Spray and pray
Today marks one year since I received a diagnosis, following a final round of 6:00 a.m. MRI scans. So much has changed in a year and while it hasn’t always been comfortable, there has been forward progress.
A year later, July 26 feels like a milestone versus a negative reminder because I have made some pretty big strides so far.
I also got some incredibly good news a couple of days ago that I was accepted into a new diet study of MS patients who are not on disease modifying therapies (DMT) and the impact of their diet on the disease. Over the next four to five years, my diet, disease progress, MRI scans and more will be studied by Dr. Terry Wahls and her team at the University of Iowa along with a group of other people.
I am already on a blend of a couple of common diets for MS, including the Wahls Protocol and OMS (Overcoming MS). I also follow general guidelines for my blood type and I do occasionally eat some meat and fish. The switch to this diet wasn’t all that difficult, as I ate pretty healthy before all of this, so making very strict rules around what to eat wasn’t that much of a stretch and the stakes were high.
Over the course of the past year, food and what I put in my body are things I can control, so there are still times where I am triggered, or in a situation where accommodations can’t be made. For those times, I bring my own food or I eat ahead of time. I have some recipes I’ve gotten some positive feedback on, so I’ll be sharing those from time to time.
I follow Dr. Wahls recommendations from her TED Talk for optimal mitochondrial function as a general outline, with some of my own tweaks.
What I eat: A Whole food, Plant-Based diet and limited, local, grass-Fed Meat
- Minimum of nine cups of fruits and vegetables a day, organic when possible
- Organic, local, grass-fed lamb (2-3 times per month)
- Wild caught fish (typically salmon, and mostly stick to SMASH fish… high Omega-3 content fish of salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring (2-3 times per month)
- Supplements (Vitamin D, B-Complex, B12, probiotic, prebiotic, turmeric, CoQ10, Lions Mane (mushroom), Willows Bark (mushroom), two different Chinese herbal supplements, a blended Zinc supplement, and two supplements advised by my naturopath including plant sterols and mitochondria support.
What I limit:
- Alcohol (2-4 drinks per week max)
- Corn and corn-based products
- Saturated fat (under 10 grams per day or less)
What I don’t eat:
- Gluten
- Dairy
- Soy
- Eggs
- Anything processed with a long list of ingredients
- Anything with ingredients I can’t pronounce
- Sugar that is not naturally occurring like fruit
I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, so overall, I aim for a nutrition strategy that is a bit less technical, of which many friends have heard me refer to as “spray and pray”… as in aim wide, fire often, hope for the best…only with vegetables. So with that, I aim to get as much nutrients down every single day as possible, with enough variety to make things tasty and interesting. The same goes for vitamins… I probably take more than what I need, but it hopefully covers all the bases and then some.
What happened:
The changes were pretty immediate and to some extent, effortless.
- I have always had a sweet tooth. My typical and normal craving for sugar and sweets completely dissipated. My tastes changed drastically enough to where my favorite cocktail at my best friend’s bar (which was on the sweet side) turned into something I could no longer drink and tolerate, because it was too sweet.
- My cravings went from sweet foods to healthy, savory foods, like broccoli with aminos.
- My menstrual cycle regulated and was no longer uncontrollably heavy.
- My premenstrual symptoms relaxed and became manageable.
- My weight stabilized and now I stay within a pretty narrow range of 2-3 pounds vs fluctuating +\- 10 lbs was the norm before.
- I lost ~20 lbs without trying or even thinking about it.
- My hair stopped falling out in gobs.
- The most important part… and the intent of all this, was that my brain and spinal lesions stopped progressing and so far, appear to have moved toward healing.
Whole food, plant-based, gluten free tacos with homemade GF tortillas.
What a typical day looks like for Meals:
Breakfast: 2 black bean brownies (recipe coming soon), 3 Brazil nuts (covers my daily dose of selenium), 1 cup of berries (typically blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries or a mix) and coconut keto coffee.
Mid-morning snack: Smoothie with 1-2 cups kale, spinach or chard, nut milk, ice cubes, fresh or frozen berries, and ATP Gutright, a powdered supplement for gut health. I also mix in several other powdered supplements or additives that may include a random mix of: moringa, maca, beetroot powder, spirulina algae, elderberry, celery powder, cacao, chia, flax and flaxseed oil on any given day.
Lunch: Huge salad (especially in the summer) with 4-5 cups of kale, spinach, chard, beet greens or arugula, sprouts, microgreens, fermented vegetables, avocado, roasted beets, roasted sweet potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, etc.
Afternoon snack: Kale chips, nut crackers and caffeine free tea
Dinner: Buddha bowl with sautéed spinach, broccoli, roasted sweet potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, carrots, sprouts, regular or coconut aminos, brown rice and fresh herbs.