[lurkingforacure]

I apologize for the sloppiness of this post, but I wanted to share this before the night ends and I have just a tiny window before I have to get our last child off to bed...

You DNA contains the wisdom to heal you.

You read that right. This is a quote from the book I ordered and have now received entitled: Minding Your Mitochondria. It is a fabulous book. Written by a doctor who was diagnosed with MS and found herself rapidly deteriorating, she began researching food and the role of nutrition on health in earnest once she became wheelchair bound. And yes, she is "recovered" and rides her bike something like 18 miles a day, is back at her job as a doctor helping victims of brain trauma (so she knows a bit about the brain), is out of the wheelchair, never uses either of the two canes she used to have to use before going into the wheelchair, feels so much better, etc., etc., and etc. A wonderful and very inspiring story, and one from which everyone, whether they are ill or not, can learn.

I have only just begun the book, but it is excellent. I would like to share what I am learning with everyone here, and will put the big points first with why I feel they are relevant and fill in with more later as I read through the book. If you don't have this book, get it. In addition to a very easy to understand explanation of the brain and mitochondria, she includes a LOT of recipes which we are now incorporating into our household.

First, I have long harbored the belief that we each have our own exquisititely complex chemistry, such that no one on the planet is the same as any one else, not even if we are related by blood. Similar to fingerprints, our almost infinite (we don't even know everything the human body has in it) chemical elements and compounds are in a pattern and relationship to each other unique to each of us, with no two humans having the same. This is why, I believe, that drugs do not work for approximately half of those for whom they are prescribed: the chemical differences between us are simply too great for a one-size-fits-all pill to actually work for very many people, much less everyone.

Second, I think PD is, at the most basic of levels, yet another way of the body trying to tell us something is wrong. Much like the flu's predominant system is fatigue, which is our body trying to tell us to REST NOW, our movement becomes obviously affected such that we run to the doctor. Our body is saying something is not right. We don't know what, so can't change it, and things continue to get worse. But our body is sending us a message to change, clearly.

Back to the book. On page nine she writes "Your DNA contains the wisdom to heal you." I sat and read and re-read that sentence many times. It made so much sense to me. Here is how I understand things to progress as so far as the mitochondria are concerned (and keep in mind, the author lists several things that she believes contribute to degenerative diseases, such as pollution, stress, poor diet, genes, so she is not myopic in her views):

1. Mitochondria make energy for the cell in which they reside. The brain is particularly susceptible to lack of energy and/or oxygen....without both, cells begin to die, and quickly, too.

2. Healthy mitochondria require lots of nutrients, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, etc., to funtion correctly. Modern diet does not provide this, and has not for decades. As the years go by, the mitochondria continue to function less and less efficiently until they simply poop out and send the "time to die" signal to the cell, prematurely.

3. what do the mitochondria do?

make energy.. called ATP....if they aren't doing this efficiently, you are TIRED...our number one PD symptom from the very beginning was horrible, unending fatigue.

If you dont' give your body the right nutrition, the mitochondria are much less efficient. I read that poorly functioning mitochondria can only make 2 molecules of ATP (the energy) from one glucose molecule, but if functioning properly and the antioxidants and nutrition are all in place, it can make 38 molecules of ATP from one glucose molecule! No wonder PWP are so tired! This makes so much sense.

Mitochondria use antioxidants to get rid of free radicals safely...if you don't have enough antioxidants in your diet, and who does, those free radicals stick around in your system and poison you (not her words, just my interpretation as I understood it). We call this accelerated aging, but the effect is the same.

Now, the author is very clear in saying that she did several things at the same time to get back her health, so it's not just about diet:

1. radical dietary change: she recommends NINE cups of fruits and veggies a day:

3 cups of high sulphuric veggies
3 cups of colorful fruits and veggies
3 cups of green veggies, she personally eats between 700 and 1000 GRAMS of kale a day (this is why, she said, most supplements are ineffective: you would have to take 700 1gram pills to get that much antioxidant value as simply eating/blending kale itself, and you would lose all the additional phytonutrients in the kale that are very beneficial as well)

she also recommends an elimination diet in which you remove foods and then gradually re-introduce them to be sure you dont' have any allergy or sensitivity to them/it. She personally took out all grass grains, beans, dairy, I can't remember what all else, to see what she had problems with.

She has a lengthy discussion of supplements which I have not gotten to yet, and I think she did supplement some, but her focus was clearly on getting the nutrients from the food itself. One thing I did not know is that the calcium in kale is much more readily absorbed by the body than the calcium in milk. You can grow kale in a galvanized steel container on your patio if you're short on space, and it's very easy to grow.

2. E-stim, which she began at a PT's office experienced in this and then began doing at home. This was to help build muscle tone and stamina and, she mentioned, helped increase growth factors in the brain.

3. exercise, over and above the E-stim.

What do you all think of this? Does it make sense? We began today with some of her recipes and ingredients. Many of her recipes are from the Institute for Functional Medicine which is geared towards educating medical professionals in the connection between health and food. I was stunned to read that although all medical students are required to take biochemistry their first year, they are not required to take any course in what cells actually need to properly function. I wonder what our national health would be like if they were.

At any rate, this book is one of the best I have read in a long time. It was expensive, but the recipes alone are worth it. She is doing a trial right now to see if they can replicate the results she got with her diet/e-stim/exercise program with other MSers, and that will be interesting to see how that comes out. Hopefully more people will regain their health using her program.

I'll report more as we continue our dietary and lifestyle changes. I have to say, I thought we already ate pretty healthy but clearly I have a lot to learn!

BTW, I can recommend making rice with coconut milk, oh boy, is that ever rich and satisfying, and gluten free! Two for one, in our book.

[lou_lou]

BRAVO!
one secret to help with our cellular energy CoQ 10...

[Conductor71]

Originally Posted by lurkingforacure

I apologize for the sloppiness of this post, but I wanted to share this before the night ends and I have just a tiny window before I have to get our last child off to bed...

You DNA contains the wisdom to heal you.

Thanks so much for your willingness to share this. I was a little hesitant to buy her book as I think it is over $30 but quite frankly, it seems more than worth it.

It is interesting that the other diet, the "real" food diet I have been wanting to try by Mary Enig does and says a lot of the same thing. It is processed food, facsimilies of food that are killing us and making us sick. Or at least tipping the scales in making us more vulnerable to disease.

While I don't know that taking more and consistent doses of coconut oil and curcumin along with daily diet restrictions and exercise will cure me or any of us; it has been proven that it can help us vastly. I have no excuses any more to sit on my butt!

The other factor I believe we need to get under control is stress! I agree with you that this is our bodies way of sending a not so subtle message; it's as if it is forcing us to slow down and make us pause. I have felt more and more like this lately as stress seems to be the one really difficult area to control. My therapist suggested I read up on Mindfulness and I have started to take the plunge and start a meditation practice.

As for stress, the amygdala, the control center of our limbic system also seems impacted by PD. I wonder if there are neurons in there impacted by the loss of dopamine because it certainly became hyper-sensitive just around the same time I developed a tremor. I don't think this is any coincidence. Anyway, there is hard scientific evidence that through meditation we can re wire our brains to not have this overreaction to stress in the environment. It has been shown that Buddhist monks can actually control their amygdala! So my sewing room is going to get a wee bit more crowded as I make way for a meditation space... :-)

All of this is so worth a try! Thanks again and keep us posted as to how it's going and be sure to share any and all kale recipes with me; I love that stuff!

[tulip girl]

I too have the book but reading is a little "dry" at times, but I'd rather eat the 9 cups of veggies than take large handful of suppliments. Lovin' that kale.

[Conductor71]

Lurking,

It hasn't been much longer than a week since starting the 9 cups of veggies a day, but I am eager to see how you are doing on the new meal plan?


Laura

[lurkingforacure]

Hi Laura and all, our one week report:

we walk every morning for about thirty minutes and also after dinner, about thirty minutes....fatigue seems less. I hate that we cannot quantify this any better, but I have no idea how to measure it. I have noticed less fatigue in other ways, these are little things like picking up dirty clothes and putting them in the hamper, tidying up the closet, etc. This has not happened in a long time. Again, hard to quantify, but I seem to notice an improvement....subtle, but there.

every morning, we drink "the drink", which is as follows:

green tea freshly steeped for about 10 minutes (I use 4 teabags to a coffeepot of water)

then I take about about 2 cups of the green tea and vitamix it with:
2 teaspoons pure cranberry juice (warning, this stuff is TART!)
2 teaspoons pure pomegranite extract
a cup of frozen blueberries, organic, because fresh is no longer in season

as often as I can get him to drink it, also a cup of "bone broth", which is from the book, and you make it by taking a bunch of bones (chicken, cow, fish even, whatever you've got), some kelp (we used a dried flat piece of seaweed we had in the fridge), salt, leftover veggies (we used a bit of kale), and the most important part: 2-4 Tablespoons of vinegar, which she writes draws the minerals out of the bones. Throw it all in a stock pot about half full. Bring to boiling, then simmer for 24 hours, yes, you read that right, then strain the stuff and the resulting broth is the bone broth. She recommends you drink a cup of this stuff every day, it's a bit sour by itself, because of the vinegar, but I used it today to reheat some of last night's veggie/rice mix for lunch and it wasn't too bad. I'm also thinking you could incorporate it into soups and use it to make rice or quinoa, something else we ate for the first time over the weekend. I actually like it way better than rice, and boy is it ever nutricious. Look "quinoa" up on the net and you'll see it is chock full of minerals, and very low on the glycemic index.

Lots of salads. Every day. The chopping gets weary, for sure, but again, trying to rebuild that health. Last night my husband told me he was craving a salad. I was a bit stunned, as I realized that this was the first time in a very long time he told me he craved something healthy. In fact, I couldn't remember the last time he had craved something healthy. I wanted to run down into the backyard to pick some lettuce leaves in the dark I was so happy! If you don't have a garden, and your weather allows it, you can grow an astonishing amount of greens in those galvanized tubs used for livestock. Just nail some holes in the bottom, fill with really good dirt, plant, and water. I have snapdragons growing next to lettuces, and stevia growing next to a geranium. Bees love it, another plus.

I try to have very healthy dinners although tonight we had pizza. I consoled myself by making it from scratch. All of this is exhausting, I know. But any improvement is worth it, and I tell myself that the brain did not get PD overnight, so it will not be repaired overnight.

In a nutshell, I think cramming oneself full of antioxidants helps the mitochondria detox the cell and get those toxins out of the way. Does that help those neurons function better? How can it not? Does this help the neurons "connect" with each other better? I have no idea. We're only at the one week mark, which compared to how long the body has been in disarray is a pittance. So we'll see. I have to add that we've had some pretty stressful things happen in the past week so I'm a bit surprised we're doing as well as we are, and of course, I have been told on more than one occasion that I'm the half-full kind of gal, so perhaps my perspective is less than perfect. But this is where I see things, one week out.

[Conductor71]

Hi,

Whew! What a life style change all this involves is the first thing that comes to mind. Next, I think that just as I suspected, healing ourselves through diet and exercise is pretty much a full time endeavor.

Bone broth...there's an interesting soup. Is this diet taken from the paleo diets that are now popular?

Well, I think that you have the right attitude. It sounds like you both have positive, yet realistic attitudes, and you are wise. PD doesn't happen over night, so I am sure that you will see gradual improvements.

How long did it take for the author of the book to see improvements in her MS?


Laura

[tulip girl]

Hii Lurking,

You sound like you are doing marvelous on this diet. Kudos for you both
I too am trying to eat my veggies/fruit but 9 cups is impossible. You mentioned a Vita-mix juicer - it is very expensive - do you highly recommend this one or can I pick up a less expensive one. My husband bought some dried kale that is "interesting" to munch on but I'd rather eat a little packet of choclate m&m's left over from Halloween. I have been using a regular blender with frozen fruit which works fine but I'd rather drink my veggies. Bone juice have not gone there yet. There is no question in my mind that my energy level has increased even with my half hearted atempt to follow this diet. . Closets get cleaned out, silverware polished, vacuuming radiators around the house, gardening, etc. I road bike every morning for 11-12 miles which has also increased my stamina but that I have been doing since April. It really helps to hear from others who are feeding their mitochondria. Thanks for your updates.

TG

[lurkingforacure]

On the Vitamix:

I tried to find one on Craigslist but no luck...you might try that. We ended up getting ours at Costco which was a pretty good deal. They don't have them all the time, you have to watch to see when the Vitamix rep will be in the Costco you go to. Then go at that time, watch him/her do the demo, and buy what you want. We got the very basic model and bare necessities. Still pricey, but this thing can...well, there's not much it can't do! I don't sell vitamix or have any ties to it so this is just me. If you do get one, be sure to throw some soap and hot water in it after use, then turn it onto "high" and it turns into its own dishwasher! How handy is that?

Another pitch for the Vitamix: Dr. Blaylock recommends either a vitamix or some other horrendously expensive blender I have never heard of, so we opted for the vitamix. He has written several books on brain health and BOTH of his parents died of PD. His being a neurologist puts him in a pretty unique position, yes? He also pitches tons of fruits and veggies, by the way.

On the book author's time to recover: I don't know. In her book I think she mentions that she was in a wheelchair by 2007, and that is when her nutrition research began in earnest. It's almost the end of 2010, and the copy I got is the second edition, so I'd say she was seeing some pretty good improvements relatively quickly, assuming it took her a year or so to pull the book together.

One other thing I didn't realize: all of this fresh fruits and veggies means you go to the store a lot more! I will come home with bags of groceries, but so much of it is produce, and that goes very quickly. I'll be back to the store in a few days. BUT, I did just purchase this little gadget which I think will help with this: a meal planner/recipe manager/shopping list maker program from the food network. Less than thirty bucks at Costco with a 90-day money back guarantee. I just got it this weekend, having looked for one for some time. I have been grappling with all the various choices out there, but it's impossible to compare them as they are apples to oranges: every one has different features and is priced differently. I saw this software, saw the price, and took the plunge.

So far, it has everything I think I need to try to make this new diet work:

meal planning (you either type in your favorite recipes or import one of over 400,000 recipes from them. I know, that's a ridiculous number. But if you really want to sift through 100 recipes for a waffle...you can!)

you can view your meal plan by the day, week, or month (so you can easily see if you're over-indulging on blueberries, one should be so lucky)

you can create a shopping list simply by clicking "add to shopping list" after you select your recipe for that day's breakfast/lunch/dinner, and you get a list of all the ingredients in every recipe you have pulled for that time period, all combined together (so, for example, if you pull the shopping list for a week, and have oatmeal three days of the week, it will combine all the oats needed for all the meals requiring oats, and tell you that you need 3 cups of oats total. Very handy when at the store so you buy enough of everything you'll need for the week).

I also know someone who has this same meal planning/shopping list generator program, and he knows his way around the kitchen and watches all of those shows...he recommended this program as a good one. Again, no profit motive or any gain to be made here, just sharing what I am doing in case anyone else might benefit. You can probably order this program from the food network, it just happened to be at my local Costco when I was there anyway.

All of this seems so OT but yet if it helps anyone get into a healthier pattern of eating and they feel better, I guess it's not too weird to post.

[Conductor71]

Hi,

Just wondering if that Food Network tool is their recipe software or is it something else entirely?

Thanks!

Laura