Eat to Live 171
3 fatty acids (ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, fish oil) and/or
pure plant-derived DHA supplementation to achieve satisfac-
tory balance may be necessary. I try to hold off on using fish
oils, usually mixing flax oil and plant-derived DHA together,
because too much fish oil is difficult to digest and potentially
toxic. Though usually a little more expensive than fish oil,
plant-derived DHA is less rancid. High-dose fish oils are still
much safer than the medications used for autoimmune ill-
nesses, so if they help, I would not discourage their use.
- Therapeutic fasting can be an extremely effective adjunct to
control the autoimmune response and reset the hyperactive
immune system to a more normal (lower) level of activity. Do
not fast patients who are dependent on multiple immunosup-
pressive drugs, such as Methotrexate and Immuran, as it is not
safe to fast while on such medication. It is essential that pa-
tients contemplating this therapy be properly supervised by a
physician. Those more interested in therapeutic fasting for au-
toimmune illness should read my book Fasting and Eating for
Health: A Medical Doctor's Program for Conquering Disease. Physi-
cians can request medical journal articles, including cases stud-
ies that I wrote about this therapy along with comprehensive
medical references, from me via my website (www.drfuhrman.
com) or office.
- Undertake food elimination and challenge to uncover hidden
food sensitivities. Most of the offending foods have already
been eliminated — animal products, wheat, and dairy — but
many patients find other foods that can worsen their condi-
tion as well. These foods are not routinely uncovered with al-
lergy testing. It usually requires a short period of fasting and
then the gradual introduction of only one new food each day,
eliminating any food that causes an increase in pain over the
fasted state. I would like to repeat this to make it clear — the
elevated levels of IgG and IgE against various foods on allergy
tests are indeed common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
and other autoimmune diseases; however, there is not an ad-
equate clinical correlation between those foods and the foods
we find to be aggravating the symptoms. Other researchers
have noted the same thing.^45 1 usually instruct patients to save
their money and forgo those tests.
