Wahls protocol

[Mamabug]

Quote from The Wahls Protocol

I posted this quote from The Wahls Protocol somewhere before, but it has always struck me as a prime reason to eat in a healthy way to try to repair the deficiencies in my cells.

When chronic disease is the result of a deficiency, drugs aren’t going to solve the problem. As I’m sure you realize, multiple sclerosis is not a deficiency of the latest multiple-sclerosis-disease-modifying drug like Copaxone, just as fatigue is not a deficiency of wakefulness-promoting drugs like Provigil or even caffeine, and depression is not a deficiency of antidepressants like Prozac.

No, these problems are not deficiencies of drugs, but they are triggered by deficiencies in your cells that lead to broken biochemistry and impaired signaling between your cells.

When you look at chronic disease in this way, it’s obvious that you should treat the cellular deficiencies that cause diseases to develop in the first place instead of just treating the symptoms, which is what most conventional pharmaceutical treatments do.

[Mamabug]

I follow the wahl's diet to some extent. I was really gung hole about it several years ago. Never seen a big improvement so I have slipped a little bit. Still try to eat gluten free and dairy free,but must admit i'm not 100%.

I do exercise every morning for a couple hours, ride a stationary bike for about 15 min each day and use electrical stim on my ham strings for a half hour every day. I have tried to incorporate doing my quads but it's been a hit and miss. Maybe when it warms up a little bit.

My nero has said she thinks my left legs is a little stronger, we'll see what she says when I see her again in April.

Good for you. I've been stable, with minor improvements. I haven't seen big improvements either, and, although I wish I did, I'm OK with that. I attribute the success I've had (and I consider stability to be success) to sticking with it. I don't cheat on gluten free, dairy free. And, I make healthy choices in the rest of my diet and other lifestyle choices. Stability, if it continues, will make a big difference in the quality of life in the years to come.

[90stangg]

I follow the wahl's diet to some extent. I was really gung hole about it several years ago. Never seen a big improvement so I have slipped a little bit. Still try to eat gluten free and dairy free,but must admit i'm not 100%.

I do exercise every morning for a couple hours, ride a stationary bike for about 15 min each day and use electrical stim on my ham strings for a half hour every day. I have tried to incorporate doing my quads but it's been a hit and miss. Maybe when it warms up a little bit.

My nero has said she thinks my left legs is a little stronger, we'll see what she says when I see her again in April.

[Mamabug]

I'm sorry you haven't seen more results. I'd been declining steadily prior to starting functional medicine about eighteen months ago. Since then, I've not seen any additional decline.

I've also seen some small changes -- probably most noticeably in fatigue. I still take my daily nap each day, but I sleep about an hour less each night. My balance is slightly improved (for example, I can often walk down a small curb without the help of my cane), I can spend slightly longer standing vs seated during my silver sneakers exercise class, etc.

I try not to cheat, at all, on GF / DF, no GMO's, no MSG, very little refined sugar. I give myself grace on healthy meats, organic produce, etc when I am not at home. I've increased my vegetable consumption but I don't eat nine every day. I eat fish more frequently. I eat considerably less meat than she advocates though.

I've increased my exercise, decreased my exposure to toxins, manage my stress and my hormones, etc and made a few other changes advocated by Terry Wahls.

I hope to find additional strategies that I'm willing to become compliant with. My stability is well worth it.

[KoKo]

I have been following the Wahl's diet for quite some time now, but cheat a bit from time to time. I used electric stim therapy while I was going to PT, but no massage therapy. I can say that my fatigue level has indeed improved over all this time. Exercise has helped in that way too.

I have been following a combo of the Mediterranean/Mind Diet for a few years now. I feel good eating this way, and haven't had the exhausted, worn out type of MS fatigue for quite awhile.

I do get motor fatigue in my arms and legs from repetitive use, but I'm pretty sure that no diet (unless it remyelinates), will fix that.

My digestive system and regularity are doing great (knock on wood). Never get headaches, indigestion, excessive gas, or achy joints. My skin, hair, and nails are good. Energy level good (if only my arms and legs would cooperate with it).

I'm sure that you can see why I'm hesitant to change the way I'm eating, at this time - unless of course there were proven, dramatic benefits.

[Seasha]

Thanks, KoKo-

I have been following the Wahl's diet for quite some time now, but cheat a bit from time to time. I used electric stim therapy while I was going to PT, but no massage therapy. I can say that my fatigue level has indeed improved over all this time. Exercise has helped in that way too.

I also adhere to most all of the functional medicine protocol as outlined by Mamabug, but my MS has progressed. I am OK with that, but the progression is happening nonetheless. I'm just pointing out that these protocols may or may not help some people in that regard and not get false hopes up if adhering doesn't show the results you had envisioned.

But, by all means, still do all that can be done to create a healthy lifestyle!

[KoKo]

I consider the silence concerning long-term results to be significant. I would be pleased to be incorrect.

Hi Brad ~

I did some googling, and found that one small clinical trial found that the Wahls diet reduced fatigue, and therefore helped quality of life.

One small study found that people with MS who switched to a Paleo/Wahls-style diet for a year were much less tired. But those people also exercised and did stretches, meditated, and got massage therapy and electrical stimulation therapy. So it's hard to say for sure that the diet helped their symptoms.

https://www.webmd.com/multiple-sclerosis/wahl-diet-ms

A larger clinical trial was also done, and the results are expected this year, 2020.

The interesting thing to me is that the primary outcome measure in the large trial is to see if the diet does reduce fatigue.

The National MS Society has just committed over $1 million to support a clinical trial led by Dr. Terry Wahls to compare the ability of two popular diets to treat multiple sclerosis-related fatigue.

Nothing was mentioned about stopping progression, relapses, demyelination, etc.

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/Ab...of-Iowa-Launch

So I understand what you're saying.

Maybe the results of the larger trial will have more positive results than just reduced fatigue (although less fatigue is a good thing).

Take Care

[Mamabug]

I consider the silence concerning long-term results to be significant. I would be pleased to be incorrect.

The silence? About long term success of Wahls protocol? Well ..., it hasn't been used long term. Did it start in 2011?

But Terry Wahls has written more than one book, she has a Ted talk, there's an email list and a blog you can subscribe to, I've seen her post a list of of peer- reviewed research, etc. Is that what you're looking for?

[Brad1138]

I consider the silence concerning long-term results to be significant. I would be pleased to be incorrect.

[Mamabug]

Mamabug

Don't know if it is included in Terry Wahl's book, but she also used Functional/Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in her rehab.

Hope you continue to share what you learn from the protocol.

Thank you!

Yes; I did a search, and she does. I'll have to find out more about it and what it is.

She also uses FIR (Far infrared) -- an infrared sauna. I recently acquired one at greatly reduced cost -- my MIL paid big dollars for it and hardly ever used it. I started using that a couple of days ago.

[KoKo]

Wahls Protocol is not about food only. I include exercise, stress management and reduction of toxins too.

Mamabug

Don't know if it is included in Terry Wahl's book, but she also used Functional/Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation in her rehab.

Hope you continue to share what you learn from the protocol.

Thank you!

[Mamabug]

Dr. Wahl has never said this protocol was a cure. She makes it very clear she is not cured. For her, it has slowed the progression and made her more mobile. The protocol is in clinical trials (proof will be in the outcome, I suppose), and it has worked for her patients, which don't have MS, which is why there are three levels of diet. You determine based on what you are trying to do/heal.
..
It took decades for many of us to get to where we are, so none of us should expect overnight improvements.

...

I've been interested in Wahls Protocol for awhile. In the past, I'd skimmed the book, but was more intent on following my functional medicine doctor's protocol. They are similar in many ways.

Now, however, I'm reading The Wahls Protocol more thoroughly. I hope to go through it one chapter per week and decide if there is a new goal I want to set. I've already eliminated gluten and dairy.

This next week, my goal will be counting my vegetables and focusing on eating enough (nine: 3 greens, 3 colorful, 3 cruciferous) each day. I'm not aiming for perfection - but I do want to achieve 9 per day at least 5 days a week and make sure I have a variety, even if it's not 3/3/3.

Wahls Protocol is not about food only. I include exercise, stress management and reduction of toxins too.

[Mamabug]

This post was started in 2014, but page 3 has posts from 2015 -2018.

Here's my question:
- Do you have updates?
- Those of you who posted 4 or 5 years ago, what are your symptoms like?
- How has this changed your life?

I started seeing a functional medicine doctor about a year ago. I've instigated many diet and lifestyle changes since then.

A couple months ago, after I expressed my discouragement with my slow progress to becoming symptom free, he loaned me his copy of The Wahls Protocol.

I've read some chapters, skimmed others, and I still have more to read.

Many of her dietary recommendations are similar to his, at least to the Wahls diet ( she has three diets). I've only started to look at Wahls Paleo and Wahls Paleo Plus. They seem to incorporate some concepts that he doesn't.

I like the idea of the meal plans to help with getting started. But I have so many food sensitivities that Dr G's lab work identified that I'd need to modify then significantly. I also don't care for salads; never have. I don't think I could make myself eat so many of them. I love vegetables -- in smoothies, or cooked. Sometimes raw. But I'm not a salad greens person. I'd need to find ways to add raw greens to smoothies, or cook them up in a stir fry or something.

Here's my questions again:
- Do you have updates?
- Those of you who posted 4 or 5 years ago, what are your symptoms like?
- How has this changed your life?

[Golgotha]

I also wonder if maybe she has Celiac instead of MS.

She's a doctor and was treated at one name-brand MS center. Thus, she's definitely got MS.

To add into this, I did the Wahls diet for a bit over a year. Eating all of the greens was a royal PITA -- it's just hard to do. Tests on myself with diet reveals one thing: there is definitely ties between diet and MS.

The problem is our diet is so complex and we're constantly bombarded with commercial advertising to eat crap. It's hard to resist the non-stop propaganda from the media. And once you add in family and cultural pressures, diet is hard to do.

Another thing that sank deep with me is that gluten is one key. I can eat wheat/gluten with no problems. But the several times I've cut out gluten, in 7-10 days I feel a difference that is so dramatic it's jaw-dropping. It's like someone removed a drunken haze from myself; the mental clarity and sharpness increases dramatically and it seems like someone added 15 IQ points to my brain.

Being gluten-free is a PITA. But the difference is such -- again, I only notice it when stopping gluten -- that I happily avoid gluten like a plague.

[Mamabug]

Old thread

This is an old thread (2014) that has been revived several times (2016 and 2018).

Are there any updates? Has anyone been successful long term?