Vitiligo and Autoimmunity

Last Updated on 22nd April 2023 by Caroline Haye

If you are anything like me, you will have read and heard a lot about vitiligo and autoimmunity (As well as links between vitiligo and other autoimmune diseases like diabetes mellitus, thyroiditis, pernicious anaemia, alopecia areata, Addison disease and multiple endocrinopathy syndrome.) But you may be a bit unclear as to exactly what this means.

What is autoimmunity?

Of course, the actual cause (or, more likely, various causes) are still unclear. But most doctors categorise vitiligo as an autoimmune disease.  Autoimmune diseases occur when your immune system mistakes some part of your own body for an intruder. (e.g. Those shown in the diagram above.) In the case of vitiligo, the white patches that appear may be the result of the immune system attacking melanocytes in our skin. (These are the pigment- producing cells.) In other words, our own immune system, which is designed to protect us from infection, becomes “over-enthusiastic”. And, so it starts attacking our own healthy cells.

The question I have often asked myself in relation to autoimmune diseases is this… What is the correct way to treat such a condition?  Should you strengthen your immune system? (After all, that’s what we would do for other diseases.) Or should you do the opposite and suppress your immune system? (On the basis that it is over-active)?  I have asked several dermatologists and a couple of nutritionists this question in the past. But they have never given me a clear answer. I suspect this is because nobody really knows… And maybe the answer is different from one person to the next.

Is autoimmunity a balancing act?

The answer to that autoimmunity question is probably more complicated than it looks. It may not be as black and white as either strengthening or suppressing the immune system. Rather, isn’t it more likely to be a matter of stabilising and balancing it? And isn’t that more likely to return it to normal functioning?

The immune system is not an organ. It is not localised in one area of the body, but spread throughout it.  However, the gastrointestinal tract contains the largest number of immune cells of your whole body. They actually account for approximately 60% of your entire immune system. 

In my opinion, it is no coincidence that so many vitiligo sufferers I speak to have digestive problems. It seems logical that digestive and immune disorders often go hand-in-hand.  And it also seems logical that the best way to normalise malfunctioning digestive and immune systems should be through nutrition.

Following this logic, strengthening the digestive system might be a way of balancing the immune system (and maybe vice versa). And this, in turn, might then stop attacking the body, resulting in recovery from autoimmune symptoms (in this case, vitiligo). This theory of how to deal with autoimmune conditions has a lot of support from complementary medicine… And not so much from the medical establishment. But one of its main merits, it seems to me, is that it is safe and natural. The worst that it could do is make you generally healthier. And it does not have to interfere with other, prescribed treatments.

How can we balance our immune system?

So, what should we be eating if we want to heal our digestive and immune systems? Well, this useful article lists some of the key nutrients for fighting autoimmune diseases and, interestingly, those listed all feature prominently in the nutrition regime that I used to re-pigment my vitiligo. (e.g. protein, B vitamins, antioxidants, vitamins A, E, K and D, zinc and iron. All of these, and more, are in Five a Day and Boost.)  Glutamine also has a reputation for helping heal the lining of the stomach and for strengthening the immune system. And, something I did not know at the time, so does collagen, which was another of the supplements I took.

Of course, eating for digestive and immune health also means avoiding foods that are harmful to both… Like excess sugar, alcohol, caffeine and processed foods as well as any known allergens or food intolerances. (For example, many vitiligo sufferers seem to be sensitive to gluten).

So, my message in this post is this. It seems to me to be logical and common sense that one route to improving vitiligo (and other autoimmune conditions) may, in fact, be via the stomach. And my own experience certainly supports the theory.

For more on vitiligo and diet, see Eating For Vitiligo Recovery and Is A Healthy Balanced Diet Enough For Vitiligo?

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