MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) and BRAIN DAMAGE are OPTIONAL (Terry Wahls, Cavin Balaster)

[Twohandsondeck]

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) and BRAIN DAMAGE are OPTIONAL:

TERRY WAHLS suffered from multiple sclerosis which is a continued degeneration of the insulating tissue of the brain & nervous system. Eventually, the brain loses the ability to communicate with muscles, leading to loss of an ability to move and speak.

Wahls was limited to a wheelchair for 4 years with this condition before she remedied herself with the dietary strategy that she later called the "Wahls Protocol."

+++ A hyper-simplified version of the Wahls Protocol is detailed in the attached picture.

When Terry speaks, she puts the biggest emphasis is on leafy green vegetables, citing that even 10 cups a day of leafy greens is something to strive towards.
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CAVIN BALASTER fell two stories off of a ladder and smashed both the front and back of his head on the way down, putting him into a severe coma for about 2 weeks. He reports that the severity of that coma only had a 10% chance of people waking up from.

When Balaster came back to consciousness, he had suffered an extreme traumatic brain injury which caused him to lose his ability to walk and talk. He was put on a feeding tube for all of his meals.

While in the hospital bed, Cavin's recovery was dreadfully slow as he was fed modified soy and corn frankenfoods.

Somehow he was introduced to the Wahls Protocol... and with the help of his family, he was able to consume the suggested foods by first blending them so that they could be administered through the feeding tube. After this major dietary intervention, his rate of recovery dramatically improved to the point of re-learning how to walk and talk his way out of the hospital.

In his book, "How to feed a brain," Balaster outlines the Wahls Protocol and suggests a few additions such as bone broth and neuron-repairing supplements. Also... he dedicates a section to explain how a person can help someone else in a bed-ridden feeding-tube situation so that their body can recover with real nutrition.
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*Both Terry Wahls and Cavin Balaster have appeared on many podcasts and presentations to share their story and advice, a quick search with either of their names will show this.

Their two books that I've mentioned here are:

The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles

https://a.co/d/09dpdci

And

How to Feed a Brain: Nutrition for Optimal Brain Function and Repair

How to Feed a Brain: Nutrition for Optimal Brain Function and Repair: Balaster, Cavin, Wilson, Elisabeth A, Kharrazian, Dr. Datis: 9780999500217: Amazon.com: Books

 

[yerrag]

Nice! I'm a believer of not going to the hospital and relying on being sentenced to the ICU bed (aka torture while innocent). Just recover at home with such methods only hospital administrators and PR outfits call radical.

 

[youngsinatra]

I tried the protocol for a while for my own neurological symptoms, but I did not have success with it.

Dr. Wahls promotes fasting, time-restricted eating and carbohydrate-reduction. She also heavily promotes omega-3s for brain health.
I felt pretty hypothyroid while following her recommendations.

Just today, I read one of Ray’s articles on multiple sclerosis. Ray Peat mentioned T3, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA, aspirin as well as magnesium, salt, coconut oil and a high protein diet as hugely therapeutic for MS.

He thinks thyroid deficiency is a major cause of demyelination of the nerves.

 

[YourUniverse]

Does he explain why he avoids eggs or dairy? Are they "inflammatory"

 

[Twohandsondeck]

I tried the protocol for a while for my own neurological symptoms, but I did not have success with it.

Dr. Wahls promotes fasting, time-restricted eating and carbohydrate-reduction. She also heavily promotes omega-3s for brain health.
I felt pretty hypothyroid while following her recommendations.

Just today, I read one of Ray’s articles on multiple sclerosis. Ray Peat mentioned T3, pregnenolone, progesterone and DHEA, aspirin as well as magnesium, salt, coconut oil and a high protein diet as hugely therapeutic for MS.

He thinks thyroid deficiency is a major cause of demyelination of the nerves.

Bummer.

Yeah, sounds like a standard Peat musing. The ever-elusive healthy thyroid!

I should add that I second the sentiment that omega 3s and fasting are not ways to build a greater and greater foundation of health, but alas so many of these testimonies exist of people curing XYZ by eating lots of vegetables and doing some kind of modified fasting.

 

[Twohandsondeck]

Does he explain why he avoids eggs or dairy? Are they "inflammatory"

Admittedly I don't recall, but I think it's common knowledge that people with autoimmune conditions usually have a hard time digesting both eggs and dairy, especially when they're cooked/pasteurized.

If they're eaten by themselves and far away from other meals, that can change the digestive outcome... but the high level of constipation that accompanies autoimmune conditions often prevents this from being the case.

On a side note, arachadonic acid in eggs and the whey, casein, and lactose of milk are commonly cited as problematic substances within autoimmune suffering groups.

 

[Normal Human]

Bummer.

Yeah, sounds like a standard Peat musing. The ever-elusive healthy thyroid!

I should add that I second the sentiment that omega 3s and fasting are not ways to build a greater and greater foundation of health, but alas so many of these testimonies exist of people curing XYZ by eating lots of vegetables and doing some kind of modified fasting.

I'm a bit torn on fasting as well. It's well known in natural health circles that a water fast (24-72 hours in length, not "intermittent fasting") is the best way to get a person out of an excessive auto-immune inflammatory state such as occurs in "flares" in Rheumatoid arthritis. I would imagine a similar approach can be helpful in the "relapses" (i.e. flares) that some people with MS experience. Furthermore, I agree that there is extensive clinical literature on prolonged water-fasting curing all kinds of chronic diseases, and I can't help but think, from a perspective of "reductive stress" (over-abundance of electrons or negative charge) that acute fasting would be one such way to "break the cycle" so to speak.

With that said, when it comes to Intermittent Fasting, I generally with the research Haidut frequently posts and with Ray's writings, excessively done by people who are already stressed and hypo-metabolic, I've seen it generally make them "feel good" for a few weeks, and is then followed by a fairly strong crash, and I'm sure the normal biochemical and hormonal culprits (excessive cortisol, circulating FFAs, decreased blood sugar, etc.) are at fault.

 

[Twohandsondeck]

Furthermore, I agree that there is extensive clinical literature on prolonged water-fasting curing all kinds of chronic diseases, and I can't help but think, from a perspective of "reductive stress" (over-abundance of electrons or negative charge) that acute fasting would be one such way to "break the cycle" so to speak.

That's an interesting thought. Less food making for a temporary increase in circulating electrons/energetic potential? Something, something, autophagy(?)

With that said, when it comes to Intermittent Fasting, I generally with the research Haidut frequently posts and with Ray's writings, excessively done by people who are already stressed and hypo-metabolic, I've seen it generally make them "feel good" for a few weeks, and is then followed by a fairly strong crash, and I'm sure the normal biochemical and hormonal culprits (excessive cortisol, circulating FFAs, decreased blood sugar, etc.) are at fault.

Agreed

 

[seppl]

Maybe it was not the nutrition to get out of the wheelchair, but her neuromuscular electrical stimulation?

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation and dietary interventions to reduce oxidative stress in a secondary progressive multiple sclerosis patient leads to marked gains in function: a case report

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation has been used to aid musculoskeletal recovery. Excessive oxidative stress and excitoxicity are implicated in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. A 52-year-old white female with SPMS had been scooter- and cane-dependent ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Mary Lyn]

I also did the Wahl diet (Hashimotos) and came to grief with my thyroid (no meds) My thyroid needs carbs.

 

[youngsinatra]

Bummer.

Yeah, sounds like a standard Peat musing. The ever-elusive healthy thyroid!

I should add that I second the sentiment that omega 3s and fasting are not ways to build a greater and greater foundation of health, but alas so many of these testimonies exist of people curing XYZ by eating lots of vegetables and doing some kind of modified fasting.

Yeah basically, haha!

Apparently the oligodendrocytes (the dysfunctional myelin-producing cells in MS) also produce protective pregnenolone in the brain. Ray suggested that pregnenolone supplementation could be helpful for MS.

I found an interesting paper on the matter, which showed that pregnenolone injection remylinated nerves of the cuprizone-induced MS group to values comparable with the healthy control group.
(Improvement of Remyelination in Demyelinated Corpus Callosum Using Human Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (hADSCs) and Pregnenolone in the Cuprizone Rat Model of Multiple Sclerosis - Journal of Molecular Neuroscience)

„Recent research has shown the effects of renewing the myelin sheath with the application of neurosteroids to demyelinated nerve tissue.“
(Pregnenolone: A potential effective treatment for multiple sclerosis? Nutritional Perspectives: Journal of the Council on Nutrition . Jul2007, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p22-22. 1p. ; Edwards, Ken)

The fact alone that cuprizone (copper chelator) is a widely used compound which is used to induce MS in animal models is very interesting.

I think that copper deficiency or copper dysregulation is a big root cause of disease etiology. Copper deficiency is known to impair myelination.

Maybe pregnenolone converts into DHEA, which (I think!) signals the liver to make more ceruloplasmin. I could be wrong on this tho‘

 

[Dutchie]

When I started Paleo years ago, I ate along some of the Wahls guidelines but never on purpose.
(egg/dairy free, lots of leafy greens, a serving of fatty fish daily (omega 3), using only coconut oil).

It made some of my physical pains disappear and gave me radiant skin.
I'm thinking the leafy greens greatly detoxed (for lack of a better word) my liver and body.
However it could've also been because of beginner's luck, since it was my first venture going from processed to unprocessed food.
(It certainly was less complicated in regards of varying food theories&toxicities out there).

Now several years and issues later I don't tolerate leafy greens anymore (or any plantfood ). Leafy greens, at least the ones I ate, are high in oxalates.

 

[thirdcatgy]

Natural Light and air along with grounding (magnetism) likely play a huge role in neurological diseases.

Incidences in North America are 80-100x greater than areas close to the equator.

 

[seppl]

I have MS since 1979, when I was a boy of 11. I was squinting for two weaks. Til 2000 three relapses. In 1998 I write my Masterwork (studying nutrition) about MS and nutrition, I changed the way I eat to a paleo style, glutenfree, meat based nutrition with little linoleic acid. No relapse since 2000. As a nutritionist, I try every style to eat, because if i told a patient what to eat, i want to know, how it feels. I eat paleo, keto, carnicore, vegan (very short, I missed my meat), peaty, low fat, high fat. I fasted, I gorged. Never got a relapse. I do sports, sometimes very intensive - no relapse. I love sauna in contrast of most patients with MS. So something is special.

My parents were doing much homework in the seventies, soldering electronics. (I give my best with englisch
And in the holidays i work in a company at the soldering machine. So I think my MS was perhaps a lead poisoning?

Blood lead levels and multiple sclerosis: A case-control study - PubMed

In conclusion, based on our results, BLL was higher in MS patients, compared with healthy individuals. The risk of MS increased 1.17 times per one µg/L increment of blood lead level.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Second thought is we were moving to a new house in 1979. My room has a wooden ceiling, painted with pcb and lindan (you know the scandal in the 70ies?). So my MS is gone away, because pollution is decreasing over the years?

High plasma concentrations of organic pollutants negatively impact survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - PubMed

Higher concentrations of POPs in plasma are associated with reduced ALS survival, independent of age, gender, segment of onset and other covariates. This study helps characterise and quantify the combined effects of POPs on ALS and supports the concept that environmental exposures play a role in...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As a boy, i had heavy migraine, sometimes i came from school and go to bed, sleeping til next day. This is also gone since i fasted for two weaks around 2000. If the microbiome has a negative impact on MS, which I believe, than maybe this was the cause for my health? A reset in the gut?

Multiple Sclerosis and Microbiome

The composition of microbiota and the gut-brain axis is increasingly considered a factor in the development of various pathological conditions. The etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the CNS, is complex and interactions ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I am eating still glutenfree, because I had severe acne in my puberty with scars on my back and breast. This cleared dramatically with glutenfree. Today when I am loosing control and eat a pizza or delicious bread (glutenfree bread is still not really tasty), I get instantly the same big pimples as in puberty.

Gluten ataxia - PubMed

Gluten ataxia is an immune-mediated disease triggered by the ingestion of gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of all patients with idiopathic sporadic ataxia. Early diagnosis and treatment with a gluten free diet can improve ataxia...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

So I will still go to sauna, do sports and try to enjoy live. Our body is a wonder, and we don't know all.

It's a great forum here, very large knowledge. Great informations, great clues for searching forward. Thanks a lot.

 

[Highserotonin90]

@youngsinatra Do you think that applying solutions directly to the scalp can be beneficial for the brain? in the progression of my neurodegeneration I found benefit from the application of extra virgin olive oil with vitamin E.

 

[Twohandsondeck]

The fact alone that cuprizone (copper chelator) is a widely used compound which is used to induce MS in animal models is very interesting.

I think that copper deficiency or copper dysregulation is a big root cause of disease etiology. Copper deficiency is known to impair myelination.

Maybe pregnenolone converts into DHEA, which (I think!) signals the liver to make more ceruloplasmin. I could be wrong on this tho‘

Very interesting. There's several things that come to mind that I've read about copper... but saving for a coherent response, I'm content to agree that it could be a centerpiece in many diseases.

Have you experimented with pregnenolone supplementation at all? I've tried it a few times. At best it gives me that temporary motivation/dopamine boost that I've also experienced with 'nootroopics' but then symptoms of adrenal burnout will follow within 72 hours.

 

[Twohandsondeck]

It's a great forum here, very large knowledge. Great informations, great clues for searching forward. Thanks a lot.

Lovely share. Salute!

Have you ever done a hair mineral analysis test? I wonder what it would show for you now.

 

[seppl]

Honestly, i don´t think itś very useful. The MS is far away, i do not even make a MRT. Five years ago i had very painful backaches, the doctor said, it comes from the MS. I didn´t believe, he made a MRT and found nothing only a little protrusion...

 

[jet9]

I also did the Wahl diet (Hashimotos) and came to grief with my thyroid (no meds) My thyroid needs carbs.

What carbs work best for you?

 

[Mary Lyn]

What carbs work best for you?

fruit