Welcome

Hi, I am Steve Si and I have a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Kent University (UK) and I am not a tree-hugging crank - honest! I was diagnosed with Still's Disease (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) when I was 5 years old and have been on medication most of my life - until recently. I am now 70.

Please take the time to read these few pages if you have any sort of auto-immune (AI) disease - it may change your quality of life!

I have just started this blog because, after 60 years of living in constant joint pain due to Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), I have accidentally found a way to greatly reduce my joint pain for most of the time.

I no longer need to take daily any NSAIDs. I can swing out of bed in the morning and get dressed (do up my buttons, put on my socks) without any pain and minimal stiffness.

Now you may not be so lucky, but you may find that if you start following the AIP diet plan, your AI symptoms will be greatly reduced. This has the potential to change your life (and no catch, no fee, no sell up).

Oh yeah, and I no longer get RA joint flare-ups.

The breakthrough discovery

About 7 years ago I accidentally discovered that eating a lot of home made bread caused my RA to flare up. Over a period of several months of eating lots of bread (made in my new bread making machine) my joint pain got worse and worse. The penny finally dropped and so I then avoided eating all bread - and my symptoms greatly improved. Next, I noticed that pizza gave me mild gut irritation and then the next day I would have joint pain and stiffness, so I gave up pizza too. I then went on to eat only gluten-free bread products, but some of these also seemed to exacerbate my RA symptoms. I could usually tell because the next morning I would have joint pain. I went on to exclude all wheat flour products.

Nowadays I avoid anything which contains seeds or grains and I am joint-pain free for the first time in 60 years! I just avoid flour, yeast, cereals/grains and most processed foods (including beer unfortunately!). I also avoid GF-labelled store foods as they seem to also irritate my immune system. They often contain other grains (just not wheat, oats, barley or rye).

So I started this from the other direction. I didn't know about the AIP diet or even that certain foods could cause immune system responses in AI patients. I discovered purely by accident that my diet (eating loads of bread) was dramatically exacerbating my joint swelling and pain!

I have now been on a grain-free diet for over 6 years and I have no need to take any medicine/drugs/NSAIDs at all! As a scientist, I find this totally amazing and I really would not have believed it is possible - but it is (at least for me!).

Now I am not saying that I can do a triathlon or swim a mile - I have fused vertebrae in my neck, two metal hips and most of my other joints are pretty grotty after 65+ years of wear and tear, but my joint pain is virtually zero. I can stand and have a conversation with someone for 30 minutes without being in agonising pain after the first 10 minutes and being desperate to sit down or quickly gobble two paracetamols!

I suspect that many RA/AI sufferers may have some sort of food sensitivity (dairy/gluten/some substance x) like me. I want to encourage you to try the AIP diet regime just for a few weeks or months. It will not harm you, it is free and you may just be as amazed as I was to find out your immune system and joint pain can be triggered by something you eat.

I am not into 'health' fads or yoga, veganism, etc. This is simply science. As ONE example of food sensitivity in AI patients, by simply omitting gluten from their diet, celiacs can become symptom free. They also have an autoimmune disease which is genetically similar to RA and Type 1 diabetes (to name just a few). Note that celiac disease had been known about for centuries but it wasn't until 2000 years later during World War 2 when a grain shortage hit Holland, that doctors realised for the first time that they were now seeing ZERO child deaths in hospitals due to celiac disease and they then finally realised it was wheat/gluten that was triggering the autoimmune system of celiacs. 

So maybe some RA sufferers have an autoimmune system that is also being triggered (or inflamed) by an ingested foodstuff and maybe what you have to do is just not eat that 'bad' food - so all you have to do is find out what that 'bad' foodstuff is! 

Now your immune system may be sensitive to 'gluten' or dairy or something else - gluten sensitivity has already been observed in RA patients.

According to Dr. Rosian, inflammation outside the gut is especially likely to affect the joints. She adds that many of her RA patients who are sensitive to gluten, notice less joint pain when they don't eat it. 

“We know that certain foods are pro-inflammatory, which includes gluten-containing grains and the thousands of foods made from them,” says Rosian. “When some, but not all, people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity eliminate these from their diet, they may find their arthritis symptoms also improve."

“It could also be a wheat or lactose allergy or an issue with FODMAPs [small sugar molecules in some fruits and vegetables], which can also be pro-inflammatory and irritate the gut lining,” says Dr. Rosian  (reference).

Now please click on the 'DO YOU HAVE THESE RA SYMPTOMS'  or the tab at the top of the page to read more. You can thank me later!

P.S. Have you ever been told by doctors:  'AI diseases can't be cured or their symptoms alleviated and don't listen to anyone who says otherwise - all we can do is give you drugs'?

Have you been told you have an AI disease and your body is attacking itself and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent your suffering unless you take drugs? What they don't tell you is that an auto-immune reaction is in response to an antigen. Well, during my research, I discovered that many AI diseases such as celiac disease, RA and even to some extent Type 1 diabetes have actually been cured (and I mean cured - as in they no longer have the disease and can eat gluten, run and jump or don't need insulin injections). The cure is unfortunately very dangerous and so it is only used in exceptional, life-threatening cases usually also involving co-morbidities such as cancer or leukemia (it is also expensive and drug companies can't make any money from you if they cure you, so why should they spend their money studying and refining the technique?). Read the last article page (The AIP Diet) to find out examples of how it was and is done (published papers, real documented cases, well understood - the outcome was anticipated and predicted by scientists so it came as no surprise when it worked). The point is most doctors don't tell you the whole story or bother to fully research AI diseases. After all, it is not their life being affected! It is much easier and quicker to shove a drug at you and if you come back later, then they will try another one. Most do not spend the time with you to find out if there are any specific, personalised causative factors that may affect your symptoms.