The Ideal Diet For Every Type Of Health Woe

It's easy to get overwhelmed with indecision these days, with all of the various "best" ways to eat. The first thing to remember is that no great nutrition program is a "diet"—the goal is a long-term eating plan that works with your body, schedule, and lifestyle. This brings me to my second point: that each person's body is different, and there isn't one ideal way to eat that will work for everyone. However, there are a few unifying themes, and then we can dive into specific options depending on your needs.

Sugar is sugar! And also includes beer, wine, juice, ice cream, candy, honey, maple syrup, and brown, white, or powdered sugar. Xylitol and stevia (both plant-derived) are OK. Saccharine, aspartame, or any other artificial sweetener should be avoided, and I would strongly recommend that you eliminate diet sodas, too. For individuals trying to lose weight, diet sodas are worse for weight loss than just drinking a smaller amount of another beverage! I once had a patient who was drinking 10 to 15 diet sodas DAILY. I finally persuaded her to cut them out, and she promptly lost 15 pounds. An ideal diet is also devoid of artificial colors (think food dyes), artificial flavors, artificial fillers, and artificial preservatives. Why? Because they're not actually food!

But what if you have a chronic illness? You'll want to eat a diet tailored to the specific condition. Here are three common conditions and the diet I recommend to many of my patients for each:

Anyone with an autoimmune disease should eliminate all the above, plus all gluten and dairy. One great diet to explore for autoimmune issues, like Hashimoto's disease, would be the Autoimmune Paleo program.

Is the autoimmune paleo program the right for people with IBS? Probably not. Two great options are the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (designed to be a permanent program to eliminate symptoms of Crohn's disease) or low FODMAPS. These are both designed to alleviate symptoms, and then you add varying foods back in to see how they're tolerated.

This is somewhat nuanced. The gene for rheumatoid arthritis is associated with DQ8, which is one of the celiac genes, so anyone with rheumatoid arthritis will ideally be on a processed carb-, sugar-, and gluten-free diet. However, if you don't have a diagnosis of RA but have pain, many of my patients find relief when they eliminate nightshade vegetables. This is a category of vegetables named so because they grow at night and include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and white potatoes.

Are your physical symptoms just repressed emotions? Read about it here.