Celiac, Crohn's, Lyme, and Healing Through Food
Listen Now! Apple | Spotify | YouTube
Tammie Delveaux spent over a decade fighting three autoimmune diagnoses at once: celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and ankylosing spondylitis, plus Lyme disease, mold toxicity, POTS, and SIBO along the way. At her worst, she was bedridden and eventually needed a double hip replacement due to joint damage. Today, she's the founder of Belly Love Holistic Wellness in the Chippewa Valley, and she says the thing that finally stopped her pain wasn't another prescription. It was food.
What's Causing Autoimmune Disease, and Why Isn't "The Body Attacking Itself" the Full Story?
Tammie's functional approach reframes autoimmunity as a response to underlying toxicity, not the immune system malfunctioning on its own. She points to triggers like mold, parasites, and heavy metals as the real drivers behind conditions conventional medicine often files under "autoimmune."
Tammie says she sees a mold component in nearly every autoimmune case she works with. Rather than accepting a diagnosis at face value, she encourages clients to ask what's irritating the immune system in the first place, whether that's an environmental exposure, a pathogen, or a nutrient deficiency the body's been compensating for. She also frames POTS through this lens, describing it as a nervous system disorder that stays sensitive to triggers like caffeine long after the initial illness.
Why Do So Many People With Gluten Sensitivity Test Negative for Celiac Disease?
Tammie explains that celiac disease is only one piece of the gluten picture, and conventional testing often misses the rest. She notes that roughly half of people with celiac are asymptomatic, and that most people who react to gluten aren't technically celiac at all, they have a non-celiac sensitivity that standard bloodwork isn't built to catch.
To close that gap, Tammie uses functional tools like the wheat zoomer test, the GI map stool test, and bioenergetic testing. She walks through six distinct ways gluten can damage the body: increased intestinal permeability, immune activation, microbiome disruption, nutrient depletion, inflammation, and autoimmune cross-reactivity.
Part of the problem, she says, traces back to the wheat itself. Modern wheat is often bleached, stripped of nutrients, then fortified synthetically, and treated with glyphosate, a pesticide she describes as functioning almost like a built-in antibiotic that can't be washed off. For people without a sensitivity who still want better bread, she suggests grinding organic wheat berries at home to preserve fiber and protein. For people who do react, she points them toward whole foods first, quality meats, fruits, and vegetables, over packaged gluten-free substitutes.
"I wanted to learn the roots of what was causing my diseases and bring my inflammation back into balance."
What's the Real Connection Between Mold, Lyme Disease, and Chronic Illness?
Tammie's own health history includes both, and she treats them as connected rather than separate diagnoses. She describes mold mycotoxins as substances that can accumulate in the gut and recirculate through bile, crossing cell membranes in ways that keep the body inflamed.
In her view, conditions like Crohn's are often better understood as chronic inflammation driven by exposures like mold, retroviruses, or parasites, rather than the immune system attacking itself for no reason. She tracks inflammation through markers like calprotectin and leans on therapeutic diets, such as low-histamine, gluten-free, dairy-free, or grain-free protocols, to support gut healing.
On Lyme specifically, Tammie describes it as a "pathogen soup," often involving Borrelia, Bartonella, and Babesia together, that can push the body into a chronic stress response. She flags Wisconsin as high-risk for tick exposure and recommends consistent tick checks and non-toxic repellents. She also cautions that leaning on antibiotics alone can sometimes drive Lyme deeper into tissue rather than resolving it, and prefers pairing conventional treatment with herbal support guided by bioenergetic testing to target specific co-infections.
Key takeaway: Tammie treats "autoimmune" as a starting point for investigation, not the end of the conversation, especially when mold or tick-borne illness is in the picture.
How Did a Starch-Free Diet Reverse Her Ankylosing Spondylitis Pain in Two Weeks?
Ankylosing spondylitis is an inflammatory disease that targets the spine and joints, often worse at night, and left unmanaged, it can cause the spine to fuse, something Tammie experienced firsthand. She notes not everyone with the condition tests positive for the HLA-B27 gene, which is part of why she thinks diet-based intervention gets overlooked as a serious tool.
For Tammie personally, a starch-free diet eliminated her pain within two weeks. She sees this same dietary model as useful across the broader family of spondyloarthritides, including psoriatic and enteropathic arthritis. She also connects long-term inflammation to secondary issues she experienced herself: osteoarthritis, dactylitis, uveitis, and costochondritis, along with "air hunger," and encourages anyone noticing those symptoms to get them investigated rather than normalized. For joint damage that's already occurred, she points to collagen, glucosamine, and bone broth as support tools, while acknowledging that severe bone-on-bone degeneration may still need surgery, which is exactly what led to her own hip replacements.
Key takeaway: Tammie doesn't reject conventional medicine; she pairs it with root-cause work, including using antibiotics when needed to protect her titanium hips from infection.
What's the Simplest First Step Toward Healing Your Relationship With Food?
After years of treating food as something to restrict, Tammie now teaches clients to count nutrients instead of calories. She's outspoken about body positivity, pointing out that health isn't defined by size and that her own healing accelerated once she let go of chasing a "skinniest" standard and focused on absorbing nutrients instead.
Her advice for getting started is small and specific: pick one meal a week to cook at home, ideally something tied to a family recipe, rather than overhauling everything at once. She's a strong advocate for eating breakfast specifically, citing its role in blood sugar regulation, hormone health, and inflammation. Her go-to approach is a fiber-and-protein combination, egg cups with sautéed vegetables, chia pudding, or overnight oats with gluten-free oats, often with added protein powder or Greek yogurt. She also frames healing as non-linear, encouraging people to trust their intuition and keep seeking a provider who takes their symptoms seriously if the first one doesn't.
"My pain has become my purpose. Let's turn your pain into purpose, together!"
This episode covers personal experience with autoimmune conditions, chronic illness, and dietary protocols. It's for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for individualized medical advice from your own provider.
About Tammie Delveaux
Tammie Delveaux is a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Nationally Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition, and trained in Advanced Clinical & Integrative Nutrition Response Muscle Testing and Integrative Nutrition and Holistic Health Coaching. She's the founder of Belly Love Holistic Wellness in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where she works with clients on autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions using food-first nutrition, functional lab work, and bioenergetic testing.
Tammie's own health journey included celiac disease, Crohn's disease, ankylosing spondylitis, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, POTS, SIBO, and a double hip replacement. She's now in full remission and was a 2026 Red Letter Grant recipient, funding for a celiac-safe, dairy-free community kitchen space she's building in the Chippewa Valley. She also teaches inclusive cooking classes through Happy Belly Foodies.
If you’d like to connect with Tammie, you can find her here:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and how is it different from celiac disease? Tammie explains that celiac disease is an autoimmune reaction that damages the small intestine's villi, but many people react to gluten without meeting the criteria for a celiac diagnosis. She recommends functional testing, like a wheat zoomer or GI map, when standard bloodwork comes back clear but symptoms persist.
Can diet help autoimmune disease? Tammie says diet was the turning point in her own recovery, crediting a starch-free protocol with eliminating her ankylosing spondylitis pain within two weeks. She frames therapeutic diets as tools for reducing inflammation, not permanent restrictions.
What's the connection between mold and chronic illness? Tammie sees mold exposure as a factor in nearly every autoimmune case she encounters, describing mold mycotoxins as substances that can recirculate through the body and drive ongoing inflammation.
How do I start eating healthier without feeling overwhelmed? Tammie's advice is to start with one home-cooked meal a week, ideally something tied to a favorite family recipe, rather than trying to change everything at once.
If today's episode spoke to you, tag me on Instagram, share it with a friend, or leave a review. That's how we build stronger, healthier communities together, one practitioner, one story, one family at a time.
