Published on September 23, 2019
by Lindsay Christensen, M.S., CNS

Lyme disease, contracted from the bite of a black-legged tick carrying Borrelia bacteria, is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States. At least 300,000 people are newly diagnosed each year in the U.S., and a shocking 1.5 million have chronic Lyme disease. (1)

As a clinical nutritionist working with clients who have Lyme disease, I’ve seen firsthand how a Functional Medicine approach based on simple dietary changes can boost energy, support cognitive function, and alleviate chronic inflammation, reducing the impact of Lyme disease on my clients’ lives. While nutrition cannot cure Lyme disease, it can ease symptoms and improve your clients’ overall health, complementing their Lyme treatment protocols and accelerating the healing process.

As a dietitian or CNS, you are no doubt familiar with the abundance of conflicting dietary information available on the internet for just about every health condition! Unfortunately, Lyme disease is no exception. Dubious information on the so-called “best” diet for Lyme disease abounds online, with people promoting everything from strict vegetable juice “cleanses” to a meat-only carnivore diet. For the Lyme disease patient struggling with treatment decisions, chronic fatigue, pain, and brain fog, sorting through all this information can feel daunting. My goal is to offer you a no-nonsense nutrition approach, grounded in science and ancestral health wisdom, that you can implement with your clients to assist them in their recovery from Lyme disease.