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.