Low Fat Diet Anyone? Research ...

[jjs]

Joanne, My question to you is have you felt any improvement in your condition if so in terms of what? How is the fatigue? Over all body pain? Brain fog? Walking? Spasticity? What improvements have you seen from using that diet?

Just curious? I know there is a lot to consider in choosing the right diet for an MSer especially since we all vary greatly with regards to symptoms.

Yes I have felt improvement in ALL of my MS symptoms. I still have issues but when I do it is not as difficult or pronounced or strong as it was before the OMS diet.

In a general sense though I have felt even more improvement in overall health ... which is just a good side effect of eating a healthy diet.

But like I said before, is it that the OMS diet/lifestyle (enough water, exercise, sleep, etc.) is helping the MS or is it that the MS is just not as bad right this minute? Only time will tell. All I can say is that ever since I started the OMS diet I have felt a lot better than before I was on it. I'm going to continue with it but probably relax a small bit and see what happens. I am not sure now is a good time to experiment though since summer is really coming on here in SW MO. Heat and humidity do still bother me but I have a cooling vest and that helps a lot.

[BigA]

Yes I have felt improvement in ALL of my MS symptoms. I still have issues but when I do it is not as difficult or pronounced or strong as it was before the OMS diet.

In a general sense though I have felt even more improvement in overall health ... which is just a good side effect of eating a healthy diet.

But like I said before, is it that the OMS diet/lifestyle (enough water, exercise, sleep, etc.) is helping the MS or is it that the MS is just not as bad right this minute? Only time will tell. All I can say is that ever since I started the OMS diet I have felt a lot better than before I was on it. I'm going to continue with it but probably relax a small bit and see what happens. I am not sure now is a good time to experiment though since summer is really coming on here in SW MO. Heat and humidity do still bother me but I have a cooling vest and that helps a lot.

That's fantastic. I'd like to add to this. The OMS Program is more than a diet - it's a lifestyle change. I could give you the diet in a few short sentences, but you need to read the book and follow the recommendations.

It's not a cure, and not trying to be a cure, so don't get stuck on that. What it does, is allow you to live your best with MS and if Swank's and others' research is correct, it slows the disease way down.

Note that this has nothing to do with people getting up from wheelchairs or Terry Wahls or gluten free. It's a lifestyle change.

[Brittan]

That is what I am looking for a lifestyle change. It is either continue taking prescribed meds and waiting for it to flare up or making a lifestyle change for the better.

After my previous experience of being on the diet it helped me feel a lot better and I did not have as many flares maybe 1 at the beginning but once I quit the diet my symptoms came on full fledge within 6 months so I am aware it will have to be a lifestyle change. It is not a cure but it will help manage it from flaring as often which I would be delighted with.

Plus if I can get a fraction of my life back I would be so very happy.

Currently (for the past few months) I have not been sleeping very well. I dread trying to fall asleep because my symptoms are advancing which makes it 10x harder so when I wake up I am worse from when I went to bed.

Normally I wake up feeling just as bad and still drained, fatigue .... same as I went to bed not anymore ... its getting worse with every passing day.

I have just started the diet (yesterday) I was on previous and I will be incorporating several elements from all the books stated in this thread.

The last few days have been truly messing with me, I have hypoglycemia and without sleeping well and the pain intensifying my glucose level has been all over the place plus my blood pressure is keeps rising due to the pain ... this being the reason I have jumped back on the diet yesterday. Hopefully things will calm down in a week or two ... cross your fingers.

Thanks for all the advice ... I love MSworld and everyone helping others. It makes me feel like I am Not alone.

Big hugs to all

[Brittan]

Also, keep in mind for the diet I listed I was eating meat but it was lunch meat which was low in fat etc. But it was lunch meat due to fatigue starting out and I would have raw veggies on the side.

So my diet would look like;

Breakfast:
coco puffs 1/2 cup (kind of soothes the sweet tooth
nonfat or low-fat milk
1/2 cup cherry juice

lunch:
ham or turkey or chicken lunch meat (2-3 slices) &
low fat cheese sandwich
w/ tomotoes, lettuce, onions and
nonfat miracle whip or mustard
Side of brocolli w/ low fat ranch
1/2 cup cherry juice
cup of nonfat/lowfat milk or lowfat yogurt

dinner:
salad w/ romaine lettuce, tomotoes, red onions, spring onions, lunch meat shredded, low fat or nonfat ranch.
1/2 cup nonfat milk or yogurt

late snack: 1/2 cup cherry juice

snack throughout the day: carrots

Plus I would drink atleast 8 - 8oz of water.

Which was easy to maintain especially easy at the beginning due to the extreme fatigue. Just fyi.

I know that fatigue can slow us down, I know it does for me. Sometimes I am too weak and fatigues to eat so I drink coffee all day which is so bad especially for my hypoglycemia... Our bodies need the nutrients and me personally I am just starving it. Not good.

But my point is I believe anyone can do it, just get the gumption up and try to get the energy to start it.

When I started I grabbed all the food from the kitchen and sat on the couch and started making the food on the table because standing would drain me. So what ever gets you started is good.

Starting some where is the first step. As previously stated I will be adding other foods from the book minding my mitochondria and think it is a must.

Mix it up and go for it. You can do.

[Brittan]

Also, here is some basics for Terry Wahl's diet:

Dr. Terry Wahls - Minding Your Mitochondria is a video where she describes how she learned how to properly fuel her body. link to youtube of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc

Using the lessons she learned at the subcellular level, she used diet to cure her MS and get out of her wheelchair.

The video is long. The first 6:00 minutes are just background on her and can be skipped.

She recommends:

- 3 cups of green leaves
- 3 cups of sulfur rich vegetables (cabbage and onion families, mushrooms, asparagus)
- 3 cups of bright color (vegetables or berries)
- grass-fed meat/wild fish
- organ meat
- seaweed (for iodine and selenium), once a week

3 cups = a full dinner plate heaped high.

While not mentioned in the limited time she had for the talk, she also recommends Vitamin D and exercise.

Just fyi. I still need to check out info on the OMS diet to incorporate.

[ElliotB]

You may want to take a look at the Paleo diet. Lots of info on it on the web.

Also, any red meats you eat should be grass fed which lowers/eliminates omega 6 fat (saturated fat -bad fat) and gives you omega 3 fat (good fat). Grass fed bison tastes pretty good and is good for you. There are many sources for grass fed meats online.

If consuming fish like salmon, you want wild, not farm raised.

[Brittan]

You may want to take a look at the Paleo diet. Lots of info on it on the web.

Also, any red meats you eat should be grass fed which lowers/eliminates omega 6 fat (saturated fat -bad fat) and gives you omega 3 fat (good fat). Grass fed bison tastes pretty good and is good for you. There are many sources for grass fed meats online.

If consuming fish like salmon, you want wild, not farm raised.

I've never tried bison sounds interesting. I have heard of the paleo diet as beneficial as well but have not yet researched it. Isn't similar to hunter/gatherer diets?

Lucky for me their is a family run meat place down the road so I know they are grass fed so I am good there. I prefer grass fed because it does taste better then getting the meat at the grocery stores plus worry if the meat is dyed or bleached ... yuck! LOL.

Unfortunately I have no clue where to get wild salmon ... we could go fishing. LOL. I'll have to talk to my brother he loves fishing maybe he'll know where to go get them, then I can give him a can of worms and a 6 pack to go get them for me. Lol.

I'll take a look at the Paleo diet as well. I want a nice round diet lol.

[Brittan]

Just subscribing to thread for future reference. Thanks again for all the insights ... extremely helpful.

[BigA]

I don't know why everyone is so excited about Terry Wahls. Is it the whole "up from the chair" bit, that it's the latest and greatest or that you can still eat meat and cheese.

I just don't have much confidence that people will actually stick to the diet and eat the amount of greens and other vegetables (hint: Lettuce is not a green) and the small amounts of meat that she prescribes. I think people will tend to eat as they have eaten and add some juicing, kale and supplements and think they're doing it right.

If you're not losing weight, you're not eating mostly plants. If you can eat much of anything at a potluck, you're probably not doing it right. I went to a picnic yesterday. They had gluten-free cookies. How many people on this diet would have eaten the starch, sugar and butter cookies on the table and counted themselves "on the diet"?

An MS diet is a change of life that's well worth it, but don't trouble yourself eating "better", it's just a copout people use to say they have added a few healthy things to their diet and avoid ice cream once in a while.

[Brittan]

I don't know why everyone is so excited about Terry Wahls. Is it the whole "up from the chair" bit, that it's the latest and greatest or that you can still eat meat and cheese.

I just don't have much confidence that people will actually stick to the diet and eat the amount of greens and other vegetables (hint: Lettuce is not a green) and the small amounts of meat that she prescribes. I think people will tend to eat as they have eaten and add some juicing, kale and supplements and think they're doing it right.

If you're not losing weight, you're not eating mostly plants. If you can eat much of anything at a potluck, you're probably not doing it right. I went to a picnic yesterday. They had gluten-free cookies. How many people on this diet would have eaten the starch, sugar and butter cookies on the table and counted themselves "on the diet"?

An MS diet is a change of life that's well worth it, but don't trouble yourself eating "better", it's just a copout people use to say they have added a few healthy things to their diet and avoid ice cream once in a while.

BigA I think what it comes down to is with Wahls research/experience it shows that it can repair damage and feed the mitochondria and with the resulting outcome of her being able to walk, ride a bike etc when once bound to a wheelchair. Hope ... what if this is the case? what if the mitochondria is being starved resulting in damage/ms? The Wahls diet gives hope to those who are further along in their diagnosis thus now display more severe symptoms.

As a comparison to Swanks diet... Swanks diet stated it dramatically slowed the progression of ms in the earlier stages of ms those who were further along still saw benefits but those who did not do the diet many were a lot worse off or deceased.

Outcome of both diets were positive but Swanks diet did not reverse/repair symptoms but did lengthen and improved quality of life and assisted in stabilizing the ms. Whereas Wahls rehabilitated the mitochondria showing a reversal of symptoms.

Which she also points out what vitamins are needed for the mitochondria which she is taking via the food. Even taking a dose of each and a salad or two a day should show benefits.

Cutting out meats entirely I think is not a good idea but eating the correct proportion and type, + 'grass fed' etc is.

With regards to lettuce - the iceberg lettuce is useless but romaine lettuce is more beneficial.

Creating a diet should be customized to each individual so they will stay on it and be happy ... even if it is making smoothies to get the needed vit ... what ever works is good.

Even if the person want to give themselves 1 meal on the weekend to splurge ...fine, what ever keeps them going on the diet is good.

That's my take on it. Lol.