Multiple Sclerosis and Auto Immune Disease Healed!
First this note/disclaimer: “The information found here has not been approved by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” I'm only sharing our own story, your situation may be VERY different, and I'm not a medical professional or anywhere close. Use this information only to do more research on your own!
We all know someone suffering from an auto immune disease and stuck in the mainstream protocols of drugs and more drugs, rotten side-effects, and suffering, especially those who have Multiple Sclerosis. Wait 'til you read this story of how Leah got off the food that was harming her and healed herself with real food. I'm so thankful that she was willing to share her story with us. (By the way, if you're short on time, I included the short version below that she sent to me originally.) And if YOU have a real food success and healing story to share, please email me! [email protected] (Read all of the real food success stories here.)
My journey to Real Food probably began the same as it did for most of you.
Thirty-one years ago a well-meaning nursed shoved a bottle of rice cereal and formula into my mouth in the nursery. My mother never had a chance to nurse me. My childhood was plagued with ear infections and antibiotics. My diet as a child was full of very processed foods. Cereal, low-fat dairy, soda, cookies, mac & cheese, fast food. My ear infections progressed to asthma, severe allergies, migraines, and chronic infection. I grew up on a cocktail of Prednisone and antibiotics for months at a time. I spent most holidays in the hospital. The medications did wonders for my growing body. I became extremely self-conscious and eventually developed an eating disorder which followed me into adulthood. I spent my life reading every health magazine around determined to get fit and healthy. I was a vegetarian for years. Soy was a mainstay in my diet since the USDA said it was oh…so…healthy. Looking back I'm surprised I grew at all. My teeth began to decay very early on. I had anxiety attacks all of the time. (Read more about soy dangers here.)
You're wondering how this relates to Real Food?
Well in 2007 I was preparing for my marriage. I was, of course, dieting and as usual working out five or six days a week. I was at work when I suddenly started losing my vision. I was admitted to the hospital pretty much blind in both eyes. I spent ten days there while every test in the book was run on me. They couldn't figure out a thing. I was healthy. Except my brain was covered in lesions and I was blind. I received massive doses of Prednisone and the diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.
My vision did return gradually for the most part, however I was left incredibly weak. I could hardly walk to the bathroom anymore. My life had been stolen. Over the course of several weeks the doctors started me on several drugs. I was injecting myself with immunosuppressants and taking muscle relaxers along with an assortment of other medications. I was suddenly an 80-year-old living in a 26-year-old body. After a six month check up revealed the lesions were spreading, and my husband made the comment to my neurologist that ‘there is no money in a cure', it finally clicked for me.
I spent countless hours searching the internet for answers.
I found the book “The MS Recovery Diet.” I eliminated sugar, soy, dairy, gluten, processed foods, beans, & eggs. Suddenly I was feeling better and I quit all the drugs.
My neurologist kicked me out of his practice.
Within a few months I found out I was pregnant. We had an absolutely amazing home-birth and beautiful baby girl. All along, though, I wondered why so many foods were forbidden on the diet. After giving birth I had trouble nursing and found the Weston A. Price Foundation. Suddenly my questions were being answered. While some of the foods truly are non-nutritious the others need simple preparations to be enjoyed.
Our journey to Real Food has taken us from being business owners in the city to farmers in the country.
We have built our home from the ground up with our own hands. In the process we added another beautiful little girl which we also home-birthed. I have devoted days and months to pouring over the internet and books trying to understand my disease and so many of the autoimmune diseases out there. I once heard “Eat the food that makes you sick, go to the doctor and buy their drugs.” I consider my disease to be a food-borne illness.
I was poisoned by the USDA food pyramid.
My husband and I are doing all we can to protect our children from possibly suffering from sickness. This is why we chose home-birth, our stance on vaccination, extended breastfeeding. Its why we raise jersey cows, pigs, turkeys, meat & laying chickens, fruits, and veggies all organically. I will not say I am 100% healed as of yet, however I can push a wheelbarrow full of rocks up the mountain. I farm my land in hopes of tomorrow. Organic means so little these days as the green movement has become little more than a marketing scheme. Opting out of the big corporate life and supporting small family farms is the key to health for you, the environment, and the economy.
I am so grateful to have found Real Food.
So what exactly have I done? Well, a typical day for me is filled with lots of raw milk, cream, pastured meat of some sort, fermented foods at all meals. I swear by fermented cod liver oil, garlic, and apple cider vinegar. That's my arsenal for any illness. I always have water kefir, milk kefir, sourdough, yogurt, and kombucha going. There is always beet kvass and sourkraut in the refrigerator. I often have fermented lemonade, carrots, radishes, salsa, mayo, etc., on hand. I have been known to eat four avocados in a day. We do eat a GAPS diet at times and only use raw honey. I cook the whole animal, meaning we use the liver, heart, and tongue. We eat tallow and lard by the gallon and eggs by the dozen. (Click here to find beef tallow and safe pastured meats.)
My biggest advice to someone new to the circle is just jump in.
Those of us who have been at it for a while sound really smart but it's just practice. You don't need a lot of money or fancy tools. Remember this is Traditional cooking and living! I also feel strongly that nutrition does not come from a bottle of pricey vitamins on the shelf at the store. True nutrition is only had from eating traditionally prepared foods in season. You must expand your palate beyond the same four foods and beyond the confines of the grocery store.
Now life is really good and it's all because of food. Food can either kill you or cure you. So yes you can heal your MS with food. I am another example!
Wow. Is anyone else ROCKED by this story that, like all the others, demonstrates the true POWER of real food? Everyone, please share this story with those who are sick and don't see a way out. Help them see the way! (Short version below…)
Wondering how Leah's doing now?
Check out her 2016 update in this post!
- Here's the version Leah originally sent me, in case you're short on time:
I was diagnosed with MS in 2007 after going blind in both eyes. At the time I ate the recommended “healthy” diet and worked out 5-6 days a week. I was not breastfed and I was raised on processed food. I had a history of infection, allergies, migraines, & asthma. After 10 days in the hospital I regained most of my vision and received my lovely diagnosis. I saw the best of the best Drs., I had to take all kinds of meds including injecting myself. It was awful. As I watched myself fall further into a hole I realized I couldn't live like this. One day my husband told my neuro that there was no money in a cure and it clicked. I found the book The MS Recovery Diet and then the Weston A Price Foundation. We left our old life in the city and now farm 3 acres, raise cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, fruits & veggies. I have had two awesome homebirths. Life is really good and it's all because of food. Food can either kill you or cure you. So yes you can heal your MS with food. I am another example!”
- Have you seen this one? A New Way to Heal Eczema…..Also be sure tocheck out this book I heard was really good, The Eczema Diet.
- You HAVE to watch this TED talk from a physician on healing her own MS!!!!!
- Find The Wahls Protocol: How I Bean Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine, by Terry Wahls MD
- This is interesting on a low-dose drug that has worked for many with MS.
Carrie-Anne says
I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in October 2011, at the age of 44. I woke up one morning with numbness in my lower back and legs, I couldn’t feel my feet touching the floor. I saw my doctor and had an MRI to see if I had a disc problem, it was negative and she told me she feared MS. I was sent to a neurologist, had two more MRIs, and was told that night that I have four lesions on my spine MS. I tried every shots available but nothing worked. In 2015, my neurologist and I decided to go with natural treatment and was introduced to NewLife Herbal Clinic natural organic MS Herbal formula, i had a total decline of symptoms with this treatment, the numbness, terrible back pains, stiffness, body weakness, double vision, depression and others has subsided. Visit NewLife Herbal Clinic official website ww w. newlifeherbalclinic. com or email [email protected] newlifeherbalclinic. com.
This treatment is a breakthrough for all suffering from Multiple sclerosis, i am strong again!
KitchenKop says
Carrie-Anne, that is SO awesome, and what a great neurologist to be open natural treatments!!!
Kelly
[email protected] says
Just had to pop in and reply with the fact that my Grandmother lived most of her adult life with MS (before they really understood what real food was!;-) But, she lived until she was 96. I wonder how much longer she would have lived if she had had this kind of knowledge. The doctors don’t know everything, and yes, I am amazed at how many physicians AND chiropractors expect you to plunk down money on medications or supplements you don’t need for the duration of your life. Don’t get me wrong, we have a chiropractor, but healing your gut and eating whole foods is a must of you are going to stay healthy.
Kelly the Kitchen Kop says
In today’s mix-up post I added Leah’s update that she shared with me yesterday! https://kellythekitchenkop.com/what-ive-been-up-to/
Liz Ferguson says
Love this story! It’s been a few years… I wonder if she might give an update…?
Liz W. says
Wow! This is so similar to my story, but substitute “arthritis” for MS. (And I didn’t almost go blind.) Her list of foods to avoid was almost exactly like mine when my health fell apart. A Rheumatologist kicked me out of his office when I told him I was getting better by changing my diet. We have moved to the country also and enjoy organic gardening.
I would love to see a follow-up story and see how she is doing now.
elizabeth says
Call me an idiot (most people do) but if you talk to enough people who are sick, you will start to think that there is only really one illness – malnutrition, and it manifests itself differently in different people. Some people become diabetic, some get cancer, some get MS, some get arthritis, some get a multiple progression of symptoms that their current medical staff doesn’t know what to do with. I worry that the diagnosis frequently depends upon what the doctor is most familiar with. The solutions, for those who have healed, all seem to be the same. Get away from the city, the rat race, the money and go back to the basics of good food, good company, good laughs, and a lot of love.
Kim says
I’ve been sick with autoimmune, hives and was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cut out gluten, dairy, meat, and eggs. I only eat organic too. I started a total diet change and my hives are almost completely gone, my autoimmune symptoms have diminished dramatically, and my last MRI showed no breast cancer! I consider it a miracle! I believe food and spiritual health/God are the reasons for my body’s rapid recovery. I have one question though: what’s wrong with beans? Why should beans be eliminated from a healthy diet? That’s one thing I do eat, but I would love to know if it’s something worth eliminating! Thank you for your reply!
KitchenKop says
Hi Kim,
I’m so happy to hear your story of healing! I’ll hope you’ll be able to add those foods back eventually. I wonder if you could eat only *pastured* meats?
Regarding your beans question, I did some digging for you and found something that might help. Go to #7 on this page: https://www.msdietforwomen.com/ms-diet
God bless!
Kelly
Debra says
I was prev. dx with progressive secondary MS and was taking there inj meds, 32 pills a day. For 13 years I did what they told me to do and it was not stopping the lesions in brain or spine. I was walking with a cane and being fit for a wheel chair. I started reading and studying about health and also changed my diet organic living foods life style, growing my own greens, wheat grass, ordering from our local organic farm lean meats and for the past 2 years my MS has stopped progressing. NO more tests or scans. I feel totally different with my new healthy life style. It has helped me, I am no longer walking with a cane and can do things I have not been able to do in years. I still have some limitations but that is ok. I would like to learn more of what you are doing to heal – to provide for my body to heal its self even more. Thank you for the wonderful article. This is the first time I have read a story that is like me where I was, am, and how I am working to heal myself. I would like to be able to have her contact me directly.. Thank you!!!
Douglas Wallace says
Great Story. I think food healing is “basic common sense” for those who are in the know. I’m gonna share this story on my wellness blog
Michelle Goldstein says
Great article Kelly. Very inspirational story. The book Healing Multiple Sclerosis addresses using a candida diet and detox to cure MS. I think there is more than one way to heal diseases, but know many have healed “incurable diseases” through dietary changes of one kind or another, along with addressing hidden parasites, candida or other infections! Thanks for sharing!!
Commenter via Facebook says
I’m no longer chasing testing.
Commenter via Facebook says
So important to change your diet and stop feeding the bacteria/fungus causing the symptoms. With a MS diagnoses I would consider getting tested for these other things – Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma species, Borrelia Burgdorrferi, HHV6 and other Herpes viruses
Commenter via Facebook says
I like the one commenter who said she gives directly to people she knows are in need. I do that same thing. My sister just went through chemo and had days that she would just call me crying because even with health insurance she didn’t know how she was going to pay for the next ‘treatment’. Most of these charitable foundations are simply wasteful bloated bureaucracies and I believe WE know our neighbors, family and friends best and can discern true need and help out much faster!
Commenter via Facebook says
Also follow Dr. Wahls on FB. The Wahls Foundation.
Commenter via Facebook says
I have RRMS – been dx’d 3 yrs. I’m saddened to hear of your friend’s condition. I would be happy to share a phone # for a Functional Medicine Dr. if she is interested.
Jesse says
This was an EXCELLENT write-up! My mother’s husband’s cousin was just given 6-9 months to live from cancer and they have FOREVER been trying to get her to get off the processed crap. This weekend my mom asked her if she was ready to try just one more thing, changing the diet. This woman has 2 minor children and she actually said NO!! She has just given up. Makes me so sad…………………..Anyway,,,I do give to one cause. I give to the Alport Syndrome Foundation b/c my son has Alport syndrome, it’s genetic chronic kidney disease. https://alportsyndrome.org/ My family eats NO processed food, other than what I preserve and can myself. We get our food from a CSA right off the farm and grow stuff on our own as well. We recently bought a half pig and are looking to do the same with beef.
The biggest reason people use is lack of money. I call BS on that. I’m a single parent of 2 boys, my 12 y.o. is already 6 inches taller than me. I make less than $35,000 a year and don’t receive any state assistance like food stamps. If I can make sure my boys eat well, anyone with access can.
Access to the good food is key, b/c there are some serious food deserts in this country! I am blessed b/c I moved to Washington state and we have TONS of farmers here.
elizabeth says
My mother is sick. Every time I call her, she is home sick. I mentioned that she seems to be sick a lot. She became very angry. Her boyfriend told me that she has been to multiple doctors with no consensus on her condition. What I do know: she eats oatmeal for breakfast with skim milk, she eats fast food for lunch, she goes to restaurants for dinner. She has celiac but frequently assumes that the food was cross contaminated “last night” causing her frequent illnesses. She has had horrible teeth her entire life. She is diabetic, on insulin and eats sugar nearly continuously to prevent a diabetic coma. When I suggested she change her diet, she called me an angry, nasty, b***** and told me I should get some meds. Never mind…
KitchenKop says
That must be so painful for you to watch, and then the hurtful words, too… 🙁
Sadly, we can’t help those who don’t want help, just keep loving her anyway and praying she sees the light.
Kelly
Commenter via Facebook says
Dana, I have a friend with severe MS, in a wheelchair, carried by husband. She has the same kind of MS Richard Pryor had. Is this your condition? I am trying to help her, but her husband won’t do it because I am not a doctor. So want to see her old self again.
Stanley Fishman says
Leah, that is a wonderful story, and thank you so much for sharing it. Your husband was so right when he said there was no money in a cure. I was close to leaving this world, the medical profession was useless, and real food not only kept me alive but healed me. I have found that real food heals, bad food sickens.
We live in a corrupt society where money seems to be the only real value actually held by those in power, whether it be government, or medicine, or corporate. The sooner we realize this and start thinking for ourselves, the better off we are.
You have blessed us all by sharing your story.
Leah G says
I am not sure if this helps but my MS was relapsing remitting if that helps. Again though its all just a label and with MS the Dr’s are really lost and have no idea what to do. You the patient have to take the control. My Dr. promised me a wheelchair one day and I said no.
Leah G says
ooopps wrong reply.. Thank you and it is the least I can do to help others. Our society is very corrupt . We are cashing checks which are written with our lives and those of our children. So sad.
Douglas Wallace says
just a passing “well said………..”
Commenter via Facebook says
My mom was diagnosed with (chronic progressive) MS in 1980 when I was barely two. I wish she’d been able to hear stories like this! She passed away in 2000.
Commenter via Facebook says
Robin McGee~this made me think of you…
Commenter via Facebook says
I am reversing my MS diagnosis with diet at the direction of a Functional Medicine Dr. It’s amazing what the body can do if you care for it properly – it pays to educate yourself and not follow the media or hype.
Commenter via Facebook says
I hadn’t – fascinting! Good for her for finding a solution! Thanks for sharing!
Commenter via Facebook says
Dana Dernberger, have you heard/read this story?
Commenter via Facebook says
I’m a fence sitter as well. I donate to my good friends who are very passionate about their causes but I don’t go out of my way to be a part of it.
Elaine says
There are sooooo many wonderful stories like this. We have a medical doctor in my community that cured herself of MS with real food. It’s inspiration for everyone. On the sad note, there’s a gal in my Weston A. Price group that just had a baby and has been “kicked out” by her pediatrician because she won’t give in to vaccines for her baby.
I am old enough to have seen many, many changes in our world and it’s nothing but sad. We need to STAY STRONG and do the right things for ourselves and our families! Thanks Kelly for all you do!
Gudrun B says
Elaine, well said!
i meet so many sick people and when i tell them to change their diet they look at me with the deer in the head lights expression; some will ask what should i eat then, but very few! sad
so this story is really a nice boost and uplifting!
Leah G says
I am glad my story touches everyone. I feel very strongly that nutrition is key to health. We’ve really become too impressed with science I think and are waiting for the next great supplement. Supplement…that word alone should set off fireworks. Nourish yourself from within your environment. We are creatures that were meant to thrive not be ill. I have come to the conclusion that most foods at the store are just another way for the big corporations to charge for toxic wastes. It makes me so furious. I agree that all these walks and fundraising events really are pointless. I preach nutrition and pray for the ill. Until Big Pharma is brought down nothing big will be accomplished. My meds cost over $5K a month at one point and that was going to be for life. Why would they want to offer a cure? Then again notice that Big Pharma also runs BigAg and all the medical schools.
Lynn L. says
Leah thank you for sharing your story! I have a similar one, except I have not been able to totally make the switch to all “real food” yet and I am still sick with what my neurologist believes is MS.
Do you have a blog or have you written anything on how you and your family got your farm set up, how to feed and care for your animals naturally/ organically ( and afford it), and how have you been able to organize your time to do all that you do (animal care, gardening, child care, home chores, and cooking from scratch)? Six years ago, we moved our family to a 5 acre home and have been in the process of trying to make it a farm/ homestead but my husband is still working and traveling a lot on business, so I am having a hard time keeping up!
Thanks again and best wishes to you and yours!
Cathy F. says
What a wonderful post. You know, this woman’s story would be considered “anecdotal” evidence of a connection between food and illness, which is always discounted by medical science. This is how they continue to get away with claiming the nutrition factor “can’t be proved.” It drives me nuts. I still don’t believe there’s a conspiracy out there to make us all sick…but sometimes I wonder!
Liz says
Leah’s husband’s comment was spot on “there’s no money in a cure”. We’re in that time of year of walks/runs/relay events all raising money for a “cure”. I feel like a bit of a scrooge not being active or more giving for these events. Some of my friends are so passionate about the cause they support and at times I give to support the individual I care about. Leah’s story is AMAZING, thanks for getting it out there Kelly!
KitchenKop says
Liz I feel exactly the same way, since as you said, especially here in Rockford this time of year, Relay for Life is HUGE. So many close friends with big hearts are wanting to help others & do something noble like working to end cancer, but because I’m not convinced that Relay funds are truly all going to the place that could cure, I only give a little, like you said, because I love the person fundraising. On the other hand, some cancers that used to be incurable now DO go into remission with mainstream protocols, and if myself or someone I loved were diagnosed, after much research those protocols may well be the path we choose and we’d be darn thankful for the research that led to them.
So I sound like a big fat ‘politically correct’ fence-sitter on this only because I can see both sides of the issue & am not sure where I fall.
I’d love to hear from others on this.
Kel
Lori says
Kelly,
I don’t think you have to be either/or. i think there is a place for conventional treatments. What would be nice is if those conventional doctors would embrace the “unconventional.” That’s the issue. So no, I don’t think you are a fence sitter–just realistic. I am not keen on all of these relays. I love the documentary Pink, inc if you haven’t seen it.
Morgan Brown says
I believe that the mainstream protocols are only suppressing the symptoms of illness rather than treating the cause, for which there is overwhelming evidence is diet and environment. I think the money from Relay would be better served by being used for both treatment of the cancer illness AND education about preventing it in the first place with dietary and environmental adjustments such as those in the story above. Granted, that story is extreme but if the average person integrated even one of those changes I think improvements would be seen.