AIP for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Pilot Study & Qualitative Research Out of New Zealand (Ep 104)
Épisode 104
lundi 9 novembre 2026 • Durée 42:21
Episode 104: AIP for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Pilot Study & Qualitative Research Out of New Zealand
What happens when people living with rheumatoid arthritis follow the Autoimmune Protocol for eight weeks? In the first clinical pilot study investigating AIP for rheumatoid arthritis, researchers in New Zealand documented promising improvements in patient-reported disease activity, pain, fatigue, sleep, and quality of life. But what happened when the intervention ended—and were those improvements sustainable?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott continues her medical research review series with a deep dive into two studies led by researcher Julianne Taylor and her colleagues. She examines how the original pilot study was designed, what researchers measured, and what the results tell us about using AIP alongside conventional rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
Mickey also explores newly published qualitative research that followed the same participants through interviews immediately after the intervention and one year later. These findings offer a fascinating look at the challenges of following an elimination diet, the importance of support, and how participants navigated food reintroductions and developed more personalized approaches to eating. She also discusses the limitations of this early research and what future studies could tell us about the effectiveness and sustainability of AIP.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why researchers are investigating dietary interventions for rheumatoid arthritis
How the first AIP pilot study for rheumatoid arthritis was designed, including its four-week control period and eight-week Core AIP intervention
What researchers found about patient-reported disease activity, pain, fatigue, sleep, and quality of life
Why seven of the nine participants reported improvements, while two experienced little benefit or worsening symptoms
What the qualitative interviews revealed about motivation, meal preparation, social challenges, and the importance of support
What happened one year later when participants were no longer following the structured intervention
How participants approached food reintroductions and developed more flexible, personalized diets
Why systematic reintroduction and long-term sustainability are essential parts of the AIP process
How these findings relate to the updated Autoimmune Protocol, including Core and Modified AIP
Why AIP should complement—not replace—appropriate medical treatment for rheumatoid arthritis
What larger clinical trials and future research are needed to establish the effectiveness of AIP
00:00 – What happens when people with rheumatoid arthritis follow AIP?
01:54 – A review of the AIP medical research series
04:16 – Why study rheumatoid arthritis?
08:10 – Understanding rheumatoid arthritis and conventional treatment
12:57 – AIP for rheumatoid arthritis: The pilot study design
17:43 – Results of the AIP rheumatoid arthritis pilot study
21:52 – The qualitative study: What was it like to follow AIP?
27:05 – One year later: Reintroductions, personalization, and sustainability
34:07 – What this research means for people with rheumatoid arthritis
38:48 – Wrap-up and closing
Environmental Toxins: What Actually Matters with Lara Adler (Ep 103)
Épisode 103
lundi 2 novembre 2026 • Durée 01:01:28
Episode 103: Environmental Toxins: What Actually Matters with Lara Adler
Spend a few minutes online learning about environmental toxins, and it can quickly start to feel like everything around you is a problem. From drinking water and food packaging to cookware, cleaning products, and the air inside our homes, there seems to be an endless list of things we're supposed to avoid.
For those of us living with autoimmune disease, this can feel especially overwhelming. We're already paying attention to nutrition, sleep, stress, movement, and medical care. Do we really need to worry about every chemical exposure, too?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by Lara Adler, an environmental health educator and consultant who has spent more than 14 years helping health professionals understand the science of environmental chemical exposures.
Together, they explore what research actually tells us about environmental toxins, why dose and timing matter, and how to prioritize meaningful exposure reduction without fear, perfectionism, or expensive wellness products. They also share practical, budget-conscious strategies for improving indoor air quality, choosing water filtration, reducing plastic exposure, and selecting safer cookware.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What we know about environmental chemical exposures, immune health, and autoimmune disease
Why dose, timing, duration, and route of exposure matter when evaluating health risks
How endocrine-disrupting chemicals can affect the body even at very low levels
Why social media often oversimplifies environmental health research
How to take environmental exposures seriously without becoming fearful or overwhelmed
Simple, affordable ways to improve indoor air quality, including ventilation and filtration
Why choosing the right water filter starts with understanding your local water quality
How to think about pesticides and organic produce without sacrificing fruit and vegetable intake
Whether washing and peeling produce can meaningfully reduce pesticide residues
Where reducing plastic contact with food and water can make the biggest difference
Which cookware materials Lara recommends and why
Resources:Episode Timeline:
My Healing Update: Autoimmunity, Perimenopause & Building Resilience (Ep 102)
Épisode 102
lundi 26 octobre 2026 • Durée 32:10
My Healing Update: Autoimmunity, Perimenopause & Building Resilience (Ep 102)
What does healing look like 15 years into living with autoimmune disease? For Mickey Trescott, it looks a lot different than it did in the beginning. Instead of focusing on getting out of a health crisis, she's now thinking about maintaining stability, adapting to new challenges, and building resilience for the decades ahead.
In this personal update, Mickey shares how she's doing with celiac disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and psoriatic arthritis, including why stability has been one of the most meaningful developments this year. She also discusses what she's eating after 15 years of AIP reintroductions, how her food tolerances continue to evolve, and why her approach remains focused on dietary diversity rather than restriction.
Mickey also shares some bigger changes involving perimenopause, hormone therapy, and bone health. From discovering osteopenia on her first DEXA scan to making unexpected progress with longstanding tendon pain, she explains how these experiences have reshaped her movement and strength-training goals. Throughout the episode, she reflects on the value of foundational habits, appropriate medical care, and learning to enjoy a good season of health without worrying about what might come next.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What Mickey is eating 15 years after starting AIP and how her food tolerances have evolved
How she's managing psoriatic arthritis, Hashimoto's, and celiac disease
Why stability can be just as meaningful as making new changes
How progesterone therapy has affected her sleep during perimenopause
What she learned from discovering osteopenia on her first DEXA scan
Her experience with testosterone therapy and unexpected improvements in tendon pain
How physical therapy and progressive strength training are helping her build resilience
Why reduced stress has been an important part of feeling better this year
What's changed—and what hasn't—in her supplement routine
Why long-term healing is about building the capacity to live your life, not achieving perfect health
Resources:
Episode 56:
Navigating Health Information Online with Dr. Guillermo Ruiz (Ep 101)
Épisode 101
lundi 19 octobre 2026 • Durée 54:14
Episode 101: Navigating Health Information Online with Dr. Guillermo Ruiz
Health information has never been easier to access—and somehow, it’s never felt harder to know what to trust. Between new research, expert opinions, personal stories, social media, supplement claims, and the latest wellness trends, it can be difficult to separate what’s plausible, what’s promising, and what’s actually been demonstrated.
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by Dr. Guillermo Ruiz, a naturopathic physician who practices naturopathic endocrinology with a focus on metabolic health. His work centers on bringing an evidence-based approach to naturopathic and integrative medicine while remaining curious about emerging ideas.
Together, they explore how to navigate the gray areas of health information without becoming either overly skeptical or too quick to embrace the latest trend. They discuss how to evaluate health claims, why individual context matters, the difference between anecdotes and evidence, and how to think about risk when experimenting with diets, supplements, medications, and emerging therapies.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why having access to more health information doesn’t necessarily make health decisions easier
Why individual biology and context can make one-size-fits-all health advice misleading
How social media can turn useful health strategies into universal recommendations
Why layering multiple restrictive diets or wellness strategies can create more problems
How to look beyond a compelling headline to understand what a study actually found
Why emerging treatments and supplements require weighing potential benefits against potential risks
How personal stories can provide useful clues without being the same as scientific evidence
Why “natural” doesn’t automatically mean safe—and prescription medications aren’t automatically more dangerous
Red flags to watch for in online health content, including absolute claims, cure language, and lack of nuance
How to approach personal health experiments with clearer guardrails
Why food, movement, sleep, and other foundational habits should come before chasing the latest health trend
AIP Community Q4 Update: Events, Advocacy & Research (Ep 100)
Épisode 100
lundi 12 octobre 2026 • Durée 39:25
Episode 100: AIP Community Q4 Update — Research, Advocacy & Community
Autoimmune wellness doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s shaped by the research being published, the advocacy happening on behalf of patients, and the communities that help turn information into something meaningful in everyday life.
In this Q4 Community Update—and the 100th episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast—Mickey Trescott catches up on some of the developments happening across the autoimmune landscape, with a focus on research, advocacy, and community.
First, immunologist and AIP Certified Coach Sybil Cooper, PhD, joins Mickey to discuss a newly published qualitative study exploring the experiences of people with rheumatoid arthritis who participated in an AIP intervention. They look beyond symptom outcomes to explore what it was actually like to implement AIP, the challenges participants faced, what kinds of support helped, and what their diets looked like one year later.
Next, Jaime Hartman joins Mickey to recap the Autoimmune Association’s Hope Journey Walk, where Team AIP participated in Washington, DC, Michigan, and virtually around the country. They discuss the importance of showing up as a community, raising awareness, and connecting AIP with the broader autoimmune research and advocacy landscape.
Finally, Jamie-Nicole Martin, founder and CEO of the AIP BIPOC Network, shares updates on the organization’s work supporting people navigating changes to insurance, medication, and food benefits, along with community outreach, an autoimmune and menopause research project, and plans to expand access to resources in the year ahead.
Together, these conversations show how research, advocacy, and community intersect—and why all three matter for people living with autoimmune disease.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
What qualitative research can teach us about the real-world experience of following AIP
What participants in the rheumatoid arthritis AIP study found most challenging
What happened when researchers followed the RA participants one year later
How Team AIP participated in the Autoimmune Association’s Hope Journey Walk
ADHD, Women’s Health, and Autoimmune Disease with Dr. Jolene Brighten (Ep 99)
Épisode 99
lundi 5 octobre 2026 • Durée 52:52
Episode 99: ADHD, Women’s Health, and Autoimmune Disease with Dr. Jolene Brighten
What if the brain fog, overwhelm, forgetfulness, trouble focusing, or emotional intensity you’ve been blaming on hormones or autoimmune disease has another layer to it?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by hormone expert, nutrition scientist, and bestselling author Dr. Jolene Brighten for a conversation about ADHD through the lens of women’s hormones, brain health, and autoimmune disease.
Together, they explore why ADHD can look different in women and why so many women aren’t diagnosed until later in life. They discuss how ADHD symptoms can shift throughout the menstrual cycle and become especially challenging during perimenopause, as well as the complex relationship between hormones, inflammation, the gut, and the brain. Dr. Brighten also shares her perspective on hormone replacement therapy for women with ADHD, practical ways to support the microbiome, and simple strategies for making nutrition, movement, and daily life more ADHD-friendly.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why ADHD often looks different in women and can go undiagnosed for decades
What’s happening in the ADHD brain beyond problems with attention
How estrogen, progesterone, and the menstrual cycle can influence ADHD symptoms
Why perimenopause may reveal ADHD that was previously masked or well-compensated
What women with ADHD should know about hormone replacement therapy
What we know about the relationship between ADHD, inflammation, and autoimmune disease
How gut health and food sensitivities may interact with ADHD symptoms
Practical strategies for nutrition, movement, and reducing overwhelm with ADHD
Food Sensitivity Testing: What Tests Can and Can't Tell You (Ep 098)
Épisode 98
lundi 28 septembre 2026 • Durée 33:22
Episode 98: Food Sensitivity Testing: What Tests Can and Can’t Tell You
Food sensitivity tests promise something incredibly appealing: send in a sample, receive a personalized list of reactive foods, and skip the uncertainty of elimination and reintroduction. But can these tests actually tell you which foods are causing your symptoms?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott takes a closer look at the science behind commercial food sensitivity testing, including IgG panels, MRT, ALCAT, and other commonly marketed approaches. She explains the important difference between a test being able to measure something in the body and that measurement actually being clinically useful.
Mickey also explores what it means for a diagnostic test to be properly validated, why major allergy organizations recommend against IgG food sensitivity testing, and why feeling better after following test results doesn’t necessarily prove that the test accurately identified your problem foods. Finally, she shares fascinating emerging research into food reactions that conventional testing may not yet capture—and explains why systematic elimination and reintroduction remain the most useful tools for building a personalized diet.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What IgG food sensitivity tests actually measure—and why a positive result doesn’t necessarily indicate a harmful reaction
How MRT, ALCAT, and other food sensitivity tests work and where the evidence falls short
The difference between analytical validity, clinical validity, and clinical utility
Why feeling better after following test results doesn’t necessarily prove the test accurately identified your problem foods
Why elimination and systematic reintroduction remain the best way to identify individual food tolerance
What emerging research may tell us about food reactions conventional testing doesn’t capture
Why unnecessary food restriction can have nutritional, financial, and quality-of-life consequences
How to think about past food sensitivity test results without dismissing your own experience
Resources:
Episode 54: A Deep Dive Into the AIP Reintroduction Process
Integrative Rheumatology: Bridging Medicine, Nutrition & Lifestyle with Dr. Micah Yu (Ep 97)
Épisode 97
lundi 21 septembre 2026 • Durée 32:03
Episode 97: Integrative Rheumatology: Bridging Medicine, Nutrition & Lifestyle with Dr. Micah Yu
For many people living with autoimmune disease, seeing a rheumatologist can bring up a lot of uncertainty—especially if you want to incorporate nutrition and lifestyle alongside conventional medical care.
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by Dr. Micah Yu, a quadruple board-certified physician specializing in rheumatology, internal medicine, integrative medicine, and functional medicine. Dr. Yu also lives with autoimmune arthritis himself, giving him a unique perspective as both physician and patient.
Together, they explore what integrative rheumatology actually looks like, why conventional medicine and lifestyle don't have to be an either/or choice, and how patients can build a healthcare team that supports the full picture of autoimmune health. They also discuss how to prepare for a rheumatology appointment, when medications may be necessary, and how nutrition and lifestyle can work alongside medical treatment.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How Dr. Yu's experience with gout and spondyloarthritis shaped his approach to medicine
What rheumatologists actually treat and why they often serve as "detectives" for complex cases
Common misconceptions about rheumatologists, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine
Why time constraints within conventional healthcare can make complex autoimmune care challenging
What integrative and functional rheumatology looks like in practice
Why medication and lifestyle interventions don't have to be mutually exclusive
How to prepare for a rheumatology appointment and make the most of limited time
Why tracking symptoms, medications, supplements, and your health history can help your physician
How patients and their prescribing providers can approach medication changes when health improves
Why building a multidisciplinary healthcare team can be valuable for autoimmune disease
Understanding Food Reactions: Why Foods Affect People Differently (Ep 096)
Épisode 96
lundi 14 septembre 2026 • Durée 42:42
Episode 96: Understanding Food Reactions: Why Foods Affect People Differently
One of the central goals of the Autoimmune Protocol is figuring out which foods work for you and which ones don’t. But when a symptom appears after eating a food, what actually counts as a food reaction—and does every reaction mean the same thing?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott explores the science of food reactions and why they can look so different from person to person. She breaks down the major categories of reactions, including food allergies, celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, digestive intolerances, and reactions to specific compounds in foods.
Mickey also explains why a reaction and its underlying mechanism aren’t necessarily the same thing, and why that distinction matters when personalizing your diet. She explores how dose, timing, preparation, digestive function, and other factors can influence food tolerance, plus why a reproducible reaction can still provide useful information even when science can’t yet explain exactly why it happens.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The many ways a food reaction can show up, including changes in autoimmune symptoms
The difference between a food reaction and its underlying biological mechanism
How food allergies, celiac disease, food sensitivities, and digestive intolerances differ
Why dose, timing, preparation, and digestive function can influence food tolerance
How compounds like histamine and sulfites can trigger symptoms in some people
Why meaningful food reactions can occur even when we don’t fully understand the mechanism
Why food reactions can be difficult to identify when symptoms fluctuate
How AIP elimination and reintroduction help identify the foods that work for you
Resources:
The Autoimmune Protocol: theautoimmuneprotocol.com
The New Autoimmune Protocol by Mickey Trescott
Episode Timeline:
00:00 – Understanding what constitutes a food reaction
03:24 – What can a food reaction actually look like?
Understanding Perimenopause: A Beginner's Guide with Dr. Mariza Snyder (Ep 95)
Épisode 95
lundi 7 septembre 2026 • Durée 50:59
Episode 95: Understanding Perimenopause: A Beginner’s Guide with Dr. Mariza Snyder
Perimenopause can feel especially confusing when you’re already living with autoimmune disease. Changes in sleep, mood, energy, inflammation, cognition, and even how your body responds to familiar strategies can leave you wondering: Is this an autoimmune flare, perimenopause, or both?
In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by functional medicine practitioner, bestselling author, and women’s hormone health expert Dr. Mariza Snyder for a Perimenopause 101 conversation designed to help women understand what’s actually happening during this transition.
Together, they explore when perimenopause can begin, the surprising symptoms that often appear before cycle changes, and why fluctuating estrogen and progesterone may be especially disruptive for women managing autoimmune disease. They also discuss the foundational role of nutrition, sleep, strength training, metabolic health, and stress resilience, plus where hormone replacement therapy may fit into a personalized approach.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What perimenopause is and why it can begin as early as the late 30s
Why symptoms can appear years before noticeable menstrual cycle changes
Common early symptoms, including anxiety, irritability, brain fog, sleep disruption, and mood changes
Why perimenopause and autoimmune flares can be difficult to distinguish
How estrogen and progesterone interact with immune regulation and inflammation
Why strategies that worked for years may suddenly feel less effective
How tracking symptoms alongside your menstrual cycle can reveal important patterns
Why blood sugar regulation, nutrition, sleep, strength, and stress resilience matter in perimenopause
Dr. Mariza’s “landing the plane” strategy for improving your nighttime routine
How to advocate for better perimenopause care and know when to seek additional support
Where hormone replacement therapy may fit alongside foundational lifestyle strategies
Why your needs may continue to change throughout the perimenopause transition
Resources:
Why individual choices matter, but broader policy changes are also essential
00:00 – Why perimenopause can be confusing with autoimmune disease
03:16 – Introducing Dr. Mariza Snyder
04:28 – Perimenopause 101: What are we dealing with?
10:28 – Common and surprising symptoms of perimenopause
17:14 – The perimenopause-autoimmune connection
23:22 – Why old strategies can stop working in perimenopause
28:27 – A foundational approach to perimenopause
35:28 – Knowing when to dig deeper and advocate for care
40:57 – Hormone replacement therapy in perimenopause
46:09 – Hope for autoimmune women navigating perimenopause
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