Finally, a very big "Welcome" to all of the new readers who have joined my newsletter list since last month! You're going to love the inspiration you will find here. Enjoy! If you know someone who suffers from chronic illness or is the parent of a child or young adult who suffers from chronic illness, please forward this newsletter to them. It is very rewarding to be able to share information with others, especially when that information can help change their lives for the better.

Rana Ghaoui

Live HEALthfully

Please join me on Sunday, November 16th for this COMPLIMENATRY webinar where I will help you:

• Understand how the immune system works
• Understand why nutrition is so important - why it can directly impact your symptoms and your ability to heal more quickly
• Identify elements in your diet and lifestyle that could trigger an immune response and / or aggravate your symptoms
• Recognize which foods are pro- and which foods are anti-inflammatory
• Start putting together your own action plan to feel better and make your immune system stronger and happier

Date: Sunday, November 16th

Time: 11.00 a.m. EST / 10 a.m. MST / 8.00 a.m. PST

Please register for the webinar by clicking here or visiting this link: http://ow.ly/DZsit 

Once you have registered, you will receive the information you need to join the webinar. A recording of the webinar will be e-mailed to you within 24 hours but you must register to receive it!

For more information, you can visit http://live-healthfully.com/news-and-events

The belief that hope can only be found in a pill or a biologic is prevalent among many people with autoimmune conditions. My mission, as an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, is to educate clients with autoimmune disease about the importance of complimenting their existing medical regimen with a healthy diet.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 15. Even though, I was heavily medicated, sometimes taking up to 11 different medications a day, I was still experiencing flare ups so severe that I could not walk for months at a time. I was inflamed in every joint. At first, I was cynical that a change in diet could help me, one-day, feel better. I imagine you've been there, too. I thought: How could something as simple as food change what medicine cannot? It was not easy to change. I fought it and I procrastinated. Eventually, my body was screaming so loud for a change that I willed myself into giving "that diet thing" a try. My transformation has been a miracle. It did not happen overnight but every step I took counted. Here's the proof: 4 years ago, I was confined for weeks to my NYC studio, unable to walk. Last October, I became a certified Yoga instructor.

I do not advise clients experiencing crippling pain to discard their medications in favor of a healthy diet. I did not give up any of my medications when I started changing my diet and I would never advise anyone to give up medications without the consent of their doctor. I still see all my doctors and I am now being weaned off the medications with their blessing. However, proper nutrition and medicine combine together to create a powerful blend of benefits. I am living proof. Read on to learn how you can have a miracle change, too.

'Waiting for a cure'

When we get diagnosed with a condition like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Hashimoto's etc. we are told that there is no cure. That is true. There is no surgery or pill that will magically travel through your body and bring back exposed sheath, fix the damage that inflammation has done to joints and drain inflamed knees!

Waiting for a cure, whether it may be through surgery or magic pills is like watching yourself bleed and hoping that someone would notice you so they may bring you some antiseptic and Band-Aid. Waiting for a cure is a passive response to a condition that can be physically and psychologically crippling and, sometimes, even life-threatening. Picking yourself up and getting yourself the antiseptic and Band-Aid is what those of us who change their diet hope to achieve. You may still have a scar after the wound has healed and that scar may never go away, but, at least, it's not bleeding! The damage that has been done to the joints may not get undone, as is the case with my creaky shoulders and my damaged elbow and wrist, but I feel so much better - I am not bed-ridden. I can, finally, have dreams and pursue them. This is what I hope to help you achieve!

The Case for a Diet Change: 7 Reasons

So, why a diet change? I have condensed my experience, education and evidence-based nutrition research to explain why a healthy diet can help you better manage your autoimmune condition:

1. To keep out toxins: 70% of your immune system resides in the intestinal tract (the gut lining), so it's no surprise that your immune system is directly affected by what you eat. Here's an analogy for you: if your roommate is screaming in the middle of the night, you will have trouble sleeping. Likewise, eating food that your gut struggles to digest causes your immune system to struggle. Healing the gut is key to healing the immune system. The gut keeps out bad stuff like toxins, allergens and bugs; and the health of your gut is determined by the quality of foods that you eat.
2. To play defense: The immune system is your first line of defense against things your body does not like, such as microbes and viruses. The innate immune system is primitive; it has not evolved for 400 million years and, as a result, may not recognize modern-day processed foods we eat. It may, therefore, mistake those foods for "foreign" or microbial invasions. In defending itself from those invasions, the immune system turns against its host...your very own body!
3. To replenish minerals: An acidic internal environment, created by things like sugar, salt, coffee and stress, is a playground for microbes. The more acidic substances you put into your body, the more your body has to work to buffer the acidity and maintain a neutral pH (acid/alkaline) balance. How does the body maintain a neutral pH balance when the internal environment is acidic? It "borrows" minerals from bones and muscles. By eating foods that contain buffering minerals to offset this acidic internal state (alkalizing foods like, vegetables, certain fruits, seaweed, etc.), you replenish those minerals. These foods contain natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds, which reduce inflammation.
4. To keep your cells healthy: The hormones that are responsible for inflammation are called eicosanoids and they are 100% controlled by the food we eat. There's not much discussion about eicosanoids and their impact on inflammation, but, in fact, the 1982 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to John Vane and his colleagues for their discovery of how eicosanoids play a role in human disease. Eicosanoids were the first hormones ever developed by living organisms over 500 million years ago. Every hormone in the body is, somehow, controlled by these eicosanoids. There is no discrete eicosanoid-manufacturing gland in the body - every living cell in your body can manufacture eicosanoids, both good ones and bad. So, given that food is information for your cells, the better the quality food you feed your cells, the better quality eicosanoids your cells can manufacture.
5. To give your body what it needs to change and renew: You may be thinking that a dietary change is, at best, a preventative measure and once the disease has well and truly progressed it's too late for such a measure to have any impact. To the contrary: studies have shown that the human body is constantly replacing and regenerating cells. An adult human liver, for example, can regenerate in 300-500 days. What we eat becomes part of those new cells, tissues and organs.
6. To benefit your medicines: Certain medications can rid your body of nutrients. Anyone who has been on methotrexate, for example, has also been prescribed folic acid. What is folic acid and where does it come from? Folic acid is a compound derived exclusively from folates: green and leafy vegetables. Now, imagine that in addition to taking a nutrient-ridding medication you are also feeding your body processed foods like cookies and chips which are also nutrient-ridden foods... so, where would your body get nutrients from if that is the majority of the food that you feed it?
7. To avoid vitamin deficiency: Studies suggest that many autoimmune conditions are linked to a Vitamin D deficiency. In addition to sunshine, another source of Vitamin D is greens! Greens act as a form of stored sunshine and perform the function of Vitamin D in the body.

You need to eat to live anyway. What would happen if every time you were about to eat, you stopped and asked: "Where is the food I am eating coming from?" "Is is it REAL food?"

Allow me to step in as your personal health coach for a moment. I challenge you to ask yourself that question every time you sit down to eat for the next 30 days. It doesn't mean that you have to come off your medication to try this - you have to eat either way. All it takes is a conscious decision to eat clean.

Healthy food will not replace medication when you're in desperate need for it. Healthy food, however, will help you reduce your need for and dependence on medication in the long term. If my doctors hadn't put me on Humira when my eye was severely inflamed, I would have lost my eyesight. The emphasis on eating nutritious food is to re-educate your immune system to do what it was originally designed to do and that is to defend your body against things that can make you sick. 

So...do you want to change? 

It's a personal choice and a matter of priority. I appreciate that there can be a fear associated with change. You may fear its impact on your life and the life of your family. You may fear failing or not being able to enjoy the same food as your friends. You may fear that it's too expensive to eat healthy...But, what if you succeed? 

What if you change and things start getting better? What if you feel better when you wake up in the morning? What if you have more energy and stamina to play with your children? What if, over time, you reduce your dependency on expensive medications and their side-effects? My question to you is: How is being stuck in sickness serving you? Would you rather stay stuck or start having a different, more positive and inspirational story?

I want you to have a different story!

My own struggle and the struggle of my loved ones has motivated me to serve and support young adults and the parents of those young adults who suffer from auto-immune disease, particularly RA, MS, Scleritis, Uveitis, and Hashimoto's. I provide my clients with guidance and support in making healthier diet and lifestyle choices so they can reduce their pain, inflammation and, in time, their dependence on drugs so they may have a more fulfilling, pain-free life.       

To connect with me or find out more about my work, I invite you to visit my

1. website: http://www.live-healthfully.com 

2. Facebook page: Live HEALthfully 

3. Twitter: @liveHEALthfully, or 

4. E-mail me at: rana@live-healthfully.com 

I look forward to hearing from you!