The Continuing Adventures Of Dave The Intrepid Gastronaut

By: Dave Boll

MS Diet 9 month update 

MS has been hammering me since 1998 and nothing seems to slow it down. On 4/20/2011 I finally decided to go 100% on the Wahls diet. This is my 9-month report.
Dr Wahls' story is compelling. See Terry Wahls' website. In 2007 she wasn't too far physically from where I am today. She changed her diet and by 2008 she could walk and ride her bike! That will get the complete attention of someone like me! She did other things in addition to diet changes, like eletronic muscle stimulation, meditation - but she thinks diet played the primary role in her recovery and she was never as bad as I am now.

My version of the Wahls diet:
  • Lots of veggies, esp. sulfur-rich and leafy greens and bright colors
  • Small amount of fruit, some grain (but no gluten!)(I do quinoa and rice), small amounts of meat (chicken, turkey, or seafood). I avoid beef and pork.
  • ZERO gluten, dairy, sugar, yeast, legumes, red meat, processed food. I think the first 2 on this list are the important ones, and #3 (sugar) isn't far behind.
  • Low starch; I do eat some grapes or blueberries or corn on occasion. But never a potato or potato chips.
  • On month 3 I began including a commercial daily green drink; we use Green Magma.
  • Wahls is sort of the Swank diet (the first recommended MS diet) of today, except I'd say it trades an emphasis on low-fat for an emphasis on veggies.

    • Wahls = Paleo-diet + anti-inflamatory diet + extra veggies.
    I started on this 100% on 4/20... Before, I was 90% on the diet - it isn't far from how I ate normally... but if you walked in with a pizza before 4/20/11 and offered me a slice, I'd have one. Today - no thanks. For me, the hardest things to totally give up were pizza, bacon, and cheese. Pretty much everything else was EZ; I don't have a sweet tooth. In the old days, I'd eat sweets occasionally but I never crave them. My wonderful wife Janelle is on board with the diet (she ought to be; she found it and directed me to it!) and the food prep - out of necessity; I can't do it.

    New Stuff

  • Still sticking 100% to the diet as defined above. 
  • My best pole-standing is now up to 100 seconds, up from the 85 from last month. Slowly improving... very slow. I need to remember it took 12 long years to get as disabled as I am; if I am improving at all, it will be a gradual recovery.
  • OTOH, Dr. Wahls says months 9-12 on the diet are good ones for her test cases - we'll see if it applies to me!
  • My daughter Alyssa and I made some cookies, starting with a traditional peanut butter cookie recipe and making the following swaps

    • peanut butter => almond butter 
    • butter => coconut oil
    • sugar => stevia
    • wheat flour => rice flourHey, not bad! 

  • My non-water drink of the moment: 2 c water, 1 tbp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbp stevia.
  • Just read Roger Mc Dougall's website - great inspirational reading for those attempt to address their MS via diet! Roger's "big 3" were the same as my diet; no gluten, no dairy, no sugar - and his recovery was gradual. I dare not hope my recovery - if it even exists - will be as complete!
  • We have this, Swank, Wahls... and yet we don't hear about dietary options upon diagnosis. IF I get better, I'll do my best to change this locally.
  • My daily supplement mix is always changing, but here it is today:

    • fibercon/lax: 2 
    • mega efa:2x2000mg
    • Synergy once daily multi vite
    • vite d3: 2x 2000 iu (another 2000iu in daily multivite)
    • vite e: 400mg
    • CoQ10/ALA/ALC: 700 mg
    • Calcium/magnesium
    • primal defense: 1 
    • advan C 1000 mg every other day
    • milk thistle : 600 mg
    • vite b-50 every other day. With the above 4, I'm cutting down, I used to take 2x the amount listed. Reasons: $, the vitamin content of my food should be high. There are also many things in my daily green drink, listed here: Green Foods Magma Plus Powder 
    The last few days before posting this I have been unusually weak; I've been unable to do my morning stand - at - the - pole at all. Yesterday I had to sign something & couldn't. Hopefully it's just a blip... 

    When diet is wrong medicine is of no use.
    When diet is correct medicine is of no need.
    ~Ayurvedic Proverb

    Gastronaut Dave, over and out

    Terry Wahls MD | Defeating Progressive Multiple Sclerosis without Drugs | MS Recovery | Food As Medi


    The official website of Terry Wahls, MD, author and physician who has recovered from secondary progressive multiple sclerosis by using the Wahls way-Food as medicine.