Roy Keane’s daughter has shared her harrowing battle with lupus, crediting her dad’s “brilliant sense of humour” and a diet rich in free-from superfoods for getting her through the toughest times. Caragh Keane, 29, from Manchester, was struck by the diagnosis of lupus—an incurable autoimmune disease—in 2021 at just 25 years old, after suffering from joint pain, alopecia, and agonising blisters on her face and body.

The debilitating fatigue and “severe stabbing pain” meant she had to give up her dream teaching job, with doctors warning her that a lifetime of immunosuppressants and even chemotherapy might be on the cards. Caragh confessed that she initially blamed herself for the illness and feared her “life was over”, but found unwavering support in her parents, Theresa and Roy, saying: “I wouldn’t be here without them.”

At her lowest point, feeling trapped with “no way out”, Caragh’s fortunes began to turn when she switched to an anti-inflammatory and gut-friendly diet, which remarkably improved her symptoms. This transformation led her to launch Superkeen Foods, her own brand aimed at supporting others with lupus on their path to recovery.

The brand boasts award-winning cereal and products that are gluten-free, nut-free, milk-free, egg-free, 100% natural, and tailored for those following an autoimmune protocol.

Caragh said: “When I was diagnosed, I mourned the person I had been and the person I felt I should have been. But when I look at it now, it’s obviously led me on this journey and I’m grateful for the good moments.

“With the main overarching aim of being inclusive and knowing you’re not alone, I hope that I can help people. Everyone’s on their own journey, but we’re all in it together.”

Lupus symptoms can range from joint and muscle pain to extreme fatigue and skin rashes. For Caragh, the first signs of this chronic autoimmune disease were painful blisters on her hands, followed by severe exhaustion and hair loss. The fatigue was so intense that she once had to pull over while driving to take a nap and even dozed off during a hair appointment, leaving her feeling “absolutely mortified”.

“The fatigue was unbearable, but you just power on,” she admitted. After completing her teacher training, Caragh began experiencing severe joint pain, to the point where she couldn’t even turn her car’s steering wheel.

She attended a job interview at what she described as her “dream school at the time”, but during the mock lesson she led, Caragh said she could barely move due to the pain and burst into tears afterwards. Despite being offered the primary school teaching role, she had to decline it because she was too “poorly”.

“After that, I was essentially bed-bound for a month-and-a-half, and then my blisters spread across my chest and face and my alopecia was really severe,” she recalled. “I had been experiencing fatigue and memory loss for about six months, but you just plough through, thinking, ‘Well, nothing’s that extreme, I’ll just get on with it’.”

Caragh’s life took a dramatic turn when excruciating pain left her bedridden and even caused her to faint, prompting her to seek further medical advice. Blood tests eventually led to a lupus diagnosis in 2021.

Faced with the prospect of lifelong immunosuppressants, she couldn’t help but wonder, “What is my life going to look like? ” Caragh shared her inner turmoil: “Since your immune system is essentially attacking itself, you feel like you only have yourself to blame, which is horrible.

“You think, ‘Why is my own body attacking itself? What have I done to cause this?’ In the darkest times, I thought, ‘There’s no way out of this’.”

Convinced her “life was over”, Caragh turned to meditation for some “relief” and “inner peace”. However, it was the unwavering support from her family that truly made a difference.

Her mother’s constant reassurances, telling her “you’re going to get better, your body can heal itself”, and her father’s infectious humour and zest for life were her beacons of hope. “My mum very much believes in the power of your body being able to heal itself… and even when I have flare-ups with my health, she helps put things back into perspective,” Caragh recounted.

“My dad is incredible as well. He’s the best person for advice and I think he’s helped me so much.”

Feeling blessed for their presence, Caragh resolved to transform her ordeal into something positive, embarking on a quest to find ways to ease her symptoms.

Caragh’s journey towards wellness took her through the world of anti-inflammatory, unprocessed and gut-friendly foods as she concocted her own nutritious recipes. She whipped up dishes like bone broth and loaded sweet potatoes topped with avocados, chicken, and “hearty vegetables” noticing positive changes before long.

“I started eating real whole foods, so I focused on good meat, fish and healthy fats, veggies and fruits, gut-healing foods like bone broth and fermented food, and supplements,” Caragh revealed. The effects were transformative: “I started noticing my hair growing back and all my blisters started fading on my face.

“My joint pain subsided after a few months and then I remember thinking, ‘There are lots of people out there suffering that don’t know the healing properties of food’.”

This thought sparked a flame in Caragh to craft products that could enable others to “reset and heal (themselves)”, leading to the birth of Superkeen.

Hitting the market this month, both in physical stores and online, Superkeen products are set to grace the shelves of health-conscious retailers such as Whole Foods, Planet Organic and eventually, Selfridges. Caragh expresses her “gratefulness” for the overwhelming positivity coming her way.

On the medical front, NHS guidelines recognise the importance of drugs in managing lupus but also reinforce a healthy, balanced diet complete with vitamin D and calcium to alleviate symptoms. As Caragh embraces her diet as the main way of controlling her lupus, she shares that she is the “happiest (she’s) ever been”.

“Not one size fits all, but the bigger picture is to have a brand where everyone feels that they can reach for it, no one has ingredient anxiety and they feel positive,” explained Caragh. She emphasised her commitment to inclusivity and support in wellness by adding, “Everyone’s on their health journey and I’m along with them.”

To discover more about the brand, you can follow @superkeenfoods on Instagram or see the website: superkeenfoods.com.

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