Phoenix Helix: Autoimmune Resilience

In cultures around the world, we gather together over food: we have dinner dates, drinks with friends, favorite festivals, and big family meals at our grandparents’ house. What happens when we can’t eat that food any more? Some people make the mistake of giving up their social life altogether because they simply don’t know how to manage it. Today, I have 3 experienced AIP-ers on the podcast to sha...

Stress is intimately connected to autoimmune expression. Many of you have experienced this yourself, when a high-stress situation kicked off an autoimmune flare – or even an autoimmune diagnosis. While we can take steps to strive for a lower-stress life, the truth is that part of life is experiencing tough times. Whether it's aging parents, troubled teens, the loss of a job, the loss of a relation...

One of the tragedies of modern life is the belief that health is meant to decline as we age, and there's nothing we can do about it. On today's show, I have 3 guests proving otherwise. They all transitioned to a healing diet after the age of 60 and saw a dramatic improvement in their health. They hope to inspire others in their age group (or any age) to do the same!

If you've been doing the paleo diet and lifestyle perfectly and aren't seeing results, infections can sometimes be a roadblock to healing. On today's podcast, Dr. Michael Ruscio talks about which infections are common, which are rare, and how he diagnoses and treats them in his clinical practice. We talk about SIBO, h. pylori, parasites, candida, Epstein-Barr and other intracellular infections. We...

Emotional Freedom Technique, otherwise known as EFT, is a simple technique designed to release emotional blocks to healing. What does that mean? The idea is that no matter what challenges we are experiencing, including chronic illness like autoimmune disease, there is always an emotional component. Long-held blocked emotions make us more vulnerable to disease, and they also make it more difficult...

We have a special guest on the show today - Mark Sisson, the paleo leader and voice behind Mark's Daily Apple, and the author of many books including The Primal Connection. One of the things I’ve always loved about Mark’s message is that health is about more than just food. It’s about every aspect of life. The Primal Connection explores the disconnect between modern life and the life of our ancest...

Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) is a nontraditional autoimmune medication that sometimes dramatically decreases symptoms at low cost and with minimal side effects. It has been mentioned in some of the healing stories shared on this podcast, so I promised to dedicate an entire episode to learning more. Our guest, Dr. Thomas Cowan, is a medical doctor in San Francisco who uses LDN as part of his autoimmun...

I think every woman with autoimmune disease knows how strongly our hormones can impact autoimmune symptoms. Some women flare around their periods. Some go into remission during pregnancy and then flare after delivery or after they stop breastfeeding. Others find their symptoms start to increase during the hormone fluctuations of perimenopause. And others actually develop autoimmune disease after m...

Do you believe that you can't meditate? In this episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast, I hope to convince you otherwise. Meditation relieves stress, reduces inflammation, and can have a powerful impact on your life. There's no one "right" way to do it, and you really can't do it wrong. Today, I interview four people with autoimmune disease, each sharing a different form of meditation and the impact...

Today's podcast delves into a potential healing roadblock: Histamine Intolerance. Do you have unexplained skin rashes, headaches, digestive upset, mood issues and brain fog, even though you are following the paleo autoimmune diet and lifestyle perfectly? Our podcast topic today might be a piece in your healing puzzle. Histamine is a natural component in both our food and our bodies, but certain th...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast celebrates the publication of my new book: A Simple Guide to the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. I'm joined by three of my friends with autoimmune disease who have used the AIP to manage their own health. We share our healing stories, what worked and what didn't, and what parts of the book resonate the most with our own journeys. Chelsey has Crohn's disease. Er...

In this episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast, we learn how to find our groove in a paleo kitchen. When you first switch to a paleo diet, you lose a lot of your standard recipes, are introduced to a bunch of new ingredients, and it’s not uncommon to feel a little lost. Today, we have paleo tour guides! Cookbook authors Mel Joulwan and Rachael Bryant share everything from how to cook without a meal...

Medical Marijuana is now legal in 23 states in the US, and over a million people are using it to treat a wide variety of diagnoses, including autoimmune disease. Cannabanoids (a component in marijuana) help regulate the immune system, reduce inflammation, relieve pain, suppress muscle spasms, reduce anxiety, treat psoriasis, aid digestion, and much more. Today, we delve into the science behind thi...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast interviews world-renowned expert on leaky gut and autoimmunity: Dr. Alessio Fasano. We cover a wide range of topics: (1) The difference between celiac disease and gluten sensitivity; (2) Gluten cross-contamination vs. gluten cross-reaction; (3) The connection between leaky gut and autoimmune disease; (4) The causes of leaky gut and whether or not it can be...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast is all about healthy habits - how to create them and maintain them. The stakes are high for us. We have autoimmune diseases which often come with painful and disabling symptoms. Making healthy choices regarding diet and lifestyle can make a huge difference in our quality of life. Yet even knowing this, many people really struggle with making these changes....

If you’re a regular listener of my podcast, you know that I often start my shows with personal stories, where my guests share their health journeys from rock bottom to reclaiming a vital life. But at least once a year, I dedicate an episode to back-to-back healing stories, and I make an effort to speak to people with different autoimmune diagnoses each time. In this episode, my guests share their...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast is dedicated to SIBO (Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth.) Having bacteria in our bodies is a normal state of being. In fact, 90% of our body is made up of microbes. So what's the problem with finding them in the small intestine? Well, they don't belong there, at least not in high numbers. Whereas the large intestine is the natural home for billions of mi...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast is all about honoring the Paleo Movement's ancestors. Many of us have had our lives transformed through the Paleo Autoimmune Protocol. While it's not yet a mainstream healthcare approach, it's gaining momentum and visibility worldwide. At the same time, we’ve forgotten a lot of the pioneers who did the research we’re using in our own health journeys today....

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast delves into all things Hashimoto's with functional nutritionist and educator, Andrea Nakayama. What tests are included in a complete thyroid panel? How do we find a good doctor? How do we manage our ever-changing symptoms in a way that feels empowering, rather than disheartening? Even if you don't have thyroid issues, this show is worth a listen. A surpris...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast delves into healing lifestyle choices. We talk a lot about diet in this community, but healing is about much more than food. Sarah Ballantyne, author of The Paleo Approach and leader of the AIP movement says this: "Let me be clear: Dietary changes aren't effective in isolation. If you don't address lifestyle factors as well, it won't matter how ideal your...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix Podcast is all about Paleo Travel. We share advice for everything from plane travel to road trips, international adventures, camping, business trips, Disneyworld and more.

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast delves into the mind-body connection: How our thoughts and emotions can either increase or decrease inflammation in our bodies. My guest is Donna Jackson Nakazawa, a woman living with autoimmune disease herself, who is also an award-winning science journalist. She conducted a year-long self-experiment into the power of mindfulness techniques to reverse her...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast addresses a difficult topic: When your child has autoimmune disease. We all know that it's a terrifying moment to receive an autoimmune diagnosis yourself. To receive one for your child is simply overwhelming. It's natural to feel helpless and unsure of what to do. We want to protect our children and usher them into a beautiful life. How do we do this in t...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast teaches how to transition your family to the paleo diet and lifestyle. You’re much more likely to be successful on a healing diet if you aren’t constantly surrounded by foods you shouldn’t eat. That said, it’s not always easy to get families on board. Today, we have a panel of guests sharing their experiences and advice for transitioning spouses, young chi...

This episode of the Phoenix Helix podcast interviews one of the major functional medicine leaders in the field of autoimmune disease: Dr. Datis Kharrazian. He's a clinician, researcher, professor, and author of two bestselling books: "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms?" and "Why Isn't My Brain Working?" Today, we cover a wide range of topics: (1) The 3 Stages of Autoimmunity, (2) The Role of Bl...