Autoimmune Diseases and the Paleo

Diet

Why are we talking about autoimmune diseases in a
cookbook? It’s very simple. You, and every other cook in
the world, have a huge influence upon the health and well-
being of everyone you prepare meals for, including your
family and yourself. The kitchen and the cook can be the
centerpiece of joyful lives filled with vigor, longevity, and
freedom from disease. By choosing healthy, delicious,
“real” foods, you have the power to impact the destiny of
your family’s health and your own, including freedom from
cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases.

You may not know it, but after cardiovascular disease
and cancer, autoimmune diseases are the most common
class of illnesses in the United States, afflicting between
14.7 to 23.5 million people, or 5 to 8 percent of the
population. Commonly recognized autoimmune diseases,
such as ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, and
rheumatoid arthritis, develop when the body’s immune
system loses the ability to distinguish between what is “self”
and what is “nonself,” attacking healthy tissues and organs