Research has shown the western diet to be the reason behind the global spread of auto-immune diseases. An auto-immune disorder is one in which the immune systems are unable to tell the difference between healthy cells and invading micro-organisms thereby attacking the tissue and organ instead of protecting them.
London-based scientists James Lee and Carola Vinuesa of the Francis Crick Institute are undertaking DNA research to pinpoint the exact causes and find solutions to fight them. They have highlighted that auto-immune diseases are rapidly spreading across the globe even to those regions that never had such diseases earlier. It is estimated that cases of auto-immune diseases are increasing internationally by 3-9% annually.
A report by Guardian in the matter says:
“Numbers of autoimmune cases began to increase about 40 years ago in the west,” Lee told the Observer. “However, we are now seeing some emerge in countries that never had such diseases before.
For example, the biggest recent increase in inflammatory bowel disease cases has been in the Middle East and east Asia. Before that they had hardly seen the disease.”
Autoimmune diseases range from type 1 diabetes to rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. In each case, the immune system gets its wires crossed and turns on healthy tissue instead of infectious agents.
Lee opined that since human genetics hasn’t changed in the last few decades, the surge in such diseases may be attributed to external factors. Vinuesa backed Lee while adding that changes in diet are taking place across the world as people in several countries are now adopting the western diet.
“Fast-food diets lack certain important ingredients, such as fiber, and evidence suggests this alteration affects a person’s microbiome – the collection of micro-organisms that we have in our gut and which play a key role in controlling various bodily functions. These changes in our microbiomes are then triggering autoimmune diseases, of which more than 100 types have now been discovered”, Vinuesa said.
“If you don’t have a certain genetic susceptibility, you won’t necessarily get an autoimmune disease, no matter how many Big Macs you eat,” said Vinuesa. “There is not a lot we can do to halt the global spread of fast-food franchises. So instead, we are trying to understand the fundamental genetic mechanisms that underpin autoimmune diseases and make some people susceptible but others not. We want to tackle the issue at that level”.
It is essential to adopt a Vedic diet that promotes a healthy lifestyle and avoid western fads as much as possible.
