MS Diet 15 months update
MS has been hammering me since 1998 and nothing seems to slow it down. On 4/20/2011 I finally decided to go 100% on the Wahls diet. This is my 15th month report.
Dr Wahls' story is compelling. (see
www.terrywahls.org) In 2007 she wasn't too far physically from where I am today. She changed her diet and by 2008 she could walk and ride her bike! That will get the complete attention of someone like me!
(she did other things in addition to diet changes, like eletronic muscle stimulation, meditation - but she thinks diet played the primary role in her recovery)
(and she was never as bad as I am now)
My version of the Wahls diet:
Lots of veggies, esp. sulfur-rich and leafy greens and bright colors.
Small amount of fruit, some grain (but no gluten!)(I do quinoa and rice), small amounts of meat (chicken, turkey, or seafood)(I avoid beef and pork).
ZERO gluten, dairy, sugar, yeast, legumes, red meat, processed food. I think the first 2 on this list are the important ones, and #3 (sugar) isn't far behind.
Low starch; I do eat some grapes or blueberries on occasion. But never a potato or potato chips.
On month 3 I began including a commercial daily green drink; we use Green Magma.
Wahls is sort of the Swank diet (the first recommended MS diet) of today, except I'd say it trades an emphasis on low-fat for an emphasis on veggies.
Wahls = Paleo-diet + anti-inflamatory diet + extra veggies.
I started on this 100% on 4/20/11... Before, I was 90% on the diet - it isn't far from how I ate normally... but if you walked in with a pizza before 4/20/11 and offered me a slice, I'd have one. Today - no thanks.
For me, the hardest things to totally give up were pizza, bacon, and cheese. Pretty much everything else was EZ; I don't have a sweet tooth. In the old days, I'd eat sweets occasionally but I never crave them.
My wonderful wife Janelle is on board with the diet (she ought to be; she found it and directed me to it!) and the food prep - out of necessity; I can't do it.
I have recently allowed legumes back into my diet after watching carefully and noticing no affect. I will continue to avoid garbanzo beans, as I think I am sensitive to them.
I have also recently started adding a teaspoon of honey to my daily tea.
VVV new stuff VVV
* I'm continuing on the diet, as described above, but my motivation to keep doing it is decreasing.
* On month six of this diet, I was so excited because I had recovered a little bit of functionality and it raised the question of how much more I could recover... Now, at month 15, I have definitely slid back. I am nowhere near where I was at month six.
* I am considering trying the AIP protocol for three months, just to change things up.
http://www.nutrisclerosis.com/Blogs/Ent ... paleo.aspx
* I have, in the last month, tried a gluten-free pizza with "daiya" cheese. I was impressed with how good it was!
* I now know of three people in my physical situation, edss 8 or more, who have passed away, all men, between the ages of 49 (my age) and 56. It moves my possible death from an abstract future possibility to a tangible present reality
* Thank you to Katie for typing!
I have reduced the frequency of these reports from monthly to quarterly, unless I have Big News.
Gastronaut Dave, over and out