Hi PaleoCH,

Like you I am a fellow newbie here (though oldie on other sites) who is on a LC diet mostly to combat an illness- in my case inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). I am on a lower carb version of the so-called Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I am on a hybrid of the SCD and induction Atkins, and it significantly helps me.

IBD is not necessarily defined as auto-immune, but in many respects it is. In my case, I certainly don't need to lose any weight (would like to gain a few pounds), but as a former carb addict I'd rather be thin and healthy than a little heavier and sick all the time.

This site is loaded with tons of links which I'm sure discuss benefits of LCing to RA, but FYI here are a few links to the SCD, as well as to the auto-immune discussion in Lutz book "life without bread," and a link to a low-starch diets that seems to help many with ankylosing spondytis (AS), which I don't have but which is probably auto-immune.

http://breakingtheviciouscycle.info/ (start here)
http://www.scdiet.org
http://www.scdiet.com
http://www.scdiet.org/7archives/lutz/lutz7.html
http://www.kickas.org (see the 'diet center' articles)