Beating Progressive MS with Food and Functional Medicine
I was so delighted to have the opportunity to host Dr. Terry Wahl’s, author of the Wahls protocol on The Randy and Christa Show recently.
I first discovered Dr. Wahls with her TED talk, “Minding Your Mitochondria”. It’s a brilliant talk that tells her story of how conventional medicine failed her progressive degenerative MS, and how she became resigned to a reclined wheel chair for four years before discovering the healing power of food and functional medicine.
Less than a year after eating to feed her brain, taking supplements to replenish her neurotransmitters, and using electronic stimulation on her muscles, Dr. Wahls got out the wheelchair and onto a bicycle. She now routinely bikes 18 miles a day with her family (on the weekends. She's busy saving lives during the week!).
Now she is helping so many others to do the same, and not just from Multiple Sclerosis. Dr. Wahl’s approach is having a dramatic positive effect on all kinds of neurological disease from dementia, to Parkinson’s to Alzheimer’s disease.
Her book is called The Wahl’s Protocol and it’s fantastic. If you want to purchase her book, it's best to purchase it through this link, because it will also come with free cooking videos that will teach you how to cook to feed your mitochondria (note: we do not get any affiliate commission or anything from this purchase, just sharing the link that comes with a free video series).
I do want to mention that while there are amazing recommendations in this book, there is also soy milk in her diet plan, and that is one I urge you to avoid. If you’ve been following The Whole Journey for any length of time, you know that I suggest avoiding soy like the plague for the litany of hormonal and digestive issues it raises. Dr. Wahl’s is not really a huge fan of it either, so it will likely find its way out of her next book.
In addition to what we talk about in this interview and to the information in The Wahl’s protocol, I wanted to share with you all that I have had great success working with people with these conditions using a series of IV glutathione (liver booster and master detoxifier), concurrently with Vitmain shots of methylated folic acid, methylated B12, and something called M.I.C (methione, inositol, and choline). The latter two are B vitamins that replenish neurotransmitter production in the brain. If your digestion is not perfect, this allows your brain and nervous system to get fed (bypassing the GI tract) while you work to improve digestion, preventing further damage from not absorbing nutrients.
Many naturopathic physicians administer these shots, and your MD might as well. Your health care practitioner can guide you on the amount and length of time for the shots/IV. I typically have someone use these shots once a week for for 4-12 weeks depending on their condition.
Another side note. If you watched the interview and heard me reference my TED talk on Food as Medicine, here is a link to it. Unfortunately the sound engineers were not on the top of their game that day but the information still gets across.
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” –Hippocrates
