then adding things in slowly to see if you have a negative response. This is not always physically or financially doable, and she really misses the mark on addressing that and in offering up an alternative.
So, for any of my fellow NDs or anyone with chronic illness, I suggest doing what you can where you can, and not getting caught up that you're not all the way to a goal, or not sticking to the plan 100%. Can you piecemeal a better holistic diet for yourself? Can you cut down on the "no no" foods and ingredients or upgrade the quality where you can? Focus more on looking for those opportunities of improvement/replacement and on always trying to improve, especially if you're not able to do her advised 30 day plan. That is still progress, it's still helping your body, and that is amazing.
Take notes on what stands out to you if you're able. Turn what she says into bullet points for later, jot down your own ideas as you go - try not to internalize what she is saying. Your health isn't all or nothing - the in between matters too. This book has so much great information in it, so if you're able to see it objectively and not get drowned in it, I think you'll find some benefit and good ideas.
If you have ADHD/ASD/ND, then I suggest taking this book VERY slowly. This book was NOT written for NDs in mind, and may be overwhelming and feel quite doom and gloom/all or nothing, but there IS helpful information in here.
She stresses the 30 day purging process of eliminating all the "no no" foods from your diet to see if you experience improvement and then adding things in slowly to see if you have a negative response. This is not always physically or financially doable, and she really misses the mark on addressing that and in offering up an alternative.
So, for any of my fellow NDs or anyone with chronic illness, I suggest doing what you can where you can, and not getting caught up that you're not all the way to a goal, or not sticking to the plan 100%. Can you piecemeal a better holistic diet for yourself? Can you cut down on the "no no" foods and ingredients or upgrade the quality where you can? Focus more on looking for those opportunities of improvement/replacement and on always trying to improve, especially if you're not able to do her advised 30 day plan. That is still progress, it's still helping your body, and that is amazing.
Take notes on what stands out to you if you're able. Turn what she says into bullet points for later, jot down your own ideas as you go - try not to internalize what she is saying. Your health isn't all or nothing - the in between matters too. This book has so much great information in it, so if you're able to see it objectively and not get drowned in it, I think you'll find some benefit and good ideas.
Like other reviewers, I feel some of what is written in this book is good and helps you understand how food/diet is reflected in your health. However, other parts of this book feel like a stretch or cites poor/inaccurate research. In the end, I like this for the meals and meal-plan.
Didn’t finish reading this book. While it was informative and a lot about cleaning up your diet and other toxins in your life, I felt like she was really focusing on selling her own supplements. Also it was written in a very depressing tone that to me just wasn’t encouraging.
I spotted this book at the library and thought it might help me with the health issues I've been facing recently. I started reading it that night, stayed up super late to read, and then finished it the next day! I was so excited about what I was reading and while the solution that the author suggests will be difficult (taking out all inflammatory foods for a month and staying away from them for the most part after that), I think it will help me more than anything else I've tried so far.
As an aside, I thought I would mention, I posted on Twitter saying I'd read the book and was excited about it, and the author responded to me saying she was happy I felt so positive about the solution in the book. I love when authors are responsive on social media!
As an aside, I thought I would mention, I posted on Twitter saying I'd read the book and was excited about it, and the author responded to me saying she was happy I felt so positive about the solution in the book. I love when authors are responsive on social media!
I've read several books on auto immune disorders and this has been one of the best. The information is present in a way that is easy to understand and practice.
Somewhat disappointing. I've just finished reading a bunch of other autoimmune diet/nutrition books and this one was a bit too opinionated for my tastes. The author does seem to have a broader list of things that can trigger autoimmune responses, though, so it may be worth following her suggestions to be on the safe side.