The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast

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.

• 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

• Episode 56: My Healing Journey Update
• The New Autoimmune Protocol by Mickey Trescott
• The Autoimmune Protocol: https://theautoimmuneprotocol.com
• Follow Mickey on Instagram: @mickeytrescott

00:00 – What healing looks like 15 years into autoimmune disease

03:10 – What I'm eating these days

10:43 – My autoimmune update

13:22 – Hashimoto's and thyroid treatment update

15:32 – Perimenopause, hormone therapy, and sleep

19:06 – My DEXA scan and osteopenia surprise

22:13 – Testosterone, tendon pain, and getting stronger

25:18 – Stress, resilience, and enjoying a good season

28:00 – An update on supplements

29:14 – Wrap-up and closing

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.

• 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

• Follow Dr. Guillermo Ruiz: @3030strong
• Contact Dr. Ruiz: [email protected]
• Dr. Ruiz Practice: Go Health

Episode Timeline:

00:00 – How do we know what health information to trust?

02:20 – Introducing Dr. Guillermo Ruiz

04:32 – Why navigating health information online is so challenging

17:56 – Evaluating health headlines, studies, and products

29:29 – How to navigate personal stories and anecdotes

34:12 – The hidden risks of supplements and herbal medicine

40:31 – Red flags in online health content

44:32 – How to approach personal experimentation with caution

50:39 – Wrap-up and where to follow Dr. Ruiz

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.

• 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
• Why connecting the AIP community with broader autoimmune advocacy and research matters
• How the AIP BIPOC Network is helping people navigate changing insurance, pharmacy, and food benefits
• What Jamie-Nicole’s autoimmune and menopause research project is exploring
• Why community resources need to evolve as people move through different stages of life with autoimmune disease

• Exploring Participant Experiences With the Autoimmune Protocol Diet in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study
• Autoimmune Association – Hope Journey Walk, research, advocacy, and patient support
• AIP BIPOC Network
• AIP Certified Coach Program & Practitioner Directory

00:00 – Introduction to the Q4 Community Update and Episode 100

01:56 – Research update with Sybil Cooper, PhD

03:00 – Understanding qualitative vs. quantitative research

05:20 – Challenges participants experienced implementing AIP

08:10 – The role of professional, household, and peer support

10:40 – What participants were eating one year later

13:15 – Reintroductions, long-term success, and lessons for the AIP community

15:50 – Jaime Hartman: Hope Journey Walk & Team AIP

17:20 – What the Hope Journey Walk was like

20:00 – Why Team AIP’s presence matters

22:40 – Community connection and the broader autoimmune movement

26:36 – Jamie-Nicole Martin: AIP BIPOC Network update

27:30 – Navigating changes to benefits and healthcare access

29:30 – Autoimmune disease and menopause research

31:00 – Community outreach and the Abilities Expo

33:00 – Connecting people with resources throughout the autoimmune journey

34:45 – What’s next for the AIP BIPOC Network

36:02 – Episode 100 reflections and wrap-up

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.

• 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

• Book: ADHD and Women by Dr. Jolene Brighten
• ADHD and Women resources and bonuses: drbrighten.com/adhdinwomen
• Podcast: The Dr. Brighten Show
• Follow Dr. Jolene Brighten: @drjolenebrighten

00:00 – ADHD, hormones, and autoimmune disease

01:59 – Introducing Dr. Jolene Brighten

04:10 – How ADHD presents in women

06:48 – What is going on in an ADHD brain?

11:19 – How ADHD symptoms change throughout the menstrual cycle

16:42 – How perimenopause affects ADHD

24:57 – How HRT can affect the ADHD brain

33:44 – The relationship between autoimmune disease and ADHD

37:58 – How to “microdose your microbiome”

43:12 – Food sensitivities and ADHD

45:54 – How to tackle overwhelm with ADHD

49:40 – Wrap-up and closing

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.

• 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

• Episode 54: A Deep Dive Into the AIP Reintroduction Process
• The Autoimmune Protocol: theautoimmuneprotocol.com
• Research on confocal laser endomicroscopy and food-related reactions in IBS (Study 1 and Study 2)

00:00 – Can food sensitivity tests really identify problem foods?

02:59 – IgG food sensitivity testing

07:16 – MRT, ALCAT, and other food sensitivity tests

12:31 – What does it mean for a test to be validated?

16:22 – But what if the test worked for me?

19:28 – Why elimination and reintroduction remain the gold standard

23:10 – Emerging research into food reactions we can’t yet test for

26:52 – Reframing food sensitivity testing

31:33 – Wrap-up and closing

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.

• 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

• Dr. Lifestyle: https://drlifestyle.org
• My Autoimmune MD: https://myautoimmunemd.com
• Social Media: @MyAutoimmuneMD
• Podcast: Autoimmune Alchemy

00:00 – Why rheumatology and lifestyle medicine don't have to be either/or

02:15 – Introducing Dr. Micah Yu

03:41 – Dr. Yu's personal journey with autoimmune arthritis

07:40 – Rheumatology 101: What does a rheumatologist do?

10:15 – Common misconceptions about rheumatology

16:15 – What integrative and functional rheumatology looks like

19:40 – How to get the most out of a rheumatology appointment

22:02 – Combining medication with diet and lifestyle

25:27 – Hope for people living with autoimmune disease

27:34 – Dr. Yu's advice for building a healthcare team

28:22 – Wrap-up and where to follow Dr. Yu

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.

• 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

• The Autoimmune Protocol: theautoimmuneprotocol.com
• The New Autoimmune Protocol by Mickey Trescott

00:00 – Understanding what constitutes a food reaction

03:24 – What can a food reaction actually look like?

07:29 – Food allergy: When the immune system reacts to food

15:22 – Gluten reactions: Celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity

21:54 – Food intolerances: When digestion and absorption are the problem

27:35 – Reactions to compounds in food: When it isn’t the food itself

35:37 – Why food reactions can be so hard to figure out

40:06 – Bringing it back to AIP: Finding the foods that work for you

42:06 – Wrap-up and closing

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.

• 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

• Book: The Perimenopause Revolution
• The Perimenopause Revolution resources: drmariza.com/book
• Podcast: Energized with Dr. Mariza

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

For many people, changing the way they eat because of autoimmune disease can feel like losing more than food. It can affect family traditions, cultural connection, travel, restaurants, and the simple feeling of belonging around a shared table.

In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott is joined by Bernice Imei Hsu, registered nurse, licensed mental health counselor, National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and AIP Certified Coach, to explore the emotional and cultural journey of living with dietary restrictions.

Five years after writing her Autoimmune Wellness article, "Bringing Culture Back to the Kitchen," Imei reflects on what she has learned about healing, reintroductions, adapting traditional foods, and becoming what she calls a "Food Nomad." Together, Mickey and Imei discuss why healing isn't simply about getting foods back. It's also about finding new ways to reconnect with culture, relationships, travel, and joy.

• What Imei means by becoming a "Food Nomad"
• Why dietary restrictions can affect identity, culture, and belonging
• Why adapting cultural recipes can take years of experimentation
• How reintroducing foods like soy helped Imei reconnect with family traditions
• What Imei learned from experimenting with gluten-free sourdough and other foods
• Why healing and food tolerance can continue evolving long after the elimination phase
• Ways to navigate family gatherings when you can't eat traditional foods
• How to give yourself permission to adapt traditions instead of perfectly recreating them
• What it means to become the "keeper of the food flame"
• Why grief around food and cultural traditions is a normal part of the autoimmune journey
• How to hold onto hope when you're still early in elimination or reintroductions

• Bringing Culture Back to the Kitchen – Imei's original 2021 article on Autoimmune Wellness
• Imei Hsu on Instagram: @everydaywithimei

00:00 – Food, identity, belonging, and autoimmune disease

02:34 – Introducing Bernice Imei Hsu

03:39 – What it means to be a "Food Nomad"

06:17 – Revisiting "Bringing Culture Back to the Kitchen"

13:21 – The long game of healing and food reintroductions

18:19 – Gluten-free sourdough baking experiments

25:58 – Bringing culture back into the kitchen

31:48 – Food, belonging, and navigating relationships

37:55 – Giving yourself permission to adapt tradition

42:09 – Becoming the "keeper of the food flame"

46:12 – Encouragement for anyone grieving foods or traditions

48:24 – Wrap-up and where to follow Imei

What happens when people put the Autoimmune Protocol into practice—not in a clinical trial, but in real life?

To celebrate the launch of The New Autoimmune Protocol, hundreds of readers joined a guided online community where they worked through the new Transition Phase, completed 30 days of either Core or Modified AIP, tracked their symptoms, and supported one another along the way.

In this episode of the Autoimmune Wellness Podcast, Mickey Trescott shares the results from this unique community experience. While this wasn't a formal research study, the symptom improvements closely mirrored many of the findings from published AIP research—and the participant stories reveal the power of preparation, accountability, and community support.

Together, these survey results offer a real-world look at what implementing AIP can look like, what people struggled with, what surprised them, and why healing is often about much more than food alone.

• Why Mickey created a guided community alongside The New Autoimmune Protocol
• What surprised her most about who joined the program
• Why the new Transition Phase helped participants feel more prepared for elimination
• How overall autoimmune symptom severity changed after 30 days
• Which symptoms improved the most, including digestion, energy, sleep, pain, and brain fog
• Three standout participant stories that illustrate the range of real-world experiences
• How these community results compare with published AIP research
• Why symptom tracking is one of the most valuable tools during AIP
• The importance of community support when implementing dietary change
• How to join the ongoing Autoimmune Protocol community

• The New Autoimmune Protocol – Mickey Trescott's updated guide featuring the Transition Phase, Core and Modified AIP, and personalized reintroductions
• The Autoimmune Protocol Community
• Episode 59: The First Published AIP Study in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Episode 61: AIP and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis Research
• Episode 63: AIP IBD Gene Expression Study
• Episode 65: New Hashimoto's Research from Poland
• Episode 89: The First AIP Pilot Trial in Rheumatoid Arthritis with Julianne Taylor

00:00 – Introduction and overview of the community experience

02:39 – Why Mickey created The New Autoimmune Protocol community

06:38 – Who joined the community?

09:45 – The new Transition Phase in action

14:33 – What happened after 30 days?

17:16 – Overall autoimmune symptom improvements

19:12 – Energy and sleep results

20:03 – Digestive health improvements

21:53 – Joint pain and inflammation

22:42 – Brain fog, skin, and other symptom changes

23:59 – Three standout participant stories

28:58 – Comparing community results to published research

32:06 – Mickey's biggest takeaways

36:26 – An invitation to join the ongoing community

40:11 – Wrap-up and closing