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My wife has relapsing-remitting MS and is looking for a good resource out there to use to figure out how she needs to change her diet. There are a lot out there and they all seem to advocate slightly different things. She's overwhelmed by the choices and I'm trying to whittle them down a bit.

Background: Her MS is fairly advanced (lesions on both brain and spinal cord), but it is under control with Gilenya. If possible, I need something that's not going to bury her in science and put her to sleep. She'll never make it through the book.

THANKS!!!

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6 Answers

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Look up Rob Wolf autoimmune. There is a six part video series he links to. Also see:

http://paleohacks.com/questions/29067/has-anyone-tried-robb-wolfs-autoimmune-gut-irritation-protocol#axzz1dKEJGC1p

EDIT:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x59iwc_the-paleo-diet-and-multiple-scleros_lifestyle

http://robbwolf.com/faq/

Autoimmunity

Autoimmunity is a process in which our bodies own immune system attacks “us.” Normally the immune system protects us from bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections. The immune system identifies a foreign invader, attacks it, and ideally clears the infection. A good analogy for autoimmunity is the case of tissue rejection after organ donation. If someone requires a new heart, lung kidney or liver due to disease or injury, a donor organ may be an option. The first step in this process is trying to find a tissue “match”. All of us have molecules in our tissues that our immune system uses to recognize self from non-self. If a donated organ is not close enough to the recipient in tissue type the immune system will attack and destroy the organ. In autoimmunity, a similar process occurs in that an individuals own tissue is confused as something foreign and the immune system attacks this “mislabeled” tissue. Common forms of autoimmunity include Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and Vitiligo to name only a tiny fraction of autoimmune diseases. Elements of autoimmunity are likely at play in conditions as seemingly unrelated as Schizophrenia, infertility, and various forms of cancer. Interestingly, all of these seemingly unrelated diseases share a common cause: damage to the intestinal lining which allows large, undigested food particles to make their way into the body. This is called “leaky gut and the autoimmune response”. Here is a 7-part video series by Prof. Loren Cordain describing the etiology of Multiple Sclerosis. Keep in mind, this is the same process which underlies ALL autoimmune disease.

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I know that he has some stuff out there and I've searched his site, but haven't found what you're talking about. I'll do some more digging. – James Nov 10 2011 at 22:06
I have edited my answer with the link :-) – Eric Nov 11 2011 at 6:44
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Awesome. Ther are great resources here for her. Thanks Eric. – James Nov 16 2011 at 16:49
You are most welcome James! – Eric Nov 16 2011 at 17:08
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Great post. This idea of a leaky gut is so close to mainstream that scientifica american did an article on it a few years back. The article focused on celiac disease/gluten sensitivity, but did clearly state this could apply to other autoimmune diseases. scientificamerican.com/… – hal Nov 21 2011 at 13:34
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I'm nobody's expert -- but I seem to have slowed the progression of my own MS by going grain-free and increasing my fat levels to up over 50% of daily calories, with 90+ percent of those from saturated sources, as well as improving my mobility substantially (especially when I switched from regular shoes to Vibram FiveFingers -- resolved a lot of my balance problems). I'm Remitting/Progressing, 26 years post-diagnosis:

Areas of improvement:

  • Balance (~75% of normal, major improvement)-
  • Short term memory (~25% of normal, minor improvement)-
  • spasticity (1-3 small episodes daily, major improvement)-
  • general mobility (90% mobility, major improvement)-
  • small muscle coordination (70% of average for age, major improvement) General strength (120% of average for age - major improvement)-

Areas that haven't changed much:

  • intestinal and bladder motility (still slower than 90% of peers)
  • inflammatory neuralgia (still worse than 100% of peers)-

I'm going to try getting rid of nightshades (imagine - a Sicilian without tomatoes and peppers... sigh) for a few months to see if I get any general improvement or any specific improvement in the areas that are still sorta sucky.

I still see my neurologist regularly, but changed to a holistic neurologist so I'd be able to experiment with myself without having to go behind my doctor's back.

MS is a real challenge. My thoughts are with you.-----

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And you as well. Thanks for the detailed account. I'll have to pass this on to her. – James Nov 10 2011 at 22:04
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I would say Perfect Health Diet by the Jaminets, it has the best material on autoimmune diseases that I have read so far.

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That sounds good. I've heard of that and will have to check it out. – James Nov 10 2011 at 22:01
Also if you post specific comments to Paul, he will help you tailor the diet. – Matt B Nov 11 2011 at 20:37
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Please listen all the way thru for the MS parts. Read the article. http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2011/09/14/ron-rosedale-neurodegenerative-disease-hormones-and-diet/

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Getting her D level on the high side of sufficient 50-80 ng/ml (or more, depending on who you read) is essential for any autoimmune disease.

Good stuff on the Vitamin D Council site:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health-conditions/neurological-conditions/multiple-sclerosis/

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Good point. I forgot about this. I do supplement with D... 2000-4000 IU during the summer, and 6000-8000 during the winter in gulf coast Texas. D levels went from 35ng to 68ng. – Firestorm Nov 11 2011 at 1:51
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She takes Vitamin D during the winter, but I'm thinking it should probably be year round...possibly in higher doses. – James Nov 16 2011 at 16:52
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James, first of all, I am very glad to hear your wife's MS is under control.

There is a MS group in NYC with a naturopath on staff, who typically recommends dietary changes (Dr. Bates) for a subset of patients with MS.

http://imsmp.org/about-imsmp/staff

You might be able to chat with her and get a sense of possible good alternatives for your wife. Or even see her if that is economically feasible.

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