The Nourished CEO Podcast Nutrition for Lyme Disease Recovery with Lindsay Christensen
About ten years ago I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. This resulted in some major changes that I made to my diet and lifestyle in order to feel better. A decade later, I no longer have symptoms of Lyme. So it is possible to overcome this chronic disease. Today’s guest is full of information on how you can do the same!
About Lindsay Christensen
Lindsay Christensen, MS, CNS, CKNS, has her B.S. in Biomedical Science and her M.S. in Human Nutrition. She has successfully completed a 1,000-hour supervised experience program for the Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) credential, an esteemed credential for healthcare professionals with an advanced level of education and experience in nutritional biochemistry and medical nutrition therapy.
Lindsay enjoys working with a diverse array of clients. Areas of expertise include nutrition care for complex chronic illnesses, including Lyme disease and CIRS, food sensitivities, and gastrointestinal health issues.
Lindsay is an avid researcher and writer. When her nose isn’t buried in the latest nutrition science and medical research, she can be found backpacking, skiing, and rock climbing in her beautiful home state of Colorado.
Clues That You May Have Lyme Disease
While the tell-tale bullseye rash is the most obvious and well-known symptom of Lyme, it doesn’t always present itself. Lindsay explains that Lyme can show up in a number of different ways. There could be other types of rashes from co-infections. Sometimes it feels like a case of the flu or fatigue. After some time, cognitive dysfunctions can crop up.
There’s also more information emerging around Lyme disease-related gut issues. Bloating, constipation, food sensitivities, and indigestion can all be related to Lyme disease too.
Unfortunately, eradicating chronic Lyme disease is no simple matter. Lindsay describes how Lyme is a very complex bacterium that can cause all sorts of havoc.
Building a Healthy Immune System with Your Diet
While medication certainly plays a role in treating it, Lindsay has seen the benefits of implementing nutrition and lifestyle protocols as well. When put into place, these support a more robust immune system and help it handle the infection.
Because so much of our immune system starts with gut health, addressing your dietary needs is the most important place to start. While many other treatments will certainly help, you’re just making recovery all that much more unlikely if you ignore the needs of your gut.
By reducing inflammation, your immune system will be better supported in tackling this infection throughout your body. This means limiting refined sugars, flours, processed seed oils, and dairy. This all helps to create an environment in which your immune system can help do its job of keeping this infection in check.
Have you experienced Lyme disease? In what ways has it impacted your health? Leave a comment on the episode page!
Got a question you’d love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!
In This Episode
- How Lindsay’s own experience with Lyme disease led her to help others with it too [4:00]
- Common and less-understood symptoms associated with Lyme disease [11:00]
- Common tests to diagnose Lyme and their limitations [16:15]
- Deconstructing the most popular myths surrounding Lyme Disease [21:00]
- Using nutrition to help your body fight a Lyme infection [25:00]
- How nutrition acts as a foundation for rebuilding health [38:10]
- Integrating lifestyle changes into your daily life in order to support overall health [49:45]
Quotes
“That’s part of why it’s so hard to diagnose. It can look like just about anything else other than a Lyme infection.” [13:45]
“For somebody who’s been dealing with Lyme for a long period of time, it becomes a lot more complicated to treat. It becomes more like belonging in terms of turning around somebody’s health and treating that infection.” [21:46]
“It’s not just a matter of ‘boosting’ immunity. In many ways, it’s more of a balancing act that needs to happen because the bacteria that causes Lyme can do different things to the immune system.” [24:18]
“I view nutrition as creating this foundation to rebuild your health after having dealt with Lyme. We need to have good gut health in place to have our immune system function properly.” [38:27]
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