Creating your own health: Using Diet & Nutrition to Treat MS

Probably one of my biggest factors in managing my MS symptoms is the use of diet and nutrition. During my three years in the double-blind, T-cell study, back in 2001, my hopes were on nutrition and all things alternative. I willingly went off all DMD in search of a cure for MS. But then reality set in, and it was all engines forward in the battle of natural ways to fight the progression of this disease.

Sporting my flower peace wreath

There is a lot of incoming research on Diet and MS. There are also some active clinical trials.

Click this out: Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Diet - or better yet, a nutritional protocol, is essential in my daily battle against MS. If my daily intake has too much salt, too much caffeine, too much gluten, too many processed foods, then I will pay the price. And while that price may not be paid that same day, trust you me that it will not forget and will rear its ugly head. And, more often than not, all of the prices will want to be paid on the same day at the same time, wreaking complete havoc on your life.

Go for color when cooking and creating healthy menus

Fresh lemon is key! Use in water, tea, baths, etc.

#refresh

Click here for my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Become friends with your body and find a new level of wellness.

Welcome to living with multiple sclerosis. As you know it often does not bode well for us MS patients. Out diseases are random and progress willy nilly. But there are modifiable risk factors that we can take into consideration to help us strive for the best life possible despite's our illness. These risk factors include cigarette smoke, alcohol, nutrition, supplement intake, exercise, and other situations that we have control over.

~if need be - pee on it and walk away~

Cig smoking is bad. Bottomline, cut it out. Alcohol is considered OK in moderation. Consult with your neurologist or medical expert. Often people find that Vitamin D, B12 and Biotin can all be beneficial supplements. In addition, the nrf2 activator, Protandim, is found to be great at fighting oxidative stress.

So, that brings us to Diet, or nutritional protocol. Everyone is different so finding a protocol that works best for you is key.

Gluten free bread is an option.
Here it is paired with home-made soup and fresh salmon salad.

One person who is making a difference with diet and MS is Dr. Terry Wahls and her Wahl's Protocol. I had the great fortune of speaking with Dr. Wahls a few weeks ago for an article I was writing for Healthline.com - "Diet as a possible treatment for MS". And wow! So much great information going on with diet and MS.

The Wahl's Protocol is a modified paleolithic diet. More about it click here. For those who do not know, Dr. Wahls has made diet a form of treatment for progressive MS. Thank you Dr. Wahls! I have been following and almost identical diet based on my own experience for over 15 years. It is the number 1 "go to" when things are going bad with my MS.

And if you don't have fresh flowers, the fake ones are fun too!

First, I ask myself: How is my diet? Where am I going wrong? And most of the time, this usually fixes it for m! Like I say, everyone is different. This is one reason I love the Wahl's Protocol - as it suggests elimination type diets to see what you personally are sensitive to and this is BIG!

Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Here are some food common sensitivities:

Processed foods
Salt
Gluten
Red meat
Simple carbs
Sugar
Sodas
Diet anything / excitotoxins or NaStY for MS
Dairy....

FYI - I eat dairy. Cheese. I tried to take it out of my diet once and my boss told me to add it back as the rest of the staff was complaining about my horrid mood. That was near 30 years ago and I haven't tried to remove it since~ I don't eat a lot of it but like it now and then. I will willingly cut everything else out, before the cheese~

Lately I haven't been able to eat much meat. My body, probably due to the warm summer months, is craving cooling salads and fresh fruit. Unfortunately I like beer, especially in the summer months. It's not the alcohol that bothers me but rather the carbs and gluten. Talk about a weight gainer! And then if I add bread....Oh dear save me.

Last winter I made the mistake of letting way too much beer, bread and gluten get into my diet. Showing no restraint at all for about six months eventually led to a 15 pound weight gain, horrid dry skin and then the dreaded MS relapse! Ugh.

My vertigo and vision got so bad that driving was out of the question...even just to a friends house. Lethargic and inflamed my life consisted of laying in bed and "trying" to motivate. Oh how I hate this feeling! My skin was dry and eczema appeared all over. Hair loss was abundant and my breath was so bad it even grossed me out. What have I done? So healthy last summer and then wowza, what a defeat brought on by my own weaknesses.

Time to make a change!

Feeling the summer spirit, light and fresh!

Nothing huge at first, just cut the carbs back down to no more than 10% of diet or so. Eliminated processed foods again and removed gluten for the most part. A little now and then does not bother me. But a six pack of beer and loaf of bread is not considered moderation. That's OK, the change feels good.

Back to juicing and healthy eating. Beautiful summer produce combined with beans and grains cooked fresh are making the table. Herbs from the garden and cheeses and meats from local farmers inspire this cook to create.

Some of recipes for your enjoyment:

Anti-inflammatory Rice Pudding

Obsessive Gaspacho

Juice Recipes

Chia Pudding

Words of Advice:

Try different diets. Work with nutritionists who understand MS and the different trending diets. This is your health - it is your body. Do not try whack-doodle eating schemes. Try stuff that has worked for others, the key word being "try". Give yourself a chance with different foods and see what you might be sensitive to. Everyone is different!

Add color and energy throughout your house with fresh flowers.

Here is my article on Diet as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.

#takeTHATms!

Surviving Summer

I wrote this a few years back. Upon reviewing it reminded me of many important tricks. I updated it, except school hasn’t started yet. But it will and in the meantime we can learn tips for surviving summer heat!

“Today is the first day of school for many students. Wow do they start early! For us it was always after Labor Day. To start when temperatures can still reach 100F is not a pleasant thought. What's worse is that the parents doing all the driving and cooking may have MS. And, if that's the case, then that can be doubly difficult.

For us in Southern California the summer heat can easily stretch through to the beginning of October. Usually by the middle of the month we are free and clear of 100F days. But it's only August 14, so we have at least another six weeks of summer in these parts.“

Here are some suggestions to help us all survive that last warm weeks of summer:

EATING RIGHT: SUPERHERO SALAD

Cook light, healthy and with efficiency. High protein and lots of produce can help make the summer more tolerable. Another trick is the use of some key ingredients such as apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast.

"What is best for anyone with a compromised health system is to eat with efficiency. For folks living with MS in the summer heat, this means foods rich in minerals and nutrients, anti-inflammatory foods, and those with cooling or neutral energies."

KEEPING YOUR COOL: RITUALS FOR SUMMER

Read this article for tricks that will help you stay calm and relaxed throughout the day while still taking advantage of the long hours. Select the rituals that feel right for you, then create daily habits of them to make the most of your summer.

If the heat is too much - than stay in side and play some video games. Some of them are actually quite good for us!

Click here to read the which video games can help.

More articles by Caroline Craven on MangoHealth.com:

How do you say #takethatMS in the summer?

Girl with MS Support Group & BelongMS are here to help!

Help! I definitely need extra support during these epic times. How about you?

As many of you know, my focus is Conquering MS with Self-Care. Self-Care means a lot to different people but for me it represents a combination of awareness, education, action, and medical expertise. As people living with MS, the need for social connection is essential in keeping us sane. At least it is for me!

One of my most asked questions is “Do you use an app or other social media to help with your MS?” And the answer is Yes.

I’ve used and tried different apps and social media outlets over the years and each has slightly different offerings and options. After being shut down by facebook due to a hacker, (My story here) I knew I needed something more reliable.

For my current life with MS, I have chosen BelongMS (part of Belong.life) to share my twenty years of experience to help others.

We created a Girl with MS support group. And it’s not just for girls. As a certified life coach, nutritional educator, health journalist and someone living with MS for twenty years, we have stuff to talk about! There are many tips and tricks and just over all support that will help us live better with MS. Will help us all say, #takeTHATms!

And now we can chat directly via Belong. Anyone with MS can join Belong and find tons of support, friendship, expert advise and even clinical trials. Once the Belong app is downloaded and you have registered (click here for app), then you can scroll down and see the different support groups. Mine is circled below and is the Girl with MS. Join me!

The Girl with MS Channel is all about Self-Care. We’ll talk about different ways to take care of ourselves, ways to find ourselves and ways to support each other.

Because if I don't take care of myself, this is how I end up feeling:

But when I do take those extra steps, those extra little measures to take care of myself like medical visits, and extra caution,

I can have days like this:

I’m looking forward to “seeing” you on Belong and having a channel to talk directly with all of my MS friends out there. If you already have Belong App, then look me up and let’s chat!

MS is a challenge but together we’re stronger. Together we can support ourselves with questions, answers, encouragement and laughter. Together we can BELONG!

And together we can say #takeTHATms!

Cannabis Awareness, Pain Management & Multiple Sclerosis

“The light whispering down the hall is enough to encourage a restless night. Breaking sleep to use the restroom, my mind wanders, can comfort return long enough to fall back to sleep or will this be yet another endless battle of little rest and much tossing?”

——— Journal entry, April 1, 2022.

What does a pain-free life mean to those living with chronic illnesses like multiple sclerosis (MS)? Or to anyone who suffers needlessly in pain while the body and mind try to figure out how to find peace?

Chronic pain causes anxiety, loss of sleep and depression if not more. It can decrease mental focus and moods may be altered as the pain and inflammation creep and ravage the body from within.

The first response from doctors and health care professionals is often NSAIDS (ibuprofen, etc) and narcotics such as oxycodone and norco. But maybe there are other options.

The opioid problem is world known: too many easy-to-acquire drugs that can cause addiction and death. And do they really take the pain away?

One option gaining steam in research and use is cannabis, specifically the CBD derived from a cannabis plant. CBD is not mind altering such as its counter point THC.

Click here to learn more about marijuana, hemp, THC and CBD.

I sat down and chatted with Todd Vanderah, PhD., of the University of Arizona Health Sciences.

Vanderah has researched cannabinoids for more than two decades. He says, “It’s unfortunate that the whole general population of cannabinoids fall under the biases idea people have about medical and recreational marijuana, because you can’t lump it all together. Nature has made a lot of useful plants, from aspirin to chemotherapeutic to antibiotics, and there are things in cannabis that could be medicinally beneficial.”

Read more About Vanderah and the Smoke around Cannabis: click here

Vanderah is a member of the UArizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center.

Much of his work has involved the endo-cannabinoid system within our bodies and how it interacts with the body, with pain and with cannabinoids taken internally.

“Everybody has an inner cannabinoid system,” explained Vanderah. “We produce higher levels of cannabinoids than endorphins,” and further explains that it is “a lipid type structure found throughout body.”

Vanderah’s quest is to see how the cannabinoid system is affected by pain – directly interacting with nerves conducting pain signal.

“Cannabis works on inflammation by decreasing inflammatory mediators that promote pain. It has an affect on the anxiety caused by pain. And it provides a reward pathway so that people say, ‘I feel ok’”.

“The reward factor is when the euphoric feeling overrides the pain. Cannabinoids provide this reward factor but not to extent as opioids. When you feel the euphoric part you don’t feel the pain.”

“There is a reward component so possibly there could be some addiction,” says Vanderah.

He further explained. What’s unique within the endogenous cannabinoids, are the differences in the ability to be produced. There are genetic differences and sexual differences. These differences were found in a small study on Migraine patients.

Click here for Cannabis and Migraine Study.

There is much to learn about cannabis from sleeping issues, inflammation and pain. Different types of cannabinoids work on different people. It’s as snowflake as MS.

Vanderah’s work focuses work on the cannabinoid, CB2, which tends to be on the immune cells, throughout the body and within brain and nervous system.

The yin and yang of pain in body

Simply put: Prostaglandins cause pain. Lipids cause inflammation. Interestingly, these are very similar to endogenous cannabinoids in the body, which is another lipid system that limits the pain. One causes pain, one eases pain, all in our own bodies.

Vanderah said there is much to learn about CB2 receptors and the inner cannabinoid system. Some people may lack CB2 receptors. Or their bodies may have adjusted and changed over time. Possibly the body produces less as one gets older Do people lack the CB2 receptors?

People living with MS

It would be nice to know what happens to the cannabinoid system in people living with MS.

“[MS] is hard to study,” explained Vanderah, “Cannabinoids are illegal on the federal level. There could be more money spent and we would know more.”

I found the following quite interesting. If a drug has an approved FDA medical use, then it is considered a schedule 2. THC, is schedule 2 but CBD is schedule 1 as there had not been an FDA approved drug using it. But this will change as a drug has been approved using CBD.

The Senate approved to spend more money in research on medical cannabis. We need to know what it does long term, short term and side affects. People need to know the risk to benefit ratio so they can make formative judgements on their own.

I am so glad that the federal government is supporting research to learn more!

“Did you know there are over 500 chemicals in one marijuana plant? Imagine what can we learn,” Vanderah shared. He is looking forward to bringing in more researchers to continue this work. We all are!

It regulates many things – The endogenous cannabinoid system. I like to say, “It gets things in balance.”

“Opioids can cause more pain in a way,” explained Vanderah. “If we shut down all the pain, the body is still trying to tell us something.” In my laymen’s term, the body needs to express it’s pain so as we shut it down it may produce more pain. But the natural reaction of the inner cannabinoid system would not create more pain.

If cannabinoids are present they act as an anti-inflammatory and reduce pain. They can also decrease bone wasting as found in osteoporosis. This is great to know!

BUT We need more research!

Research is a challenge.

CBD is not federally legal. Creating an MS model for preclinical trial is difficult.

So, I think it’s time for us to start a go fund me for research in CBD and MS! Watch this spot. There is so much more information that I may be adding to this post.

But it’s 4:20 on 4:20 so I’m off to post this blog and celebrate life!

Thank you UA Health Sciences for all you are doing to help us live better!

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