The MS Recovery Diet

Book excerpt: More than half a million people live with multiple sclerosis, yet conventional medicine still has little to offer patients. There is no known cure-and even recent breakthroughs in drug therapy do not work to control many of the symptoms or promise any degree of recovery. But there is an alternative to drugs that can stop and reverse the ravaging symptoms of MS-the MS Recovery Diet. As this book explains, there are five common food triggers that can set off the symptoms of MS-dairy, grains containing glutens, legumes, eggs, and yeast. Yet because MS is such a complex disease, other foods play a role, as culprits or aides. The MS Recovery Diet explains the background, science, and development of this treatment in one source for the first time, and shows readers how to pinpoint their specific problem foods and sensitivities. It also offers more than one hundred simple recipes, as well as strategies to improve digestion, balance the immune system, and repair the body's myelin-crucial steps toward healing the body. Both of the authors, Ann D. Sawyer and Judith E. Bachrach, who had been diagnosed and disabled by multiple sclerosis, have experienced incredible recovery on the diet. Within the first three months on this program, Sawyer was able to stop the disease progression and begin to walk short distances with an even gait. Bachrach, whose health has been declining because of MS for thirty- eight years, regained feeling in her toes in one week and after one year on the diet, has stopped taking all medication. This book shares the treatment plan that has dramatically changed their lives, and the lives of others who have discovered it. With inspiring personal stories throughout, it offers real help- and hope-for sufferers of MS.