“Auto” means self. Autoimmunity is usually described as an immune attack on the body’s own tissues. In Gut and Physiology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride asks what those tissues have been exposed to and why the immune system is responding. Her explanation centers on proteins altered by microbes, their products, and environmental contamination.[1][3][4][5]
How Campbell-McBride Explains the Immune Attack
The 2020 book describes pain, inflammation, and abnormal function as effects of immune activity. Campbell-McBride argues that suppressing this activity can reduce symptoms while leaving the material provoking it in place. Her criticism concerns the difference between reducing a response and removing its continuing trigger.[1]
She therefore directs attention to the tissues the immune system is acting on. In her model, altered and contaminated proteins give the immune system real cleanup work to do. The GAPS approach seeks to reduce that exposure and support the body’s repair, rather than treating the immune system itself as an enemy.[1][5]
Molecular Mimicry and the Rheumatic Fever Example
The book describes molecular mimicry as a proposed explanation in which antibodies against a microbial protein also react with a similar protein in the body. Campbell-McBride discusses rheumatic fever as the example from which that explanation developed, involving streptococcal infection and heart-valve injury.[2]
She asks whether toxins from the infection could damage or change heart-valve proteins, with the immune system then responding to abnormal tissue. This is the alternative she proposes. The same passage explicitly calls antibiotics lifesaving and gives streptococcal throat infection as a situation in which they may be necessary.[2]
Microbial Transglutaminase and Altered Proteins
Microbial transglutaminase, abbreviated mTg, is the enzyme discussed in the next part of the chapter. It can cross-link proteins into a glue-like structure. Campbell-McBride describes its use in processed meat, fish, dairy, baked products, sweets, and gelatin, and gives an estimated Western intake of about 15 mg daily. That is the estimate reported in her 2020 book, rather than a measurement of your own diet.[3]
The chapter describes microbial mTg binding to food proteins such as gluten. It connects the resulting complexes with gut-wall damage and antibody production. It also says abnormal gut flora can produce mTg. The body’s own tissue transglutaminase, tTg, has a different structure; the author distinguishes its normal functions from microbial mTg reaching places where it does not belong.[3] A 2017 paper cited by the book examines bacterial mTg and processed-food exposure as potential contributors to autoimmunity.[6]
Environmental and Medication Examples
Campbell-McBride extends her altered-protein explanation to environmental chemicals. She uses glyphosate as an example, describing its substitution for glycine in proteins and a resulting change in collagen. Her chapter connects that changed tissue with an immune response directed at contamination.[4] The 2017 paper she cites proposes glycine substitution as a mechanism connecting glyphosate exposure with altered proteins.[7]
Drug-induced lupus is her medication example. The chapter names approximately 38 drugs associated with it when used over long periods, across several drug groups. It says symptoms disappear when the responsible drug is stopped, using that observation to illustrate a continuing chemical trigger. This is the book’s explanation of drug-induced disease, not a direction to change a prescription.[4]
What She Means by Contamination Disease
“Contamination disease” is Campbell-McBride’s proposed name for this framework. The phrase directs attention to damaged proteins and the material changing them, including gut-derived toxins, microbial enzymes, and environmental chemicals. It also explains why the chapter gives such a central role to restoring the gut wall and reducing exposure.[5]
The chapter names celiac disease, type one diabetes, lupus, Sjogren’s syndrome, thyroid conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune diagnoses. It proposes that chronic diseases can contain an autoimmune component because the immune system uses antibodies among its tools for dealing with affected tissues. This is the breadth of the author’s model, rather than a claim that those diagnoses are interchangeable.[5]
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Does She Distinguish Symptom Relief From the Trigger?
In her explanation, reducing immune activity can reduce the pain and inflammation it produces. Her question is whether the continuing source of altered or contaminated tissue has also been addressed. That distinction is why the chapter discusses gut-derived exposure alongside the immune response.[1][5]
Does She Reject the Molecular Mimicry Explanation?
She challenges the idea of an immune system mistakenly attacking normal tissue and proposes altered tissue as the target instead. In the rheumatic-fever discussion, she raises infection, toxins, and changes in heart-valve proteins as the alternative explanation. Keep that stated position attached to her 2020 book.[1][2]
Does the 15 mg Estimate Describe My Intake?
No. It is the estimate for an average Western diet quoted in the 2020 chapter. The passage lists processed-food uses; it does not measure the mTg in a particular meal or product. You can use the examples to understand the author’s food-industry discussion without turning the estimate into a personal exposure total.[3]
Does “Contamination Disease” Mean Autoimmune Conditions Aren’t Serious?
No. The chapter treats tissue damage, inflammation, and loss of function as real. Its proposed name changes the explanation of what the immune system is responding to. Campbell-McBride’s recommended response remains gut repair, nourishment, microbial balance, and reduced toxic exposure.[5]
Where to Start
Start with the GAPS gut-origin guide to see how the whole plan fits together. For two different altered-protein examples, read the tetracycline explanation and the acetaldehyde explanation.
If you are ready to compare the food routes, use Intro versus Full GAPS. That comparison gives you a concrete starting decision alongside the mechanism explained here.
My Understanding & Preparing for the GAPS Diet course is for the practical work that follows this reading: choosing a route, preparing the kitchen, and finding the foods you need. The course is listed in the WFLI shop.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Immune system,” “What is autoimmunity?”, opening immune-suppression discussion.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “What is autoimmunity?”, molecular mimicry, rheumatic fever, and the lifesaving-antibiotic example.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “What is autoimmunity?”, microbial and tissue transglutaminases, processed-food uses, and the reported intake estimate.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “What is autoimmunity?”, collagen, glyphosate, and drug-induced lupus examples.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “What is autoimmunity?”, contamination-disease framework, condition examples, and GAPS Nutritional Protocol discussion.
- Lerner, A., Aminov, R., and Matthias, T. (2017). Transglutaminases in Dysbiosis As Potential Environmental Drivers of Autoimmunity. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8:66. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.00066. Hypothesis and theory paper cited in the 2020 book.
- Samsel, A., and Seneff, S. (2017). Glyphosate pathways to modern diseases VI: Prions, amyloidoses and autoimmune neurological diseases. Journal of Biological Physics and Chemistry, 17:8–32. Author-hosted paper cited in the 2020 book.
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