Some time ago a friend whom I don't see often asked me how my health was
doing. After
I gave her an update, she asked me if I had ever heard about how one man was
using
nutritional therapy to combat MS with good results. I don't know this man
personally, but
knew of him, I knew him to be a strong Christian, and he seemed to me to be a
logical,
rational, levelheaded person who would not be inclined to go after fads. So I
wrote to
him and asked him what he had done and what results he had seen. As it turns
out, he has received so many requests for this information that he wrote the
whole story out and
printed it in a little booklet. I asked him for permission to put this
information on our list,
and he consented.
His symptoms started in Aug. of 1994, at the age of 33, with numbness in his
lower body
which progressed over the next few months to affect his balance and strength.
He soon
needed to use a cane to walk. His numbness climbed to just below chest level.
He also
began to experience terrible fatigue, weakness, stiffness, and electric shocks
going up and down his legs. He went to a neurologist who ordered several
tests. His spinal fluid tested positive for MS and he had 3 lesions on his
brain.
A number of people were praying for him, and many began to send him
nutritional
information. He sorted and studied through it and began to apply some of what
he learned.
After one month, he stopped getting worse, and within two months, he began to
regain a
little of his strength and control. After a little over a year, he had
regained 85-90% of his
normal strength and feeling, with no major setbacks. Today he experiences
minimal
numbness and weakness and is able to handle a very strenuous schedule with
very little
fatigue.
The principles he lists are these:
1) "The Faith Factor"
He goes through several Scripture references which that God is able to heal,
and even in
illness He has a purpose and will provide His grace. Yet, "gaining our
strength back and
beating the disease means nothing if we lose our own soul. Today is the day of
salvation.
If you have never accepted Christ, you need to pray to God, confess your sins,
repent, and sincerely claim Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as your Savior who
died for your sins and rose again!"
2) "Don't cheat"
He emphasizes that this is not just a diet but a change of life. Cheating will
hinder or even
prevent recovery.
3) "Colon Cleansing"
4) "Water Consumption" -- 6-8 glasses a day (not during a meal) to help wash
out toxins
from your system
5) "Farewell to Fat"
The principles in this section are from The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book by
Dr. Roy
Swank and Dr. Barbara Dugan and involve "no red meat, including dark chicken
or dark
turkey meat; no dairy products with 1% or more butter fat; no processed foods
with
saturated fat; and no more than 15 grams of saturated fat per day." Dr. Swank
also
"recommends taking 4-10 teaspoons of unsaturated fat, such as sunflower seed
oil, corn
oil, cotton seed oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, wheat germ seed oil, peanut, or
olive oil, each
day. He also recommends taking one teaspoon of cod liver oil per day and
eating fish --
not fried -- a couple of times a week."
6) "Avoid All Refined Foods, Fried Foods, and Hydrogenated Oils"
Many of then are "'dead' foods, meaning that their enzymes have been
destroyed."
7) "Include Whole Food Enzymes in Your Diet"
8) "Regularly Take Herbs and Food Supplements"
He takes bee pollen, cayenne, green magma or barley green, kelp, garlic,
acidophilus,
pycnogenol, CO Q10, and licorice root.
9) "Regularly Take Vitamin Supplements"
He takes vitamin C (1,000 mg a day), E (two capsules of 1,000 IUs a day), B
complex,
B12 (2000 mcg.), B6 (25 mg...some of the other things mentioned also supply
B6),
calcium aspartate (100mg), magnesium aspartate (90 mg), and potassium (30 mg)
as well
as a multivitamin/mineral tablet.
10) "Be certain to Take Oils High in Essential Fatty Acids"
He takes two tablespoons of flax oil, two capsules of omega-3 fish oil
concentrate (350
mg each capsule), evening primrose oil (4 capsules, 500 mg each capsule).
"Other Health Tips to Consider: get eight hours sleep; get help from a
chiropractor;
check to see if you have allergies;" and consider having mercury fillings
replaced with
composite fillings. One study found that 60% of people with MS have a high
amount of
amalgam (metal) fillings.
It might be too much to afford to implement all of these things, so he
recommends at least
buying a juicer and juicing vegetables and fruits to drink to increase your
enzyme, vitamin,
and mineral content, making your own whole wheat bread, avoiding all refined
foods, fried
foods, red meat, and pork, reducing saturated fat intake, and replacing
essential fatty acids by taking flax oil, primrose oil, fish oil, and vitamin
E oil.
He emphasizes that he is not a doctor and that there are no guarantees to
this; however, he and many others have been helped by this.
Personally, I have not tried any of this yet. I can see the point about
avoiding "dead" foods
that have been depleted of their nutritional content and increasing
consumption of "real"
food; I'm pondering the rest of it. But I wanted to send it on to those who
might be
interested in this approach. If you are interested, you may contact him
directly for a copy
of this booklet: it is 24 pages and goes into much more detail than there is
room for here
and also explains much of the reasoning for taking each item mentioned. He
asks that you send $3.00 for the booklet, not for him to make money, but just
to cover printing and
mailing costs. His address is : Chris Klicka, 6779 Riley Road, Warrenton,
Virginia 20187.