Paleo diet cures MS

[QUOTE=Raine;709896]Hardly, it is not nitpicking at all, it is stating the actual facts which are VERY important to everyone with a serious disease that is interested in Dr Wahls. You have obviously never suffered from a serious disease that has robbed you of your normal life. There is a massive difference between cured and halting the progression of a disease. It is extremely cruel to tell people that are seriously ill, that a diet will cure them, when it hasn't cured anyone. They end up blaming themselves and becoming depressed when it doesn't happen. Dr Wahls has also said on facebook that if she goes off the plan slightly her symptoms go down hill again.

The actual facts need to be clearly stated if people are to benefit from her diet.[/QUOTE]

+1 I agree you have to tell folks that it halts the progression of disease not a cure.

[QUOTE=Sue;709997]+1 I agree you have to tell folks that it halts the progression of disease not a cure.[/QUOTE]

I agree that we need to be very careful using the word "cure".
But her way of eating apparently did more than halt the progression though, right? It reversed it somewhat too.
I haven't watched it for a while, but in her presentation didn't Dr. Wahls say that she was absent of all symptoms, maybe measures which indicate the presence of the disease? If she did, wouldn't that be a cure?
(I must watch it again, bookmarked for this evening).

It's similar to obese diabetics who eat primal, lose weght, get blood glucose numbers under control, get off meds etc. to the point where if tested they have no symptoms. Are they cured? Or just because we know that if they go back to eating how they did before their diabetes would reappear, we can't say they were cured? Are we saying that the disease is hiding there waiting to make a come back, rather than doing this has cured it but if you do what caused it in the first place again then it will happen again?

Here are the results of her initial study on the WAHLS protocol on MS patients, it should also be noted that Dr Wahls also used neuromuscular electrical stimulation, but credits mostly the diet for helping her :

http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?mID=2773&sKey=09785855-9734-496b-b682-d5b790e3eb46&cKey=4f661b9f-223e-44e7-89cd-c464d1222d6d&mKey={8334BE29-8911-4991-8C31-32B32DD5E6C8}

Also this is her on facebook - [url]https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wahls-Foundation/150956531629073[/url] There is heaps of info on here that isn't on the rest of the net. It can be a bit confusing until you read all of what she has to say, she absolutely is not cured.

Thanks for the additional info Raine.

I have her book Minding My Midochondria. I will be very happy to just stop the progression and I am so determined to do all that I can yet it is so daunting! I simply can't imagine eating that many vegetables each day for one thing but I will certainly try! I like kale chips, make them quite often and smoothies are a great way for me to get my greens as well.

A friend of a friend started eating like this when first diagnosed (about 11 years ago). Symptoms went away and as an extra bonus, she's at her high school weight. I don't know if she can do martial arts.

My wife has stopped her MS progression on a diet that is very similar, with a heavy emphases on animal fats.

I watched that video a while back and noticed she mentioned consuming seaweed once a week. But she didn't say how much, and since it's not something we normally eat here as part of our cuisine, I was wondering if anyone has more specific information about what she might recommend.

3-1/2 ounces of fresh, frozen, or rehydrated dried seaweed is a lot to eat at once.

Just like there's no one right way to eat for everyone, there is no single way to 'cure' or 'halt the progression' of MS. In fact, the MS forums are filled with dozens of different interventions people have used to improve/eliminate their symptoms that have nothing to do with diet whatsoever.

I think that Dr. Wahls is a very admirable pioneer, and that her experience and research is profoundly important and sadly lacking in this field. I hope that her contributions are recognized in the mainstream.

However, I do have to say that her diet was a complete disaster for me. I've had MS for about 7 years. My symptoms were mild after I cut out gluten and dairy, but upon adopting the style of eating she recommends, my health began a very noticeable decline. My hypothyroid symptoms got severe, my IBS was the worst it's ever been in my life, and my mood was so unstable that I seriously considered going on anti-depressants.

All those problems improved when I ELIMINATED those vegetables she promotes, and greatly increased my consumption of starches and cane sugar (both of which she vehemently opposes). Now that I no longer follow her diet, my health is the best it's been in years.

I'm sure her protocol is a godsend for some people, but it is not a cure.

[QUOTE=BestBetter;1113079]Just like there's no one right way to eat for everyone, there is no single way to 'cure' or 'halt the progression' of MS. In fact, the MS forums are filled with dozens of different interventions people have used to improve/eliminate their symptoms that have nothing to do with diet whatsoever.

I think that Dr. Wahls is a very admirable pioneer, and that her experience and research is profoundly important and sadly lacking in this field. I hope that her contributions are recognized in the mainstream.

However, I do have to say that her diet was a complete disaster for me. I've had MS for about 7 years. My symptoms were mild after I cut out gluten and dairy, but upon adopting the style of eating she recommends, my health began a very noticeable decline. My hypothyroid symptoms got severe, my IBS was the worst it's ever been in my life, and my mood was so unstable that I seriously considered going on anti-depressants.

All those problems improved when I ELIMINATED those vegetables she promotes, and greatly increased my consumption of starches and cane sugar (both of which she vehemently opposes). Now that I no longer follow her diet, my health is the best it's been in years.

I'm sure her protocol is a godsend for some people, but it is not a cure.[/QUOTE]


I think you bring up a couple of good points. One of which is comorbidities. It's what makes a panacea so unlikely. Even if you were to say every human being is close enough genetically to require the same things to express health (I actually believe this) that doesn't account for your specific sort of "messed up" from a lifestyle and environment not in tune with such. Perhaps if three generations back plus yourself were brought up in an HG society then the panacea would hold. Alas thats not the case. Primal/paleo is an excellent place to start with debilitating illness (and what every healthy or semi-healthy person should be doing...), but the variables and individual tweaks necessary to optimize it are likely to increase in proportion to the number and severity of physiological comorbidities present. Its still the best we got IMO though.