Mitochondrial Diet

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you all think of this diet? Here's a review from Amazon.

This info really works and Dr Wahls is the real deal, January 30, 2012

By

Jodi-Hummingbird

This review is from: Minding My Mitochondria 2nd Edition: How I overcame

secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and got out of my wheelchair.

(Paperback)

I was very unsure about this diet at first, as it seemed to clash so

strongly with so many of the wonderful health and diet books I had been

reading.

Wahls recommendation of a low fat diet that was also very low in saturated

fat is the opposite of what highly respected lipid expert Enig PhD

recommends, and what is recommended - based on a ton of very convincing

evidence - in so many other great books based on maintaining or regaining

health through eating the diet our bodies have evolved to do best on, such

as Primal Body- Primal Mind, Primal Blueprint, The Perfect Health Diet, Eat

Fat-Lose Fat, The GAPS diet and others.

So when a friend told me that in fact Dr Wahls has very much changed her

stance on fats and saturated fat and now recommends cooking with healthy

fats such as coconut oil, butter/ghee (from grassfed cows) and lard, I was

really happy to hear it!

With that one big issue resolved, this is a diet that tallies hugely with

what some of the very best experts in this field are saying and combines the

best of what many excellent nutrition books have to say into one dietary

plan that I feel is really the best diet out there for anyone battling a

serious disease. It is just excellent. I recommend following it if you are

ill, very highly.

Patients need to read up online about the changes Wahl has made in addition

to reading this book, or else just get the information of the diet online

while making sure it is up-to-date. (I hope so much that those that have

written very pro-low fat fat diet comments about this book on the reviews

page will read this updated information somehow. The right fats in the diet

are so essential for healing, and for proper mitochondrial function.)

The book recommends eating soy products, rice and potatoes and also

recommends a low-fat diet. The current diet plan does not support adding

these foods to the diet and is a high-fat diet; high in healthy fats. It is

a low-sugar and starch, dairy-free, gluten-free and soy-free diet that

minimises or eliminates grains, legumes and potatoes. (Some of us need to

completely eliminate these. I know I do.)

Wahls writes, 'Raw dairy still has casein (protein) that looks like gluten

to our immune system. That means raw milk still stimulates immune system

problems. For those with food allergies / sensitivities it is still a major

problem. Once sensitized - always sensitized. I avoid and strongly urge all

with an a chronic disease or autoimmune disease to AVOID. Gluten grains -

wheat, rye, barley, and the protein in dairy - can lead to an over active

immune reaction -- which then can lead to autoimmune problems, asthma,

rashes, mood problems and more. For many going gluten free, dairy free is

the beginning of better health. Going fully paleo (no grain and no legumes)

for many will lead to even more vitality. But for most - it is a transition

that may take several weeks or months. It is ok to start small, but do start

the journey..'

Wahls' current diet plan, as best as I can work it out, is as follows:

* Eating 9 cups of non-starchy vegetables and berries each day (3 cups each

of greens, sulfur containing veggies, and colourful veggies) is essential.

Choose organic and/or grow your own if you can.

* It is okay to take in some of your 9 cups in the form of freshly pressed

juices.

* Eating good quality grass-fed/free-range/organic meats daily is essential.

* Cook with natural fats such as coconut oil, lard and clarified

butter/ghee.

* Eating organ meats such as liver is recommended at least once a week.

Liver is very important for B vitamins. Cooked medium rare is best.

* Bone broths are recommended daily. They are full of minerals and help heal

the gut.

* Eating seaweed once a week or more is recommended.

* Eating nuts/seeds or nutritional yeast is recommended daily, including

coconut milk.

* Eating sprouts is recommended, such as broccoli sprouts.

* Eating fermented foods such as unpasturised sauerkraut is recommended.

* Eggs are recommended, although people with autoimmune diseases should not

have egg whites due to a problematic protein in the egg white. (They should

be eliminated at first and added back after a few weeks, and only eaten if

there is no reaction to them. Same with nightshades)

* Eating small amounts of honey or cocoa is okay, and so is eating natural

flavourings in food such as spices and ginger.

* Getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids and not too many Omega 6s is important,

so Omega 6 containing oils should be minimised and fish oil capsules taken,

and foods such as hemp oil, seafood and flax oil eaten. The best ratio is

3:1.

Other helpful things:

* Vitamin D should be over 50 ng/ml and under 100 ng/ml. (Take a test every

1- 3 months and take 4000 IU vitamin D3 daily, or more if needed. 150 ng/ml

is toxic.).

* Having daily quiet time is important, to calm down our adrenals.

Meditation, massage, nature and family time is also important.

* Epson salt baths, melatonin and herbal teas can help sleep.

* Minimise toxin exposure and quit smoking.

* B complex supplements or sulphur amino acids may be helpful (under a

doctor's direction).

* Heavy metal testing and treatments such as clay baths and facial clay

masks and saunas may be helpful.

* A good quality water filter is essential.

Wahls also supports ideas such as:

* Supplements can in some cases be helpful, but they can never replace a

nutrient dense and healthy diet. A proper diet must always come first. Foods

contain many beneficial cofactors and other compounds not included in

supplements and many that we have not yet even discovered or named.

* Getting evaluated for potential food allergies, toxic load issues and more

personalised nutritional needs by a practitioner of functional medicine is a

very good idea. The Institute for Functional Medicine can help you find a

provider in your area.

* Drugs are not the answer. Let food, good wholesome food be thy medicine.

* " Between the unexpected, unpleasant events in our lives and our response

to those events is a space, and in that space we have a choice in deciding

what our response will be. We can either give up or get up each day and do

our best. "

* " Epigenetics is how your environment talks to your genes. Our cells are

capable of reading the state of our environment and activating or

deactivating genes. This means that, based on the choices we make, we can

turn on genes for health or turn off those health-promoting genes. In other

words, it is your health behaviors such as diet and activities, that

determine whether the health-promoting or the health-robbing genes are

active. For some conditions, such as cystic fibrosis or hemophilia, our

genes are an important factor, often the cause of the disease. But for the

obesity, heart disease, mental health and autoimmune epidemics that are

driving up the cost of health care in the U.S. and around the world, there

are no single genes that are the culprit. Instead, for each of these

problems, multiple genes are involved, and they interact in a complex way

with the environment. "

* We need to stop blaming our genes for our illnesses and work on making the

best of the 70% that is under our control.

* " Yes, it does cost more to eat vegetables. But you will pay the price

either way--for food that restores your health and vitality or for doctor

visits, drugs, surgery and loss of work due to health problems. "

* " Functional medicine is really looking at health of the cell. And what can

we do to help the individual make the environment for their cells, an

environment for doing the biochemistry life more ideal. So that comes down

to the fruit you eat or do not eat, the quality of the air you breathe, the

water you drink, the toxic load that is in your body is a result of the

exposure you had over a lifetime because if you couldn't get the toxins out

the day you were exposed to them, they get parked in your fat and did you

know that your brain is 70% fat? So if you can't get the toxins out you had

today with your whatever your exposure was, you're parking it in your fat

and your brain which is going to create havoc over time. "

Hard to argue with any of that! I agree with all of it. Most of the above

are quotes from Dr Wahls, from her many websites.

Functional or holistic medicine just makes so much sense. It treats the

actual cause of diseases, rather than just blindly drugging everything and

focusing on endlessly chasing and minimising symptoms.

There are 3 basic principles of the type of medicine discussed by Wahls and

others in this same field:

A. Get the good stuff in. Give your body the fuel and tools it needs to work

at an optimum level. Good food, nutrients and all the proper vitamins,

minerals and antioxidants. Make sure you aren't deficient in any of the

major nutrients as the different nutrients all work together.

B. Get the bad stuff out. Make sure your body can detoxify out all the toxic

substances and toxic by-products of bodily processes properly. Stop as many

toxins from getting in in the first place, and do things which aid

detoxification to get rid of the ones you have.

C. Reduce your body's total load. The total load concept is that lessening

the body's overall burden/work and stress level in one area, will improve

health generally and improve the body's ability to heal because the body's

total load (or burden) is lessened. Fixing one problem frees up bodily

resources that can be then be used to help other parts of the body function

getter or to heal. In other words, you need to look at the body as a whole

in order to heal, and not just the one part of the body that is generating

the most symptoms.

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A special note to M.E. patients on the Wahls protocol:

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis is a neurological disease similar in some ways to

MS, which also causes demyelination and mitochondrial dysfunction.

For those with my particular neurological disease, Myalgic

Encephalomyelitis, it is important that activity levels be kept always

within very strict limits, or else relapse will occur. (Death is also a risk

in M.E. if overexertion is severe. This is not about symptoms or feeling

fatigued, but a problem of cardiac insufficiency, reduced circulating blood

volume and POTS and so on which is very serious and non-negotiable.

Overexertion always causes a worsening of the disease.) But of course

activity levels can and should be raised slowly to keep in line with health

improvements in M.E. - this is something that happens naturally anyway.

For those unfamiliar with the disease, many M.E. patients are housebound and

almost entirely bedbound (and far too ill to use wheelchairs for even small

periods of time in a day or week) and limited with even basic communication

and reading; which is also part of why I am trying hard to summarise the

work of Wahls for them as much as possible. 30 minutes of gravity opposing

exercise is probably a great recommendation for almost everyone but should

be ommited by M.E. patients unless they can do this without becoming more

ill or symptomatic.

Also, Wahls says: 'It is common to have some level of detoxification (more

fatigue, headache) in the first week which resolves and then improves

markedly by week two.' I would say that for M.E. patients this statement is

not quite right and is an enormous understatement. M.E. patients will often

have quite severe healing reactions to supplementation and changes in diet.

These can be severe enough to make a patient no longer able to feed

themselves or do other tasks of daily living, as well as leave them in

agony. They can also last FAR longer than just a week!

It is important for anyone ill to make the dietary changes gradually, and

for patients with M.E. this caution should be taken very seriously. Jumping

in with both feet too fast could leave you very very ill for months

afterward. Healing reactions are a good sign that healing is occurring, but

need to be controlled so they don't become overwhelming. Switch to the full

diet over a few months at least. Slowly but surely is the way to go!

Improvements will almost certainly be slow too, so patience is necessary

there as well, especially when the illness has been severe for many years or

even several decades or more.

M.E. patients will also often do far better eating cooked veggies rather

than raw, which can be too difficult and painful for us to digest. (For more

M.E. patient-specific tips and cautions see the HFME website.)

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This diet is described as an MS diet, but really this diet is the diet we

have all evolved to be best suited to. All of us need such a nutrient-dense

and low-toxicity diet, and so I hope people with all sorts of diseases look

into the Wahls diet and not just those with neurological diseases. The diet

can also help where there is not yet a correct diagnosis. We all need the

right amounts of the nutrients that enable healing, no matter what disease

we have.

For some people following this diet plan will be enough, but for others a

higher level of intervention will be required in addition to the diet. The

first step toward healing has to be an excellent diet and good gut health,

combined with minimising toxin exposures. If more help is needed then, as

Wahls explains, it is best to see a Functional/Holistic medicine expert so

that it can be determined what extra supplements or other supports you may

need. The key is learning about your own 'biochemical individuality.' There

are so many tests now which can be done to determine where your

detoxification pathways are failing, which nutrients you need more of or

have problems utilising or why your gut is still not functioning right.

For those that can't find or can't afford to see a Functional/Holistic

medicine expert, or cannot see any medical expert due to being housebound

etc., an excellent companion to Wahls book are the books by

Functional/Holistic medicine experts such as Dr Sherry . Dr

tells you exactly which tests may help you, how to treat more complex gut

problems and how to go about following a more intensive detoxification

regime involving a detox cocktail and FIR sauna use. Dr books are to

some extent `do-it-yourself' health books but ideally Dr recommends

that you get well with the help of a qualified practitioner that will be

able to order the appropriate tests for you, and also help you interpret

them.

Dr Sherry writes in `Detoxify or Die',

`I have to laugh when people ask me if I do alternative, herbal, acupuncture

or holistic medicine. 'No,' I reply. 'We do state-of-the-art medicine. In

other words, we find the biochemical, nutritional and environmental causes

and cures rather than blindly drugging everything. Sure, herbs are gentler,

safer and more physiologic than drugs and holistic medicine attempts to

incorporate many diverse modalities, etc. But there is no substitute for

finding the underlying biochemical causes and cures. This is real medicine.

This is where medicine should and would have been decades ago, if it had not

been abducted by the pharmaceutical industry.'

Following a super-high-quality diet is also the foundation of Dr '

treatment plan and so starting with the Wahls diet (which is the best there

is) and then moving on (if necessary) to follow Dr ' advice on

advanced detoxification techniques just makes so much sense. The best book

of hers to start with is Detoxify or Die. It is just brilliant and very easy

to read as well. It has so much good information and support for sauna use

and so much more. Her book 'The Safe, Effective Way to Prevent and Heal

Chronic Gastrointestinal Disorders' is also excellent.

In addition to books by Dr Sherry I'd also recommend books and

articles by Dr Lawrence (particularly his book on sauna use), Dr

Klenner, Dr Abram Hoffer, Saul, Sally Fallon and Enig and any

and all of the vitamin C and orthomolecular experts such as Linus ing

and Dr Levy. Other excellent books on diet and nutrition (with huge

amounts in common with the Wahls diet) include Primal Body-Primal Mind, The

Primal Blueprint, The Perfect Health Diet and Deep Nutrition as well as

books on the GAPS diet for the treatment of dysbiosis and a diet-based plan

to heal the gut.

Gut health is so important and if gut health is poor, then your body can't

properly use all the wonderful nutritious food you are eating. Many of us

need to heal the gut first of all, and this may at first involve supplements

such as Betaine HCL, enzymes and probiotics, as well as dietary changes, as

these books explain. All of these books, along with Wahls book, are far more

than just standard Paleo diet books.

Combining the excellent Wahls diet with the advice on detoxification by Dr

(including the use of an FIR sauna and a daily detox cocktail and

'oil change' nutrients and digestive supports) has seen me finally start to

slowly improve my health this last year and a half. I'm slowly improving

month by month from a very severe neurological disease - thanks in part to

the work of Dr Wahls and Dr , and others like them - that has left me

housebound and almost entirely bedbound for many years. I have been

housebound and almost entirely bedbound (and far too ill to even use a

wheelchair, or even the phone) for over 10 years and I got ill when I was

just 19. Getting slowly worse and worse year after year was terrifying,

especially when I was so ill and disabled already.

I wish so much I had had this information early on in my disease, rather

than coming to it more than 10 years in. Healing is so much easier the

earlier you start it.

I wont know how much of my damage is irreversible until I improve a lot more

(a LOT more I hope!) and find out where I plateau. But for those that have

been ill 'only' 5 or 7 years or less, or that are not severely ill, I do

think these approaches could be curative or very close to it. At the very

least they will undo as much damage as can be undone.

My big dream is to get to a 30% function level, where I can live

independently.... I'm still so far away from that currently, but I am at

least making slow but sure progress now! Being able to cook a little this

last year after 8 years or more not being able to even make myself a cup of

tea has been just so wonderful. Cooking myself an egg is a joyful

experience! It is so wonderful to now each month be getting small UNsymptoms

and UNdisabilities!

I have learned so much about health that I would never have known if I had

not become so ill and been forced to learn it!

The Wahls Foundation is a nonprofit organisation that hopes to raise funds

to do research on this diet. Buying this book helps fund their research. The

book is mostly recipes and reading more of her ideas online is so helpful.

I'd highly recommend watching all her free videos online (watch out for the

loud sound on some of them - ouch!), plus her FB page and blog and website.

They are all so helpful.

Dr Wahls is the real deal and is clearly motivated by a genuine desire to

help ill people improve their health. I wish her and her Foundation all the

best and thank them for all their wonderful work. This is real cutting edge

medicine.

Best wishes for future health to anyone still reading this far!

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis