Does Nutrition Matter?.....What Do You Think?
One of the most frustrating things that I heard from medical professionals when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis was that they did not have any research that showed nutrition had anything to do with the development of MS. Furthermore, there was no research on an "MS Diet" that would improve my situation. They did all recognize that it is important to eat healthfully for other parts of your body...in order to prevent other health problems from occurring. I always left their offices with the thought, if eating healthfully is important for the prevention and treatment of other diseases, why not MS? I simply did not believe it. As the years have gone on, I have noticed a significant gap between nutrition research and medical research. The two areas of science simply do not cross-reference.
Luckily, I am someone who questions things. I do not take everything that my doctor tells me as a fact. When I talked to friends and family members who had other health problems, it seemed that most of them blindly believed what their doctors were telling them. Now, this is not meant to be an "anti-modern-medicine" rant. I simply mean to question why so many of us blindly believe what our doctors tell us, and don't look into any of the alternative views. I LOVE my neurologist. I follow him and what he tells me to do. I am not at all saying that we should go against what medical professionals tell us to do. BUT....I am saying that my health is more important to me than it is to anyone else....especially a healthcare professional who sees me once every 6 months for 20-30 minutes at a time. I am the person who should become knowledgeable about all of the treatment options out there. I am the person who should decide if nutrition has anything to do with my brain or not.
For the past three years, I have done my own research. I started with a nutritionist, who absolutely believed that I could better my outcome with good nutrition. She believed that I needed to be an on anti-inflammatory diet built around my food sensitivities. I had a blood test done to determine what these foods should be. I followed everything that she told me to do...to a T....and I got healthier...but not perfect. I had symptoms that were still persisting...so I read everything that I could get my hands on. The MS Protocol, by Dr. Terry Wahl's, and The Autoimmune Solution, by Dr. Amy Myers gave me a new direction. Both of these books are books by doctors who found that modern medicine failed them when they were struggling terribly with autoimmunity...and they found a better way. Their recovery has been amazing. Dr. Perlmutter's books, Grain Brain and Brain Maker further influenced me and what I ate. And I got healthier. Finally, I still had symptoms that were persisting, though I was functioning on an incredibly better level, and I found a Doctor of Functional Medicine in my area. I started seeing him....and my life has been changed for the better ever since. He ran all kinds of testing and pinpointed root problems to my symptoms. Instead of telling me, "You have MS. Lots of MS patients struggle with these symptoms," he found things that were terribly wrong with me....but, with work, could improve. I have been working with this doctor...and I write "working with" because we are a team...for a year and a half. Symptoms that I have had since childhood...long before MS ever happened to me...have disappeared. Symptoms that I just thought of as being a part of being me and how my body works...ARE GONE! I am not perfect...and functional medicine testing shows that I still have a long way to go...but I am on the right path. Everyone who sees me and knows how I used to be knows this. Even my neurologist knows it. He told me himself, "I don't understand it or how you have done it, but I don't have to....you are healthier than people who do not have MS." MRIs also show that my disease progression has come to a halt. Yes, I have to see a lot more MRIs to trust that it will stay that way...but I know from my own experience that nutrition matters...and it matters a lot.
I never could have known what making all of these lifestyle changes could have done for me if I hadn't just started to make the changes. My attitude was always, "It isn't going to hurt me....I only stand to benefit...so why not?" And, after three years, I am being rewarded with good health beyond anything that I have ever known.
I smile to myself when I am in a doctor's office and they take note and can see that I am incredibly healthy. These are the same doctors that spit out the research to me that diet doesn't matter with MS. I love sitting there, knowing that I have proved them wrong. More importantly, though, I hope that seeing me go through this has opened their eyes and minds to maybe...just maybe...there is another way. Maybe...just maybe....we can be treated with food and good nutrition. Maybe...just maybe...we don't all have to live a sickly existence. I hope that, one day, when they have a patient who just can't get better with modern medicine, that they will recommend and will work collaboratively with a Dr. of Functional Medicine. It doesn't have to be an "us/them" mentality. It takes both types of medicine to figure out what is wrong...and to strive for the highest level of healthfulness for the patient. Many people would never make the changes that I have made. There will always be modern medicine for them. BUT....for those of us who want to try...and are willing to dedicate ourselves to a different lifestyle...we should be given the option. Our healthcare should not be driven only by pharmaceutical companies and the research for which they are willing to pay. Healthcare should cover this type of medical care.
Recently, I logged into a support group for people with MS. The first post that I read was from a person with MS who was frustrated with a family member giving her information on a diet. Now, I don't know what information was given to her. I also know that, if someone without MS was judgmentally giving me information on how to get better when they have no idea how much of a struggle MS can be, I would be angry. The perspective of the person who wrote this post was that diet does not matter, other than trying to be healthy to avoid other illnesses. She did write about being low-sodium, which is a point that most neurologists will tell you when they are asked about diet. I was upset to read that many people agreed with her. None of them cited any research that is out there. None of them talked about Dr. Terry Wahl's (my personal hero). None of them had reported the lifestyles that they had tried. I left that site remembering why I did not reach out to the typical MS sites. I needed hope....not to hear that there is no research to prove that diet matters. I assure you that, if you try and try hard, you will see your own proof.
So I pose this question to you....Does diet matter in Multiple Sclerosis? Does it matter in autoimmunity? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Before MS, I NEVER thought about my diet other than that fact that I didn't want to be overweight. I think about that now, and I can't believe that that was ever my perspective. I don't judge someone who thinks or feels that way. I was there....and I know from experience that this is all that we are told when we ask the people who are supposed to know the most. How ARE we supposed to know?
Please...let me know your thoughts on this matter.
KetoRunningMama
This is a photo of my neighbor's tree. It is right on the line of our property and their's. She and I both have Multiple Sclerosis. She used to work in education and I am an educator. Her husband and my husband are both Union Sheet Metal Workers. My husband and I always joke that we are looking at our future, living next to them, because they are elderly and their young lives were so similar to our own. Anyway, I look at this tree every year in the spring and it brings tears to my eyes. It fell over....but, refusing to give up, sprouted up and grew towards the sun. Being a KetoRunningMama has given me this same resistance to falling. I may have fallen, but I will never give up. What could this lifestyle give you? Do you believe that it could help you? Please....share your thoughts.
Luckily, I am someone who questions things. I do not take everything that my doctor tells me as a fact. When I talked to friends and family members who had other health problems, it seemed that most of them blindly believed what their doctors were telling them. Now, this is not meant to be an "anti-modern-medicine" rant. I simply mean to question why so many of us blindly believe what our doctors tell us, and don't look into any of the alternative views. I LOVE my neurologist. I follow him and what he tells me to do. I am not at all saying that we should go against what medical professionals tell us to do. BUT....I am saying that my health is more important to me than it is to anyone else....especially a healthcare professional who sees me once every 6 months for 20-30 minutes at a time. I am the person who should become knowledgeable about all of the treatment options out there. I am the person who should decide if nutrition has anything to do with my brain or not.
For the past three years, I have done my own research. I started with a nutritionist, who absolutely believed that I could better my outcome with good nutrition. She believed that I needed to be an on anti-inflammatory diet built around my food sensitivities. I had a blood test done to determine what these foods should be. I followed everything that she told me to do...to a T....and I got healthier...but not perfect. I had symptoms that were still persisting...so I read everything that I could get my hands on. The MS Protocol, by Dr. Terry Wahl's, and The Autoimmune Solution, by Dr. Amy Myers gave me a new direction. Both of these books are books by doctors who found that modern medicine failed them when they were struggling terribly with autoimmunity...and they found a better way. Their recovery has been amazing. Dr. Perlmutter's books, Grain Brain and Brain Maker further influenced me and what I ate. And I got healthier. Finally, I still had symptoms that were persisting, though I was functioning on an incredibly better level, and I found a Doctor of Functional Medicine in my area. I started seeing him....and my life has been changed for the better ever since. He ran all kinds of testing and pinpointed root problems to my symptoms. Instead of telling me, "You have MS. Lots of MS patients struggle with these symptoms," he found things that were terribly wrong with me....but, with work, could improve. I have been working with this doctor...and I write "working with" because we are a team...for a year and a half. Symptoms that I have had since childhood...long before MS ever happened to me...have disappeared. Symptoms that I just thought of as being a part of being me and how my body works...ARE GONE! I am not perfect...and functional medicine testing shows that I still have a long way to go...but I am on the right path. Everyone who sees me and knows how I used to be knows this. Even my neurologist knows it. He told me himself, "I don't understand it or how you have done it, but I don't have to....you are healthier than people who do not have MS." MRIs also show that my disease progression has come to a halt. Yes, I have to see a lot more MRIs to trust that it will stay that way...but I know from my own experience that nutrition matters...and it matters a lot.
I never could have known what making all of these lifestyle changes could have done for me if I hadn't just started to make the changes. My attitude was always, "It isn't going to hurt me....I only stand to benefit...so why not?" And, after three years, I am being rewarded with good health beyond anything that I have ever known.
I smile to myself when I am in a doctor's office and they take note and can see that I am incredibly healthy. These are the same doctors that spit out the research to me that diet doesn't matter with MS. I love sitting there, knowing that I have proved them wrong. More importantly, though, I hope that seeing me go through this has opened their eyes and minds to maybe...just maybe...there is another way. Maybe...just maybe....we can be treated with food and good nutrition. Maybe...just maybe...we don't all have to live a sickly existence. I hope that, one day, when they have a patient who just can't get better with modern medicine, that they will recommend and will work collaboratively with a Dr. of Functional Medicine. It doesn't have to be an "us/them" mentality. It takes both types of medicine to figure out what is wrong...and to strive for the highest level of healthfulness for the patient. Many people would never make the changes that I have made. There will always be modern medicine for them. BUT....for those of us who want to try...and are willing to dedicate ourselves to a different lifestyle...we should be given the option. Our healthcare should not be driven only by pharmaceutical companies and the research for which they are willing to pay. Healthcare should cover this type of medical care.
Recently, I logged into a support group for people with MS. The first post that I read was from a person with MS who was frustrated with a family member giving her information on a diet. Now, I don't know what information was given to her. I also know that, if someone without MS was judgmentally giving me information on how to get better when they have no idea how much of a struggle MS can be, I would be angry. The perspective of the person who wrote this post was that diet does not matter, other than trying to be healthy to avoid other illnesses. She did write about being low-sodium, which is a point that most neurologists will tell you when they are asked about diet. I was upset to read that many people agreed with her. None of them cited any research that is out there. None of them talked about Dr. Terry Wahl's (my personal hero). None of them had reported the lifestyles that they had tried. I left that site remembering why I did not reach out to the typical MS sites. I needed hope....not to hear that there is no research to prove that diet matters. I assure you that, if you try and try hard, you will see your own proof.
So I pose this question to you....Does diet matter in Multiple Sclerosis? Does it matter in autoimmunity? I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Before MS, I NEVER thought about my diet other than that fact that I didn't want to be overweight. I think about that now, and I can't believe that that was ever my perspective. I don't judge someone who thinks or feels that way. I was there....and I know from experience that this is all that we are told when we ask the people who are supposed to know the most. How ARE we supposed to know?
Please...let me know your thoughts on this matter.
KetoRunningMama
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