Auto-immune diseases. I have one – Hashimotos (or two , possibly mild lupus as well), my mother has one – lupus, with small airways disease, my great great grandmother had severe lupus. The lupus rash on her face became so damaged by the harsh New Zealand sun her nose virtually rotted away.
My mother’s lupus / small airways disease responded to the paleo diet, as did mine – my joint swelling has gone – completely.
So as you might imagine, the affect of paleo eating on auto-immune disease is something of a personal interest. I came across this video today, outlining studies done by a French doctor who trialled a raw / lightly cooked paleo diet with numerous patients that had auto-immune, inflammatory and bowel diseases and documented their results. I can’t figure out why this hasn’t got more publicity, but here it is:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVn-jmCi4zI]
Here’s a quick overview of points in the video:
This is the only study known (at the date of this video) where the effect of the paleo diet was trialled in people with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It was done in France by a doctor who took it upon himself to test the paleo or ancestral diet on his patients. His point of view is that autoimmune disease is caused by unnatural foods in the diet.
In his trials with patients he defined success as a 50% reduction in symptoms. Following is the disease, number of patients trialling the diet, success rate. (Note, a weakness in the study is that these results are observational, also I’m not exactly sure how the 50% reduction in symptoms was worked out)
Rheumatoid arthritis: 200, 80%
Lupus: 13, 100%
Multiple Sclerosis: 33, 97%
Fibromyalgia: 41, 97%
Osteoporosis: 20, 50% no further progress in disease
Gout: 2, 100%
Migraine: 40, 85%
Depression: 16, 93%
Overweight: 100, 80%
IBS: 220, 98%
Crohns: 40, 100%
Acne: 40, 100%
Eczema: 11, 100%
Psoriasis: 53, 77%
Hayfever: 35, 100%
Asthma: 51, 96%
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: 11, 85%
(Results tables in French:Résultats du régime dans les maladies auto-immunes, (immune diseases) Diseases of Elimination, and Inflammatory diseases)
I spent a little time looking for information on the French Doctor. His name is Dr. Jean Seignalet. He has authored over 200 publications in major medical journals in English and French medical mainly related to chemistry and biology. He worked as immunologist at the hospital Saint-Eloi (Immunology Laboratory) in Montpellier (France) and was a professor at the University of that city. In 1988 he began research on the mechanism of diseases and treated them with diet. He wrote a book The Diet or Third Medicine
I found this blog (in English) devoted to his dietary principles http://seignaletdiet.wordpress.com/diet-basis/
From the blog’s home page (translation by the author):
JEAN SEIGNALET sets his proposal of diet following a basic idea: some modern foods are modified from “ancestral” ones, whereas our digestive system has not modified. This modification of the food is given by the genetic mutation caused by agriculture, in the case of some cereals, or by cooking at high temperatures, that modifies the protein structure. Thus, the proteins we eat may not be digested completely, altering the balance of the intestinal flora and passing from a fermentation flora (physiologic) to a putrefaction flora (non physiologic). This alteration of the flora and of the intestinal content creates toxins that are absorbed and disturb the body balance. This alteration may be given by the elimination of the excess of toxins, in the case of the elimination diseases, by the accumulation of this excess of toxins, in the accumulation diseases, or by the stimulation of the immune system by strange proteins, in the case of the autoimmune diseases. The philosophy of the diet involves eating non-modified foods, that are completely assimilable.
(Leaky gut / dysbiosis / toxic / neolithic food connection to disease)
Another article from http://www.passeportsante.net outlines the basic principles of the diet:
The outline
To treat many diseases, Dr. Seignalet advocates a return to traditional diet that has prevailed for millions of years. According to him, the enzymes in the human body can not digest many foods from agriculture – which, remember, only dates back 10 000 years. Modern agriculture disturbs the natural process of plant growth by injections of artificial elements, such as chemical fertilizers, he says. He even suggested that certain types of food preparation would be harmful.
To qualify the food that he advocates, Dr. Seignalet uses three terms: hypotoxic (that is to say little or no toxicity), ancestral or original. His plan would, according to him, beneficial against three disease categories:
- autoimmune diseases ( rheumatoid arthritis , ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, etc.).
- Diseases related to “clogging cell ( cancer , acne , fibromyalgia , arthritis , migraine , bipolar disorder, depression, nervous type 2 diabetes , spasms, etc.).
- disease elimination ( psoriasis , hives, chronic bronchitis , asthma , colitis, etc.)..
The six main principles of the regime Seignalet
- 1 Exclude animal milks (cow, goat, sheep) and their derivatives (butter, cheese, cream, yogurt, ice cream) and all products containing among other ingredients of milk powder.Seignalet sees several reasons why milk is not suitable for adults: its primary function is to feed a baby animal in a few months, its proteins are allergens and its calcium content is too high. Il contient en outre beaucoup d’hormones. It also contains many hormones. Also, he says, many adults no longer produce lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (carbohydrate in milk).
- 2. Exclude grain “modern”: wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, kamut and spelt. These are cereals containing gluten – except corn – and whose current forms were obtained by selection, transplanting, hybridization or genetic modification. Dr. Seignalet call them “grains mutated”.He recommends avoiding these grains and all foods derived from them (bread, pasta, pizza, cakes) because they are difficult to digest. Cereals containing gluten could cause some people intolerances and autoimmune reactions such as celiac disease. In his view, only the rice, the buckwheat , the sesame and quinoa would be acceptable.
- 3. Exclude products cooked to a temperature above 110 ° C. Dr. Seignalet advises consuming mostly raw foods, or if necessary, to cook at a temperature below 110 ° C to minimize the distortion caused by the nutrient heat – including vitamins, omega-3 and the most antioxidants. At higher temperatures, chemical compounds that are not necessarily absorbed by the body may appear, he said. Suggested cooking methods: braising or steaming. Especially avoid cooking in microwave oven that produces an extreme thermal motion.
- 4. Exclude oil extracted hot or cooked. According to Dr. Seignalet, industrial processes of manufacturing of oils and margarines – solvents, refining, bleaching, deodorization – are likely to distort them. It proposes to replace butter, margarine and refined oils with oil, virgin olive oil, canola oil and walnut oil, hazelnut oil from organic farming. He also consults regularly eat fish from cold seas for their fatty acid intake of omega-3 (EPA and DHA).
- 5. Consuming organic foods. Seignalet Dr. recommends focus on certified organic food to take advantage of their nutritional quality and to limit the potential risks associated with pesticides.
- 6. Taking extra vitamins and minerals. The nutrient needs of an individual patient are higher than those of a healthy individual, and food can not provide. Supplements of vitamins, minerals and trace elements are part of the nutritional program Dr. Seignalet. The latter also recommends daily consumption of lactic bacteria which have a beneficial effect on intestinal flora.
Plan Summary
This information is from the book The Power or third medicine Dr. Seignalet. To access the complete diet, recipes and menus, see the complete work.
| Foods allowed |
| Raw meats, raw meats, raw eggs or cooked mildly, moderately raw or cooked fish, shellfish, seafood, smoked products (moderately), vegetables (cooked if possible, stewed or steamed sweet), pulses ( cooked if possible stewed or steamed sweet), soy (soy yogurt, soy milk), raw vegetables, fresh fruits, dried fruits, nuts, raw, honey, pollen, rice, buckwheat, sesame, chocolate (in moderation ) seeds germinated cereals and legumes ancestral, oils obtained by cold-pressed, full salt, raw sugar, tap water and mineral water, chicory, herbal infusions, coffee (in moderation), tea (in moderation), all alcoholic beverages (moderately) than beer. |
| Foods not recommended |
| All foods cooked above 110 ° C, and in particular: cooked meats, cooked meats, liver, kidney, overcooked eggs, fish overcooked, boiled oils, nuts cooked. |
| Forbidden foods |
| Durum wheat (pasta, semolina, bread, flour, pizza, croissants, buns, cakes, cookies, cookies, crackers, bran); most cereals (rye, barley, corn, oats, kamut, spelled) milk of animal origin and their derivatives (butter, cheese, cream, yogurt, ice); refined white salt, milk chocolate, jams, refined oils, margarine, beer, canned food (except vegetables). |
Basically a mainly raw paleo diet including raw meat. Given what we know now about paleolithic principles, I assume that this diet would still work using a greater percentage of cooked food. In my observation (and clinical studies) it is the elimination of Neolithic agents of disease, i.e gut damaging foods that makes the most difference, not whether they are cooked or not. The Doctor suggests that success results from raw foods, perhaps this is part of the equation, however whenever we cut out cooked foods we also cut out those foods that cannot be eaten raw, namely grains, legumes, and other toxic foods.
This Doctor’s work is none the less interesting, and backs up the many anecdotal stories, and more recent studies that shows a paleo diet being effective for treating our modern afflictions. Or perhaps we should call them “diseases of unnatural food consumption”
For more on Dr Seignalet– the official website in French: http://www.seignalet.fr/
French Wikipedia article http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition_Seignalet
The Acne Diet – free to download can be found here (mentioned in the video):
From Professor Loren Cordain, The Paleo diet as a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8901290975296745403#]
And from his website: The Programme How to treat MS with diet
Fantastic post and video. Thank you.
Dear julianne, thanks for this very interesting and very well researched post.
Thanks. I was going to update it, with a better description as I did it in a bit of a hurry, and look up his clinical studies. I see you have already done that! I find his work fascinating and I’m surprised it has not been spoken of more widely in paleo circles.
Thanks for explaining the paleo diet in plain English and so succinctly.
It has a lot in common with the gluten-free diet.
Interestingly, even though I haven’t done the paleo diet, i don’t eat hardlyanything on its “forbidden” list.
I can’t stand meat, cooked or raw (never could), but I do enjoy raw fish. Perhaps a meat-free adaptatation of the paleo would work for some people.
Those are some amazing statistics and it’s my theory that the results are not more widepsread because there’s no profit in lifestlye change. there is profit in getting people to take a drug every month for the rest of their lives. so those are the folks out there marketing like crazy- the ones who stand to gain a lot of money.
A couple more stats to add to the list:
My 3 year old boy’s eczema
My wife’s psoriasis
My own sinus issues (but not asthma yet)
That’s fantastic, I love hearing of successes following this way of eating, thanks.
ps. by stats I meant successes – complete/almost complete reduction in symptoms.
Hi Julianne,
Great article, thanks! Found you through Richard over at Free The Animal and really enjoyed your analysis of that 30bad kook’s diet.
Anyway, I’ve got ankylosing spondylitis and have had great success with The Paleo Diet (actually it’s my Paleo take on the traditional no-starch diet by Ebringer).
Not sure if you know, but Dr. Loren Cordain is conducting a research survey studying the effects of The Paleo Diet for those of us with immune diseases. I’ve already done the survey and am waiting to do part 2. Anyone who is interested should contact his research assistant, Trevor Connor trevor.connor@colostate.edu and ask to take part in the survey.
Great blog, I’ll be back!
Bob
Thanks Bob, great to hear of your success. I also had a client with likely AS (HLA-B27) with AS symptoms have complete remission on non starch paleo diet. http://paleozonenutrition.wordpress.com/2011/02/12/auto-immune-disease-hla-b27-pain-free-on-no-starch-paleo-diet/
I´m happy to see that the Seignalet study is beginning to be known outside Europe. I´m a doctor, and I´ve been following the Seignalet diet for 4 years now. I think that this study has special interest, as it´s the only one that really studies the effect of a particular diet in the patient´s health over a period of time. As you mentioned above, the results are incredible, and it´s a shame that the information has not arrived to the general public. That´s the reason for me to maintain a food blog about the Seignalet diet, with recipes following this principles.
I believe that paleo diet is in fact very similar to the Seignalet diet, and that would explain the success of some patients with rheumatoid diseases that go paleo.
I´m happy to contribute to the popularization of this diet and its benefits, as I have improved of many minor illnesses: short-sightedness (lost 3 dioptries!), irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, overweight, hair loss…
I hope that some people can benefit too, health is a treasure.
Best wishes, from Barcelona.
Thanks, and your website is a great resource. How interesting that your short sightedness improved. In children the progression is linked to a high carb diet.
Hi I found you via the NZ boards on the Rob Wold website, hope you don’t mind the stalking. This was interesting reading, I have RA and am new to Paleo eating, am seeing if it alleviates any of my flare symptoms. I am interested in his ideas but it seems a little to hard to be honest, I want to be healthy and I want lazy convenience in eating… is it too much to ask? 😉
I don’t think it is necessary to follow this version of the paleo diet, just do the standard one
1. Eliminate – grains, legumes, nightshades, dairy and possibly eggs and nuts
2 Eat meat, seafood, fruit and all vegetables (bar nightshades)
3. Eat good fats, primarily coconut, avocado, olive oil and macadamia nut oil
4. Spices and herbs are fine, but avoid chilli
For auto-immune conditions – make sure your vitamin D is around 120mmol/L (50 in the USA)
Also take fish oil or eat plenty of oily fish 3000mg day has been shown to be effective for RA
Personally – it is worth the effort. I like that I have no joint swelling and my thyroid seems to be okay. Just do the strict 30 – 60 day trial and see how you go.
I have rheumatoid arthritis and have been eating this way since Feb. 1, 2011. The thing is, once you notice how different you feel – for me it was essentially the next day after dropping grains and beans – it’s not a problem to stick with it. I have zero desire to go back to my old diet. My blood test numbers are great and I’m confident that will continue. RA is a tough disease, and I’ve already had one surgery from an ulna that was eroded away from it. That rough bone edge caused all kinds of other mayhem with softer tissue and now I have titanium where bone used to be. So I’m VERY eager to do whatever I can to cool the inflammation in my body. For me, paleo – so far – is working.
I’ll confess I find even the standard one a little heavy on the inconvenient side, a lot of those shouldn’t eat ingredients are my go to standards for meals such as eggs and nuts. So much to remove.
I have done the 30 day trial already though all I did was remove the grains, admittedly I don’t eat a lot of dairy but I still had milk in my tea and some cheeses occasionally. I did also still have nightshades and eggs. And Chilli.
I’m good for Vit D I take cal-D forte and ditto on the fish oil, I take a salmon oil supplement and have for years.
Looking at it really all I’d have to work on is removing is Nightshades (which I have done before and found zero difference, but then I wasn’t removing grains with them) Nuts, Eggs and Chilli I’m going to struggle with replacing, I love these, meals would be so boring with out them- cry, cry.
I appreciate your time in surmising the basics of what to eat and what to avoid. I may have to work my way up to completely eliminating some of those things though 🙂
Susan that is about when I started my 30 day trial and began eliminating grains too though I’ve found no difference at all, mainly because I’m in remission right now due to Humira. I really needed to be in flare and then try the diet to see if it made any difference.
Hopefully the combination of eating this way and my drugs will keep me in remission though.
I had bilateral total knee replacements 6 weeks ago (like you had zero cartilage left on my joints due to the erosion caused by RA) and did go back to eating grains in the hospital and in the immediate recovery period because I had to rely on other people to feed me and it was just difficult to get special meals especially at home when there was a whole, rather large, family to feed. I didn’t notice any decline in my health but I did notice my tummy bloating up more so I am sure these things are difficult for me to digest.
Another treatment to look at for RA is antibiotics. Many auto-immune conditions appear to be triggered by an infectious agent – see this website for more on infections and RA: http://www.roadback.org/
Err Wolf, not Wold.
I’ve had lupus since 1992 and have had great success with gluten-free and dairy free (and also eliminating all artificial sweeteners). since this overlaps with paleo in terms of what’s elimnated, i’m not surprised to find these folks are also having success by eliminating a lot of the same diet bugaboos.
I can’t stand eating meat, so I’m not gonna do paleo. Sometimes I still eat dairy, though not in large amounts; i just allow it in my salad dressing or occasionally have some gluten free pizza. I don’t buy cheese at the store, or ice cream, or milk.
About 3 years ago when I was stricter with my diet (absolutely no dairy) my tests for lupus went negative.
Negative lupus test! And no immune suppressants. That’s great to hear.
diet is powerful! more doctors need to hear about it. 🙂
oh and since reintroducing dairy + massive stress, lupus is positive again. but still no joint pain, no headaches, no immune suppressants.
oh i also do the high quality vitamin D (carlson’s liquid drops) and high quality fish oil (barlean’s brand). been doing that for several years.
I was once on 9 drugs and now and only on a half dose of one medication (for blood pressure- but NO immune suppresants).
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos about three years ago but I believe I have had it for well over ten years. I began trying to follow the Paleo diet in February of this year and recently had an appointment with my endocrinologist. I have lost 20 pounds since my last visit and the nodes in my thyroid have all shrunk considerably.
Thanks for sharing your success, it is heartening to hear that the paleo diet helped your Hashimotos. Mine was diagnosed in a general checkup nearly 2 years ago – no symptoms although over the years I have a lot of typically linked issues, like menstrual probs, blood sugar – reactive hypoglycemia, Raynauds. It is likely I’ve also had it for years too, my anti-bodies are very high. I’m glad I discovered it now when I can implement changes to stop or slow its progression. Since I’ve been doing strict gluten free paleo my anti-bodies have dropped 40% at my last test 8 months ago.
Hello, I am French, and practice the plan Seignalet 11 years. No problem of calcium in the blood!
Two interesting links for those who read French:
The most comprehensive: http://www.lappart-des-spasmos.fr/
And a collection of testimony on “Asthma and Diet Seignalet” or gluten-free, with some testimonies in English: http://forum.doctissimo.fr/sante/asthme-bronchite/asthme-bpco-alimentation-sujet_149596_1.htm
Thank you for your text
Thanks for the links
http://gmjones7778.wordpress.com/my-journal-of-health-problems/
All I can say is HELP!
I recommend you find a health practitioner that works with the paleo diet. e.g Chris Kresser http://chriskresser.com
or http://paleophysiciansnetwork.com/
At the very least read “the Paleo solution” by Robb Wolf,
“Perfect Health Diet” Jaminet http://perfecthealthdiet.com/
Auto-immune diseases respond to a paleo auto-immune diet
No grains, no legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, or dairy
Eat meat, fish, seafood, vegetables and fruit, coconut, olive oil.
All the best
Julianne
You will probably need help dealing with leaky gut and other issues – that’s why I recommend a paleo practitioner to help sort out your problems.
I appreciate your comment. What is I am allergic to all fish, shell fish and more? I can only eat melon and apples very little since I do not have a colon I can not eat many veggies even if they are cooked to a mush they can form a bowel obstruction. I am allergic to carrots and many veggies as well, the ones I can eat I have juiced before but that gives me acid reflux pretty bad.
That sounds tough! It is hard to recommend from a distance because due to the severity of your issues you need someone skilled in paleo / auto-immune and dealing with your food sensitivities, gut problems and probably nutrient deficiencies. Work with a paleo doctor or paleo health practitioner who can help you with testing and sort out an appropriate diet is the direction I think you need to take.
In the meantime eat paleo food that you can tolerate, including healing foods like bone broths.
See GAPS diet protocol
http://www.gutandpsychologysyndrome.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gaps-introduction-diet.pdf
Thanks I will check it all out. The problem I have is money. I am on Medicare and can not afford anything that they will not pay for. Most people with a Holistic approach will not help me due to this and as far as eating a different diet, we have been buying cheap stuff at the .99 cent store to eat because of our finances so going to the Health Food Store or a Regular Grocery store is out of the question we survive week to week with very little grocery money. Just being honest. But if I can buy anything at that store that fits in the category of foods that support that diet then maybe I can. 🙂 Thanks so much I appreciate your time and wisdom.
Hi thank you for translating that, i have been following this diet with great results for my celiac and arthritis. for meats, i simply cook on a baking sheet at 230 F or using a slow cooker is recommended. no need to eat raw meats. i have a question: where did you get the results for IBS?I cannot find what would be translated by IBS in the French info. thanks!
Hi Christine, IBS in French translates as “syndrome du colon irritable” I just took a quick look in Dr. S pdf and it is in there! Best of luck…
Can you tell us who made the video and direct us to his page? Is he a doctor, researcher, etc.?
Thanks, I found the link to “more information.” Wishing you good health,
Pamela
Wow estoy tan emocionada con todo lo que estoy leyendo acerca de la dieta paleo y los estudios del Dr. Seignalet, que no puedo parar de investigar, ya hace algun tiempo estoy batallando con la inflamacion en las articulaciones, muchos problemas estomacales y hasta me acaba de detectar diabettes II, uff y eso que trato de llevar una vida “saludable” bueno eso es lo que yo pensaba, tengo apenas 2 dias en los que he eliminado todos los lacteos y ya me siento diferente, entonces apuesto todo por este nuevo estilo de vida y les contare como me funciona, quiero decirlo a todos, hojala podamos difundir esta valiosisima informacion 🙂
Google translate translation:
Wow I’m so excited about everything I’m reading about the paleo diet and studies of Dr. Seignalet, I can not stop to investigate, some time ago and I’m struggling with inflammation in joints, many stomach problems and I even just to detect diabettes II, uff and that I try to lead a “healthy” well that’s what I thought, I have only 2 days where I have eliminated all dairy and I already feel different, then I bet it for this new style of life and I will tell you how I work, I say to all, hojala can spread this valuable information
For what it’s worth, depression IS often an inflammatory disease.
Yes – it is I agree.
Thanks for a great website it was extremely helpful to me in 2011 when I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis! I just turned 41 and was back from Jamaica and BOOM all of these painful flareups moving from joint to joint, taking place over a 4 week period. The diagnosis was devastating, but coming from years of digestive issues, I had a suspicion I could cure myself using food – the very cause of so many of my problems. THanks for to the work of this doctor I have healed myself and have all movement back in my feet, knees and hands. The PALEO diet took 6 months to get me mobile again and walking properly. I am so thankful and very saddened for the millions of people who suffer in pain each day or are medicated when they DONT NEED TO BE. The pain of a flare up is UNBELIEVABLE = its like you are ON FIRE. Terrible pain and I feel for those who suffer daily with this. My doctor laughed that I cured myself and said to me “maybe you really never had it” !!!! After series of tests and a diagnosis by a Riverside Hospital Specialist in Ottawa (I won’t say names but I should), she could declare that to me. Very disappointing.
WEll good luck to all who try this – it is a guarantee that you will heal yourself. My brain fog went away as well which was a major plus as I’d suffered with that for 10 years, and that was from gluten I realized by following this way of eating. I must keep this up though because if I do have something off this diet I will get a twinge in my wrist or toe as a reminder that the arthritis is still ‘on my back doorstep’.
Thank you for sharing his work, it saved my life 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your success. I’m thrilled when I hear stories of how my little blog made a difference.
Being French, I heard about this diet many years ago. I followed it in 2007, at 40, for 4 months and not only did I manage to get rid of chronic candidiasis (thrush), I also felt about 10 years younger. The candidiasis probably caused me to have a leaky gut and 6 monhs ago, I started having oteoarthritis. Difficulties to walk, stiffness, painful hands and elbows. I decided, a month ago, to go back on the same diet and started feeling considerably better after just 2 weeks. From what I read on French forums, it will take about a year to get back to normal. I’ve heard of people who completely cured different types of arthritis just by changing their eating habits.
It’s really worth trying !
I’ve been reading up on the Paleo diet as I’ve been diagnosed with non-specific joint pains. I just started today. It isn’t as hard as I thought as I’d already gone of wheat (which cured my psoriasis). I have been eating a lot of oats and other grains however and am now going to cut all of those out as well. I’m so excited to see the results of this new diet. I’ve bought my first cook book and am buying heaps of fresh meat and vegetables to start on this new diet which I will now do for life.
I know this video is in French but it’s so well explained in a really simple and short way, it’s worth you having a look at it if you actually teach the benefits of the hypotoxic diet as we call it here ( or Seignalet diet). The commentator speaks slowly and medical terms are often similar hence easy to understand. I often send the link to people who are sceptical about food being able to cure diseases and who think it’s some sort of witchery ! If you need any help with it I’ll be glad to help out (I’m French).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJCnC_O_zSk
Your article was great. Its really educating..I just wanted to share a website that also teaches about health and sell supplements and medicines. http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/
Hi my name is Danilo Medjesi and I have recently been diagnosed with an unknown form of inflamatory arthritis. It had recently began with stiffness in my elbow that lead to pain and loss of movement. From there it had progressed to bladder problems which I felt that I was dying if I didn’t drain every last drop and had a constant irritation that wasn’t an infection. From there other parts had started to ache and hurt then my knee had swollen and at current I am on medication called Methotrexate which I had started taking a week ago. I would greatly appreciate some help on where to look for some help here in Sydney to get off the toxic medication.
I’d suggest you do a strict auto-immune protocol. Email me if you want to be part of a group and get support
Hi Julianne,
Excellent website and excellent blog post. I am a French to English translator and I have translated a guide to the 700 page treatise describing the science behind the diet by. Dr. Jean Seignalet (pronounced “Shon Saynyalay). (The diet described in the video).
Seignalet’s original book had hundreds of diagrams and charts all drawn by him. Each disease has a chapter where Seignalet gives his opinion on what are the genetic and other causes of each disease. I will be translating this book this year. (It will take me all year).
The book I have translated is a short guide to the original book, written by Dr. Seignalet’s daughters (He died of pancreatic cancer in 2003 – yes even doctors who devise miracle diets have to die sometime!) The guide is called “How to prevent and reverse 100 diseases the new French way with Dr. Seignalet’s diet miracle”. It’s available free of charge on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for a limited period or in paperback. The guide explains the science in simple terms and tells you everything you need to know to follow the diet. I am myself a health nut and I did some research and found some interesting information which I put in a separate chapter which you will find near the end of the book. Did you know that nuts, seeds, rice, pulses, quinoa, etc.etc., even the stuff you get labeled “organic” from your local health food shop is routinely sterilised? You don’t want to eat that stuff. In my chapter I tell you where to source REAL foods that have not been heat treated or treated with a carcinogenic (yes really!) solvent.
OK. Here are some points in no particular order:
1. The Seignalet diet IS paleo because it is designed to be what Seignalet describes as our “ancestral” diet. In other words as close as possible to the foods we ate before we became pastoralists and agriculturalists. However, it is also NOT the paleo that we know from American books, blogs etc. It is much more scientific. For instance, cooking meat, fish and eggs at high temperatures is one of the things which Seignalet says really damage the gut. Another difference between the Seignalet diet and the American so called “paleo” diet is that the big emphasis with Seignalet is on the gut lining. According to Seignalet, “modern” foods damage the gut lining and this is the real origin (along the genetic predisposing factors etc.) of nearly all chronic illnesses.
2. You have quoted pretty much everything from a Seignalet blogger. She is Spanish but writes fairly good English so that is why there may a few clumsy phrases in her blog.
3. Seignalet’s daughters have included all Seignalet’s results tables for 95 diseases. These are broken down into 100% remissions, 80/90% remissions, 50% improvements and failures. These tables are a real eye opener!
4. My tip: learn how to make home made sauerkraut and have a table spoonful every day.
Keep up the good work Julianne. I hope you get lots of clients.
Cheers Chris
Thanks for letting us know – I’ll be getting a copy, and I’ll let people know. Thanks for the correct pronunciation, I learnt French at school for 5 years, but notice many pronounce French incorrectly :).
My French is very rusty now – but no doubt I could relearn quickly if needed.
Probably because I’m fortunate enough to speak French, I’ve been aware of Seignalet’s work for sometime and my comment is simply a sad commentary on the arrogance of both an Anglo-centric scientific world which religiously denigrates (then gleefully plagiarises) anything French – but also the failure by France to ever promote/translate it’s great scientists and their work into English, where it could help so many. That country seems to be so weary under the burden of their towering scientific legacy that they now just ignore it.
Instead we have to wait for the US to pinch their stuff, adjust three words and re-badge it as all their own doing – witness the Paleo (Seignalet) diet and a dozen other spin-offs of his momentous research and prolific output on the links between diet and “modern” diseases. He put forward these theories and carried out the research to verify them many years ago and although now dead, remains probably the pre-eminent scientist of modern dietary science. But of course he was not an Anglo, so it would never do to acknowledge that. And those entrusted with securing his position in history back home, are no better.
Seignalet is the victim of a French expression which applies perhaps most particularly to them: “nul n’est prophete en son pays”
Hi Ralph,
I am writing my own book on the history of medicine and including all the therapies which worked but have been sidelined down through the ages.
The real problem is that so called “scientific” medicine, is actually a trade monopoly enshrined in the state. Nothing outside of drugs and surgery is permitted. The drug companies are all owned by the same people, the ultra rich families that emerged in the US in the 19th century with the coming of the railroads. They made their money by forming huge monopolies and eliminating competition (usually by unlawful means which sometimes included violence). In the US in the 19th century there were several competing and successful medical schools. The traditional, “allopathic” school which was to become the modern orthodox school was in a sorry state in the 19th with very poor training of future doctors and incredibly dangerous remedie and an oversupply of practioners. Their main remedy for just about everything was calomel, a sweet tasting mercury derivative. The homeopaths were a serious challenge to them as were the “eclectic” physicians who developed a very sophisticated, effective, and generally safe, materia medica, inspired by native Indian remedies.
In the 1920’s the robber barons came along and with their knowledge of how to set up monopolies, financed the new “scientific” medical schools. “Allopathic, or “orthodox” medicine became “scientific” medicine prescribing as remedies only drugs manufactured by the drug companies – which were of course in the hands of the robber barons families. Not much has changed since then.
Hi Julianne and all,
I have now written some English pages for the Seignalet website. Use this URL:
http://www.seignalet.fr/us.html
or click on the Union Jack. (Sorry about the flag – I asked the website designer to put up NZ,US,AUS flags as well but it fell on deaf ears!)
Have a look at the section which answers reasons not to buy the book.
There will be a separate English language website soon (done by my own website designer) with comments sections and a forum ( I’ll post the URL up here when it’s ready.
Cheers Chris
Thanks Chris
Hi all,
I am a big fan of Doc Seignalet’s diet and following it for a while now. I am a French national but I live in Ireland for the past 17 years. I mean this in the most humble way, if any one has an issue with translating French I would gladly help.
Kind regards,
Sylvain
Thanks Sylvain
how can you eat meats under cooked or raw without the risk of saminella?
Salmonella is usually just in eggs and chicken
hello all — julianne — thank you for a good post and worthwhile site. I think raw food is a mistake — and all of Seignalet’s positive results could be obtained with a normal, cooked paleo diet. I wouldn’t risk raw meat and eggs. We’ve been eating cooked meat since paleo man stumbled on the first forest fire aftermath and smelled the aroma of cooked meat. We are a social species and we socialized around the evening campfire after the hunt.
The science has shown how cooking makes nutrients available that rawness doesn’t. Dr. Seignalet also advocates soy and raw sugar and eschews pastured butter. He also seems ok with fructose. Methinks his laudable results come from dropping processed foods and seed oils. There’s probably some beneficial weight loss cause raw liver, or raw hamburger, or raw eggs are really going to dampen appetite.
Additionally, plants make lots of chemicals to avoid herbivory — eating them raw allows all those chemicals to burst their vacuoles and affect our cellular respiration.
Sooooo, imo…… rah! rah! DON”T eat it raw!
I agree with you, it isn’t necessary to eat raw or lightly cooked.
To Ron Torregrossa,
You have some misconceptions about the Seignalet diet which is understandable because his doorstep of a book has not been translated. He gives good reasons for eating raw and lightly cooked. One of the reasons is that cooking at high temperatures make Maillard molecules which have a disastrous effect if they travers a leaky gut. The big difference between Seignalet and Paleo is that Paleo is all about a balance of foodstuffs based on what our ancestors ate. We have an image of cave people sat around a fire and roasting meat over the fire and Paleo assumes that we should be doing something similar in our daily diet. But according to Seignalet there is no evidence that cave people used fire to cook with.
Here is my translation of Seignalet’s chapter: “Cooking and its problems”
https://www.seignalet-plus.com/cooking-and-its-problems/
Hi Julianne,
Here is an update about my own Seignalet based website.
http://www.seignaletplus.com
On it you can see my translation of Dr. Seignalet’s section on “Cooking and its problems”. (Look for “Chris’s Blog). You can also see all the disease tables with their results.
You say “it isn’t necessary to eat raw or lightly cooked”
>>>If you look at my translation of Seignalet’s reasons for not cooking, you will understand why eating meat and fish either raw (tartare, carpaccio, sashimi etc) or steamed is very important for the diet to succeed. Animal protein cooked at high temperatures is not part of our original, ancestral diet according to Seignalet. You should freeze the meat or fish for at least a week at -20 degrees C to kill any parasites that might be lurking. Freezing does not kill bacteria or parasites but apart from chicken these are not usually a problem and anyway on the Seignalet diet your immune system will be working 100% and will easily deal with these in my (unqualified) opinion.
Cheers Chris
Hi,
Sorry, wrote that post early this morning before I\’d woken up properly.
This:
\”Freezing does not kill bacteria or parasites\” should read instead:
\”Freezing does not kill bacteria or VIRUSES\” Freezing at low enough temperatures and for long enough DOES kill parasites.
Cheers Chris
I just happened upon your blog this morning. Searching for information that would help me treat my LUPUS and Fibromyalgia and in reading I began to wonder and didn’t see listed whether or not Tri-germinal neuralgia might also fit these categories. I was diagnosed with TGN about a year before I was diagnosed with the LUPUS and fibro. It just seemed like a lot of things hitting me at once that I couldn’t help but wonder if they might be linked and the Paleo diet might help the TGN as well. In the past five years I have gone from taking no pharmaceuticals to taking over 10 on a daily basis with another 10 PRN meds. The weight gain has soared and I know I am dying, the meds are going to kill me if I don’t get this turned around. Thanks for hearing me and if you can tell me anything more I’d be ever so grateful.
Hi Debbie,
Fibromyalgia has been linked to gluten intolerance, and removing gluten makes a difference in some studies. Have you been tested for coeliac disease?
I’d highly recommend you get that test to start with. There are dietary changes you can make or try, many people with auto-immune diseases have benefited from the autoimmune paleo diet. You could work with a nutritionist like myself familiar with that approach
Hi Julianne,
Thanks for responding. I am a Veteran and VA is my only provider. I had asked my primary care Dr. about testing for Celiac disease and he sent me for a colonoscopy. I found out that I have Diverticulosis (apparently I have pockets and not polyps) which was good to know but when I asked again about the Celiac disease I got no straight answer. Apparently that is a different test and VA doesn’t do it.?? 🙂 (I’m not sure if Diverticulosis is an indicator of Celiac or not) I have been trying to just wean myself off of breads and dairy, not terribly successful yet but am making another more concerted go at it just to see if the gut cramps and constipation will let up.
I was really wondering if the Tri-Geminal Neuralgia might in any way be related to the LUPUS and Fibromyalgia. Recently I had a complete blow-out on my TGN and it took a month after my Tegretal (Carbomazapine) level was raised before it finally brought it under control. If it happens again I have no where else to go. I am maxed out on the Tegretal. In the meantime pain in my right arm and my left knee (arthritis ?) became almost unbearable. I am on Hydrochloroquine, Meloxicam and Cyclobenzaprine for the LUPUS and Fibromyalgia pain which means I can’t take any other pain meds to help with the knee and arm. I feel like I am falling apart and hoping that diet may be my savior.