Nutrition

How I Reversed My Autoimmune Condition with a Personalized Diet

MOMO VUYISICH, CSO Headshot

My name is Momo Vuyisich, and I’m the Chief Science Officer and a co-founder of Viome. This is a personal story about how I reversed my autoimmune symptoms—not with medications, but with food. What I learned changed the course of my life and inspired me to create Viome to help others take control of their health too.


Years of Struggling with Mysterious Symptoms


My journey started in graduate school. I began having pain in my joints and other unexplained symptoms: swelling, tingling in my hands and feet, carpal tunnel syndrome, and restless legs at night. The symptoms would come and go, but each flare-up hit harder than the last. I tried everything—icing my hands, changing my exercise routines, even carpal tunnel surgery—but nothing worked long term.


Everyday tasks became difficult. Holding grocery bags, typing, even opening my laptop in the morning was painful. I experimented with many diets: low-carb, vegetarian, dairy-free, gluten-free, high-protein—you name it. Some helped a little, but none gave lasting relief. Worst of all, on a ketogenic diet, I began to lose my memory in my 30s.


Eventually, I went to a doctor. They told me I had an autoimmune condition of unknown etiology and warned me that I would be in a wheelchair in a decade or two. They wanted to prescribe multiple medications, each with serious side effects, including potential liver and kidney damage. I refused them. I knew there was a better, natural way. As a scientist, I couldn’t accept the idea that I was doomed to this condition for life.


A Scientific Finding That Changed my Life


I dug deep into the research, reading paper after paper, looking for a connection between diet and inflammation. After many false starts, I finally found the root cause of my symptoms. A molecule found in mammalian foods (red meat and dairy)—called Neu5Gc—can trigger a low-level immune reaction in some people. This immune response doesn't cause a sudden illness but instead leads to chronic inflammation over time.


This was my "aha" moment. I stopped eating all mammalian products—no red meat (beef, pork, lamb) or dairy. Within a month, I noticed my symptoms were fading. After three months, they were nearly gone. And by six months, I felt like I was in my twenties again. The pain was gone and the joints were again smooth. I felt truly healthy for the first time in years.


To make sure this wasn’t a coincidence, I reintroduced red meat and dairy three separate times. Each time, the symptoms returned. That was all the proof I needed.


Food Is Medicine


What this experience taught me is simple but powerful: food can be medicine, and sometimes it’s the most effective one. The foods we eat and the nutrients they contain don’t just feed us—they interact with our immune systems, our microbiomes, and our cells in ways that can either trigger disease or restore health.


My body was reacting to a specific molecule in food. And once I identified and removed it, my body healed itself. No pills. No injections. Just a change in diet.


I believe many people with health issues may have similar sensitivities and just don’t know it yet. Unfortunately, most doctors don’t look at food or gut health as possible root causes. Instead, the medical system often treats symptoms with expensive drugs that suppress the immune system and come with serious side effects.


But what if we could avoid those drugs? What if we could reverse autoimmune conditions by understanding how food and gut microbes influence our immune responses?


The Mission Behind Viome


Before co-founding Viome, I worked as a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where I saw the potential of the gut microbiome to transform healthcare. But we needed better technology to understand it—so my team developed it. We created a new method of sequencing RNA (not DNA), which shows what your microbes are actually doing in real time.


This technology became the foundation of Viome.


At Viome, our goal is to help people understand their unique biology and make personalized food choices that prevent chronic diseases before they start. Instead of trying diet after diet or relying on trial and error, we provide precise, science-backed recommendations based on your own microbiome and gene expression.


I started this journey because I had to. Now, I want to help others avoid years of pain and confusion—and maybe even inspire them to take their health into their own hands.