This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

In regard to your weight loss on the Wahls diet and current low weight (which your general surgeon described as "extremely thin"), I encourage you to watch the following video from The Dr. Oz Show, in which Dr. Joel Fuhrman (about 1:00) remarks that diets heavy in green, leafy vegetables have too few calories and result in people being too thin: http://www.doctoroz.com/episode/5-diet- ... ideo=16347

Fuhrman recommends eating forms of squash for numerous reasons, one of which is that squash does not cause a spike in insulin. Sweet potato and squash might be good for you every day. Although the main focus of his recent book is on diabetes, you might find benefit from his suggestions in his book, The End of Diabetes.

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My hypothesis: excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) plays a major role in MS, as developed in my initial post: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-discussion-f1/topic1878.html "Insulin – Could This Be the Key?"

any thoughts on these blood results?
should i be concerned?

i'm not a cbc interpretation expert.. all i know is you want your hemoglobin to be at least 13 (per klenner at least, not to mention your lab's range). and i would expect mcv to be high in b12 deficiency not repletion

your iron looks fine i would not take any more. could drive down zinc levels

what're your b12 and folate results again?

you can read in detail about all these tests here http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/cbc/
extremely valuable resource...

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

hi jl,

my b12 and folate were both High:
Vitamin B12 - 765 pg/mL - range = 191 - 663 - HIGH
Serum Folate - > 20.00 ng/mL - range = 4.6 - 18.7 - i assume they forgot to write HIGH on my results


So as we now know my iron levels are in range, do you think my borderline LOW copper is the reason for my LOW red, white and haemoglobin levels = anemia ?
is there other possible reasons for these low out-of-range levels, when my b12,m folate, and iron are all fine/normal?

Lynda, I experienced exactly the same weight loss when I was on a diet heavy in greens. That time Dr Wahls told me that I should eat more coconut oil.
It seems to me that dr Wahls is the only diet guru who tries to replicate her success with a group of MS patients, so it might be worth following exactly what she says. Does anyone know if she has a collection of recepies based on her diet for MS patients? It would be very useful to have several daily recepies from her that we could combine.

mcdougal also has a low fat diet study running that will report sometime this year
http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/news_event ... tandms.cfm

george jelinkek (http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/)
has a cohort study running, results sometime in 2013 as well i belive

the first study was quite impressive (some methodical weakness thou)

http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis. ... p+results/

i still find it hard to belive that everyone seems to have forgotten about the old swank in favour of meat/high sat fat diets.

http://www.swankmsdiet.org/About%20Dr%20Swank

and the french Dr. Kousmine

dc10 – I think long and hard about your situation and weight-loss on the Wahls diet. In view of my reading and JL's posting of the following Discover magazine article last year, I wonder if you are not getting enough fat. And you are trying the low-fat Swank diet now, right?

http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/in ... Nhrym9QWpU

Of the three macronutrients (fats, protein, and carbohydrates), fats and protein are NECESSARY for good health; carbohydrates are NOT necessary for good health. This is what Vilhjalmur Stefansson discovered after World War I when he lived with the Inuit for a decade, eating virtually NO fruits, NO vegetables (that is, NO carbohydrates). And staying very healthy!

It is a misconception that the brain and CNS require dietary glucose to function… animal foods [protein] contain all of the essential amino acids…. They also contain 12 of the 13 essential vitamins in large quantities. (Good Calories Bad Calories by Taubes, page 320 – 322)

Try adding more good fats to your diet, dc – fry an egg in coconut oil for breakfast each morning; eat an avocado each day; eat lots of oily fish, etc.; avoid ANY trans fats; give up all the carbs – even complex carbs. Give it a try – for a short while, even three or four weeks, see if it makes a difference in how you feel.

I myself am boosting my diet with fats and limiting carbohydrates – I am trying to switch my body from burning glucose as its energy source to burning fats for energy. Without glucose my body should produce much less insulin, which is always high. Won't you join me? I think we have been misled by the food industry and government recommendations for "no fat, low fat."

Several years ago (2007) a very wise member of ThisIsMS (gwa – unfortunately, not heard from in a LONG time) stated:
It is a shame that fat was made a culprit in our diet because fat is necessary and too many people now avoid all fats, which is harmful to their bodies.

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My hypothesis: excess insulin (hyperinsulinemia) plays a major role in MS, as developed in my initial post: http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-discussion-f1/topic1878.html "Insulin – Could This Be the Key?"

I agree with Lyndacarol mostly,
Natural fat's have been unjustly maligned,
The greatest offender that has been foisted on the population is the "polyunsaturated Omega 6 healthy oils" falacy, we need a small amount of Omega 6, but not out of a bottle, but rather from natural sources like nuts and seeds.
What is most crucial in this aspect is the Omega 6:Omega 3 ratio, current intake is between 10-20:1 and the ratio should be around 2:1 or less, the reason is that both these essential oils compete for the same enzymatic machinery in the body, so if you are dousing your Omega 3 (fish oil) in a sea of Omega 6 vegetable oil, the Omega 3 will not get a look in and your body will be deficient.
Saturated and monounsaturated fats are relatively benign to the body and should form the bulk of fat intake, roughly in equal proportions.

Regarding the low carb direction, there is value in this, but do not force it, too many people go there too quickly only to find their bodies have not made the required adjustments metabolically, and doing a good thing too fast can result in a negative outcome, slow and steady is the way.

Dietwise you want to fill it with high nutrient density, high variety, meats, fruits and vegetables, avoid Soy and Grains as the overall negative impacts far outweigh any positive attributes they have.
Use other legumes sparingly, say as part of a big pot of stew or a small side serve on the plate, no more than 10% of your overall diet.
Keep nut's and seeds as nutritious snacks, but don't go overboard, though you may need to have a bit more in the transitional period as your body adjusts to a lower sugar intake.
Yoghurt and hard cheeses are the best dairy if you need to keep a bit of dairy in, though as there is a strong corrolation between MS and dairy consumption it may be wiser to avoid it or at least minimise intake.
Over time your tastes will change and you will get a desire for more fat as your sugar cravings subside, but let your body guide you as much as possible.
The biggest benefit will come from just eliminating all processed foods as these all contain undesirable additives and ingredients, even the "healthiest" bread is a processed food and will contain negative attributes, outside of being almost pure starch and driving Insulin spikes.
Don't fear starchy tubers like sweet potato, they will supply good carbs while you are in transition.

I did look at a lot of the MS and Cancer diets etc. and although they are generally much healthier than the SAD, many have their foundations in spiritual beliefs and not in nutrition, our bodies do best when we have an adequate supply of animal sourced meats and fats, plant sources just don't cut it, as an example we hear a lot about Omega 3 from plants like flax seed oil, what they don't tell you is our bodies do a very poor conversion of this oil, Alpha Linoleic Acid to EPA and esspecially DHA where conversion rate is less than 1% and DHA is the real big one for the brain and other tissues, so there really is no suitable plant source for these. Best sources are fatty fish and real pasture raised meat and eggs. If nothing else just getting a good dose of this essential oil would benefit the entire population immensly.

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I am just an interested individual trying to crack the autoimmune nut.
Partner has Graves Disease, 5 years, showing good test results, looking forward to potential remission in the near future.
3 friends have MS, 1 just recently diagnosed, severity 7/10.