The Keystone Approach: Healing Arthritis and Psoriasis by Restoring the Microbiome

This book not only gave me hope but helped with my pain. Arthritis caused both of my hips to be replaced in the past 2 years plus a shoulder and a knee surgery. Yes I feel like I’m falling apart. After my second hip replacement, arthritis found its way to my spine. I was scared and didn't know what to do as stretching and PT were not that effective. The diet in this book beat back the pain that would keep me up at night and gave me my life back. Who would have guessed the impact "food" would have on arthritis.....not me.....but I was out of other options. It took about me 2-3 weeks to feel a huge difference. Sometimes when I travel I don't follow the diet and I can feel the impact within a few days. So I'm a believer. The information is presented in a straight forward and clear manner. I have given this book to both my sisters who are unfortunately following in my footsteps. I have read other books like "Healing Arthritis" by Dr. Blum. But with the program that Dr. Blum outlines in her book you will need to spend over $4,000 on supplements to complete all 3 of her Steps. The Keystone Approach has more up-to-date research and works without the high priced supplements. It makes me smile every time I go off the diet then go back on and my pain goes away.

I can't say enough about how well written and informative this book is. I bought it on Kindle but it's one I'm also going to order in hard copy because I want it as a reference. My son was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis a few months ago and I think I've read at least 6 books on the disease. Most of them either forecast doom and gloom for victims of the disease or they try and assign one causal element when there are many. This books compiles the latest research on healing for autoimmune disease with a particular emphasis on Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's and Ankylosing Spondylitis so it was particularly relevant to our needs. The diet outlined in the book is the same as my son's Functional Medicine doctor prescribed as are the probiotics. I was so interested to read the pros and cons of different medicines and probiotics and to also learn what is going on at the cellular and organ levels in these diseases. The book helped us immensely and I can't thank Rebecca Fett enough.

The author recommends probiotics to restore gut health. Patients who are medically treated for Psoriatic Arthritis typically take DMARDs (Methotrexate) or biologics (ENBREL, Humira, etc.), all of which compromise the immune system. Immune compromised patients absolutely should not take probiotics because they are susceptible to SIBO (Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth.). I followed the author’s recommendations at my peril. SIBO is really hard to get rid of and wreaks systemic havoc on your body. The author used her legal training to make a case for something she already believes without benefit of scientific evidence to the contrary. Don’t follow her advice if you have Psoriatic Arthritis or you will get very sick as I did.

Suffering with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, I began the Keystone approach with the approval of my rheumatologist. I must admit I feel much better. It has been 7 months and I feel that I am in remission. It is a difficult diet to maintain but the difference in pain and discomfort makes it worth it. I have no plans to change from this program. Give it a shot, you might be pleasantly surprised like I have been.

I am so thankful for this book! It has saved me and getting me off pharmaceutical drugs! There is a review listed where someone gave low stars and not to follow this advise for Psoriatic Arthritis because it can cause SIBO. If the reviewer read the entire book and followed the recommendations, he/she would have read that she addresses SIBO. I also took the recommendation for supplements for SIBO and have had unbelievably results. They have taken time. 4 months since I started and I did do the advanced recommendations.My overarching diagnosis is autoimmune arthritis, but I believe it is the subcategory of Psoriatic Arthritis because I had one skin patch on my knee that started last summer.I went to the dermatologist in September after trying everything to help this unusual patch. A biopsy was taken and all I got back was “general eczema.” They gave me steroid cream which dried out and thickened my skin patch but was not healing it.I went to the rheumatologist the month after because of all the pain I was having in my joints and my general doctor referring me. (I could not even dress myself at this point. I am only 48 years old). He never did a biopsy. In December they gave me the “autoimmune arthritis” diagnosis after ruling out MS, Lupus, Crohn’s, etc.After my diagnosis I went crazy on a search for more. I found The Keystone Approach by Rebecca Fett. After following the recommendations in the book for Psoriatic Arthritis, these picture progressions are the physical evidence of my healing.The Keystone Approach explains the science for greater knowledge and understanding. The book gives specific recommendations for supplements, probiotics, digestive enzymes & supplements and diet changes depending on the type of autoimmune you have.** It is worth noting, I went right to the ADVANCED method recommendations from the book. There are 3 levels for each autoimmune. I wasn’t going to mess around and went directly to the most changes. It was hard, it still is hard. I swallow more supplements and pills a day than I could ever imagine but it is working.

The concepts of this book are novel, it does not repeat what is usually seen in diet books. It breaks the myths of Paleolithic, ketogenic diets, autoimmune protocols, The Wahls Protocol, GAPS, SCD, etc., with a lot of scientific background and the latest works based on clinical trials. I must say that it's the most integrative book on diets that I've read, the best in its class.Thank you very much for sharing your work.

I have not been able to lose any of the weight I put on due to methotrexate and painkiller. But as a side effect lost two stone in 4 months .It cleared up my skin from splits and sore peeling skin . Have stuck with it to help my RA

This book is a great addition to the repertoire of books that consider how diet affects disease, with this one aimed at people with autoimmune arthritis and related conditions. I am slightly surprised to consider myself in that group. I have read widely in recent years because of my health, and find that the author's conclusions support many of my own gained over this period: in short, avoid grains, eat more vegetables, scout out your own personal food intolerances, consider probiotics, and don't go overboard with saturated fat. The author explains things clearly and backs everything up with scientific references, much of it quite recent - too recent to have been incorporated into mainstream medical practice yet. This is emerging science so it won't necessarily all prove to be effective in the long run or for everyone, but it's absolutely fascinating stuff and my personal experience is that there is little to lose and potentially everything to gain from trying to personalise your diet. My only reservation was the author's outright rejection of organ meats, based on their arachidonic acid content, which seems rather a narrow perspective on a food that is otherwise viewed as a nutritional powerhouse in terms of its vitamin and mineral content. The second part of the book is taken up with recipes and references, so it's not a long read. I'd love to read more from this author about the emerging science of nutrition.

This is a very informative book that explains the science behind Psoriasis and arthritis in a very digestible way, if you forgive the pun.The diet section, on the other hand, is truly depressing and uninspiring. Does crispy salmon really qualify as a recipe suggestion!? As someone who is a keen cook, the recipes in the book are so utterly bland and, well, off putting.To sum up the food section, you can eat fish, low fat protein and green veg. Fruit is to eaten sparingly, and everything else is to be avoided. Or, as my girlfriend would put it..... it’s called the ‘starvation diet’

This book is fantastic. I love how well researched and evidenced based it is, and given the author's qualifications I trust she can interpret and present research findings as well as anyone can. I am very grateful for this book. And fascinated that while the book does not refer to John Pagano's work, the research backs up 90% of his recommendations. A must for the library of anyone suffering from psoriasis.

I have read quite a few books on Arthritis and diet but this book is clearly much more up to date, more informative in a practical way, and very well written. This is the book I will keep. The rest went to a local charity shop.