If you are like most, getting diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) was like being thrown under a bus. It was scary, and you were given few if any, resources, information, or guidelines on how to help your body recover.
There’s nothing you can do about it. You’ll have to learn to live with it. – most common phrase heard the day of diagnoses
Let’s change that.
In the following presentation on the Wheel of Health in Multiple Sclerosis, Eva M Clark, facilitator of the MS Self-Help Group of Santa Cruz, California, will walk us through what you can do to regain control of your health.
The Wheel of Health in Multiple Sclerosis
Biological Factors
1. Nutrition In
The first area most people diagnosed with MS will work on is their diet. The standard American diet (SAD) does not contribute to health and, when your health is already compromised, continuing to eat food low in nutrients is like rubbing sand on a cut – it will not help your body heal.
2. Toxins Out
When the body is already compromised, lowering the levels of toxicity accumulated in the body helps relieve the body’s burden. Toxins include chemicals in our foods, heavy metals, parasites, and low-grade infection. They can be found in your food, cleaning products, and your environment.
“There is no doubt that autoimmune diseases are on the rise and our increasing environmental exposure to toxins and chemicals is fueling the risk. The research is sound. The conclusions, unassailable. — Douglas Kerr, M.D., Ph.D. Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
3. Gut Health
Eighty percent of your immune system resides in the gut. Therefore, working on establishing a healthy gut can contribute to a healthy immune system. The goal for an optimum gut is to increase the healthy microbiome and remove unhealthy bugs and parasites. Decreasing inflammation by eliminating foods that might create an allergic react or are naturally inflammatory will also help your gut.
“Stopping the progression and reversing symptoms of autoimmune diseases depends on addressing and healing leaky gut.” — Jacqui Pariset, M.D. Ancestral Nutrition, Functional Medicine
4. Sleep Quality and Rest
The body repairs, restores and replaces old and damaged cells when you are resting. This state is called parasympathetic. On the contrary, when you are continuously on the go, ticking off to do lists, and going nonstop, your bodies are in chronic sympathetic mode, and can’t heal. Rest does not only mean vegetate or sleep, though at first, that might be the only thing you can do. It also includes doing small things that you enjoy – such as reading, listening to music or a guided imagery tape, going outside and being in nature or taking a restorative yoga class.
“Patients with non-apnea sleep disorders are associated with a higher risk for developing autoimmune diseases.” — Sleep Disorders and Increased Risk of Autoimmune Diseases in Individuals without Sleep Apnea, Sleep, Vol. 38, April 2015
These are the physical things that will help your body recover, but there’s more! Watch the second part of this episode and learn about the psychosocial factors.
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