What does a healthy meal plan for MS look like? Arbonne gives us a clear example
In the previous Creating Health sessions, Palmer Kippola discussed how to heal the environmental triggers of MS – detoxing, reducing inflammatory foods, and incorporating pre and probiotics for gut health. In this month’s video presentation, Kim Mylls, of Arbonne International, gives us an example of a meal plan for MS that include them all.
The meal plan sample focuses on 5 Key Areas
- Eat clean
- Increase nutritional intake
- Eliminate allergenic, addictive, & acidic foods
- Balance blood sugar
- Support elimination organs
1. Eat Clean
Focus on eating organic, no GMO foods, free of preservatives, additives, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, artificial flavors, and all other toxins. As well as reducing toxins, organic fruits and vegetables contain up to 40% more antioxidants than those conventionally grown.
2. Increase Nutritional Intake
Eat whole foods. Anything a caveman would eat! Due to the overabundance of prepackaged and fast food, many people today are overweight yet malnourished. They carry toxic fat while their bodies are starving for real nutrition. This condition can be reversed by eating whole foods and supplementing with nutrients to fill in possible deficiencies created by mineral deficient farm soils.
To help increase your nutritional intake in your meal plan, add an organic green superfood powder into your meal plans, such as in your morning drink or a protein smoothie. This powder will deliver an abundance of fruits and veggies rich in phytonutrients & antioxidants and support GI health.
3. Eliminate Allergenic & Addictive Foods
To work on removing inflammation, remove possible allergenic foods like gluten, dairy, soy, and processed sugars. If you cringe at the thought of removing a particular food, chances are, you are allergic to it. Generally speaking, the food you crave is the food that you will develop allergies to.
Support your intestinal health with prebiotics, probiotics, and digestive enzyme that supports the intestinal wall, often damaged by allergenic foods. Probiotics scrub away yeast overgrowth in the lower GI and reestablish friendly bacteria.
Dr. Michael McCann, MD, Physician and researcher, states, “Probiotics will be to medicine in the 21st century as antibiotics and microbiology were in the twentieth century.”
For best results take them in the morning on an empty stomach.
One easy way to replace gluten, dairy, and soy, is to incorporate vegan protein shakes into your diet made from pea, cranberry, and rice (not whey). They are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Drinking meals are easier on digestion and allow your body to have the energy for detoxification. These shakes can replace one to two meals a day and are taken after a workout. Half of a shake makes a great snack.
How to make a meal replacement shake:
4. Balance Blood Sugars
Scientists have established that anything that causes a rise in your blood sugar results in inflammation on a cellular level. Inflammation is the basis of virtually every disease process. – Dr. Nicholas Perricone
Eat low glycemic index foods. The lower the rating, the more gradual the infusion of sugars into the bloodstream and the more balanced the blood sugar.
Soluble fiber is a great way to feel satisfied longer as well as balance blood sugar and reduce cholesterol. It acts as a sponge for toxins in the colon. The recommended daily amount of fiber is 24 grams. Soluble fibers can be added to foods, protein shakes, or drinks once or twice a day.
5. Support Elimination Organs
It is important to support the body’s four elimination pathways – the liver, kidneys, intestines, and your largest detoxifying organ, your skin. If toxins enter your body faster than they are removed, you will experience signs of toxicity. If, on the other hand, you give your body the support it needs to eliminate these toxins, it will perform optimally.
Add one to two cups of herbal detox tea in your meal plan for MS each day. It will assists the daily cleansing of the liver and kidneys by helping the body to filter and clear toxins. Additionally consider doing a 7-day cleanse during the 3rd week of following this meal plan. It will help cleanse and detoxify the system and support the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
A Meal Plan for MS Sample Day
This is only one example of a meal plan for MS. There are many ways to incorporate highly nutritional foods and supplements and detoxing. What have you discovered that works for you?
More Than Food
Caring for what you put in your body is important. Many people diagnosed with MS have commented that removing inflammatory foods has definitely improved certain symptoms. But there is more to healing MS than changing your eating habits. In the Creating Health series we talk about three key areas to address –
- the physical (such as food, detox, exercise and sleeping)
- the mental (such as how you treat yourself and get your basic needs met)
- the social (your relationship styles and boundaries)
Want to explore more areas of your life that might be affecting your health and healing?