That’s when I realized that what I do when I travel is not what many pwMS do. And it might be a good idea to share some of what I do that has me feeling great after a trip, rather than run down and my MS doing worse.

Plan Ahead

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. See, before MS, I was a super organized person. And despite cognitive decline, I didn’t lose all of those skills thankfully.

Some of the things I always planned ahead for on our family trips are food, water, activities, fitness, supplements and medications, fun, downtime, and sleep. Yes, downtime had to come into the equation because when we first got married, my husband would fill up every day with activities. That was exhausting. It didn’t feel like vacation. Once we had a kid with sensory issues that literally needed rest days from Disney, it became even more apparent that so as not to need a vacay after the vacay, the vacay needed to feel less like work. 😆

And I just needed to update the routine to fit in with MS these days.

Food Related MS Travel Hacks

Even before MS, we always planned for food. We were never a family that planned to eat all of our meals out on vacation, because that usually meant weight gain. For me, it would be at least 5lb of weight gain, regardless of whether we exercised and stayed active on the trip. So we had developed a habit as a family of staying in condos. This was easy as Marriott timeshare owners then, way before Air BnBs became all the rage. Or efficiency suites at the least. With a refrigerator and microwave, and better still with a stove too, we could rustle up so many things.

Our first chore on arrival in any city in the world was always grocery shopping. So whether it was New York, Orlando, St. Thomas, Or a city in Tenerife Spain, we always found our way to the grocery store pretty quick.

And if it was something like a cruise, then we consciously went for tons of fruits for breakfast with proteins and either go light or skip the bread. We chose healthy options for lunch like a salad, and tried not to overdo dinner. We also went easy on desserts and went to the gym daily.

With an MS diagnoses, the issue of food became even more important. It wasn’t just about weight and general health anymore, it had to be anti-inflammatory for me. Initially we focused on gluten and dairy free. As I dialed down more on nutrition, I paid attention to other food sensitivities, avoided sugar and alcohol, and went for organic foods.

How Did I Prepare For Our Last Trip Food-Wise?

Our last trip to St. Thomas had us shopping for organic produce, which I had researched ahead. We also took some things with us like canned coconut milk, and canned sardines. I took enough organic ginger and lemon for my first few mornings of warm detox water. We took organic spices. Anything that was non-perishable, we took with us such as chia seeds for me, and oatmeal for the rest of the family. I even took my sprouted nuts, almond and walnuts, as well as sprouted pumpkin seeds. And I took my shake powders like my red maca and hemp hearts.

It is also important to have your digestive enzymes, especially ones for gluten and dairy. This is important even if you don’t regularly take digestive enzymes. Enzymedica is a good one for gluten and dairy.

I had a binder on me at all times. Even if I did end up eating food I wasn’t so sure of, I could take a binder such as activated charcoal, or one containing activated charcoal. My fave is GI Detox. This will bind to all things that could be toxic to me, and some good minerals too. But it wouldn’t matter if it protected me that one time.

Since I don’t drink alcohol at home, I didn’t drink alcohol on the trip. When I used to drink alcohol, I kept my intake on trips to just about the same. If you suddenly start to drink excessively on vacay, that could negatively impact you.

Water Related MS Travel Hacks

This might sound trivial for for example on a cruise, if your choice is bottled water, you need to order it ahead. That way, it’s in your cabin when you get on board.

We have done different things on trips. We have boiled water to drink. We have opted for bottled water. But my favorite is if we have access to some kind of filtered water.

On our last trip, I tried to get enough filtered water from the gym for all of my drinking purposes. I used that as an excuse for some extra exercise to run to the gym when I needed more water.

It is important to stay hydrated at all times to keep things moving and help flush out toxins.

I also do structure my drinking water on vacay now by using the terahertz wand on the water I drink, at least in the morning.

Activities and Mobility Aids Related MS Travel Hacks

My magic word here is pacing. And asking for help. There is no need for heroism. At the airport, use the wheelchair service. Or your own scooter. Or walker. Take your cane. Mobility aids are your friend, even if you don’t need it all the time.

Let go of the ego!

Don’t push yourself to do too much and listen to your body. Don’t walk miles if your body can’t take it. Take breaks. Walk at your own pace.

Sit out some activities and let the rest of the group do their thing. Don’t feel pressured to be a part of everything.

Even if you don’t normally use mobility aids, if you’re going to Europe, or anywhere that calls for public transportation such as trains and buses rather than taxis and ubers, take a folding cane at the least.

I recommend the Folding Flipstick Seat Cane. It folds into a bag, and has a seat for you to rest if needed. That was all I took with me on our last trip and it worked so well even when the wheelchair assist at the airport was backed up for hours. The Atlanta airport is crazy busy but this little device got me through it.

Fitness Related MS Travel Hacks

I have in recent years taken my own fitness gear with me on our trips. But even before then, if there was a gym, I went regularly. If there was no gym, I walked around in the pool for resistance, since I don’t swim, and took walks on the beach.

I always had a plan for fitness.

The gear that I have been taking recently are my own towel yoga mat, and different types of resistance bands. Before my back started to resist it, I would take my jumprope with me. That is a very good exercise for travel, as you can do it in a hotel room. There’s usually enough space near the door, even in a small New York hotel room.

On my last trip, I knew they had water aerobics as a free activity offered by the resort at least, but they had actually expanded the offerings at the Marriott and had 2 fitness classes daily. One land based, and one water based. It was amazing.

Supplements Related MS Travel Hacks

Always make sure your supplements and not just your medications are in your carry-on baggage. That is the only way to ensure that they do not get lost or delayed.

For me, my supplements are as important as my medications so I pack them together. I had a whole hand luggage dedicated to medications and supplements.

I can replace food way more easily than I can supplements while on vacation.

Biohacking Tools Related MS Travel Hacks

It’s no secret that I’m huge on biohacking. To that end, I cannot travel without my biohacking toys, at least some of them.

On my last trip, I took my Vielight Duo, Terahertz Wand, and AMD IonClease Solo (foot detox for the kiddo) which needed a whole hand luggage by the way (see pic to the left). But I could fit the other toys inside it.

I’ve had the Vielight Duo the longest and I can’t go anywhere without it. It is a brain photobiomodulation device which has both infrared and red light therapy. This helps to energize the mitochondria. As we know, MS is fundamentally an issue with the functioning of our mitochondria. This is why Dr. Terry Wahls TED Talk is titled Minding Your Mitochondria.

Fun & Rest Days Related MS Travel Hacks

Of course there has to be fun on vacation, right? But plan fun that is appropriate for you. Don’t plan to go on the party Catamaran if you don’t drink alcohol or you don’t drink a lot of alcohol. That’s like planning to fail. It is not going to end well.

Don’t plan for long tiring structured hikes with a group, unless you have no mobility or muscle fatigue issues.

We have actually done less and less structured activity over the years so that we can go at my pace.

And we definitely do not have a plan for every single day so that we can just be. Watch the sun rise, or the sun set. Or both. Lounge on the beach for hours. Take a leisurely walk on the beach with your boo in the evening. Sit poolside for hours. Do yoga on the beach. Meditate on the beach. Get your grounding in. Be one with nature.

Sleep

It might seem like getting enough sleep on vacation should not be a problem but if one doesn’t plan for it, one can easily not get enough sleep.

I remember the times when we would leave on an all day excursion at 6am. And even on this last trip, my morning workout class was at 8:30am. So if I did not manage the rest of my day well, or go to bed on time, I could have easily not slept enough on the trip.

During sleep is when we heal. Let us prioritize sleep while on vacation.

DISCLAIMER!!!

Lastly, check with your doctor before implementing anything new. I am NOT your doctor, though I am a doctor.

This is purely educational, not giving you medical advice, and it is certainly not tailored specifically to you because I don’t have enough information on you to do that.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons into lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability to stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. I created an online self-paced course for MS recovery called MS Mastery®, and I will continue to take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

The post MS Travel Hacks appeared first on folaketaylormd.

How would you like to participate in MS research? Look no further. Here is an important IG live with Dr. Terry Wahls on a remitting relapsing MS research opportunity. And I thought warranted its own blog post. Wouldn’t you agree that research is that important?

Some of us complain about little or no representation. Well, how do we get representation? By participating in research. That’s how.

Now, this is a research study on 3 different diets. These diets are a Modified Paleolithic Elimination Diet, a Time Restricted Olive Oil-based Ketogenic Diet, or your usual diet.

Dr. Wahls is very intent on getting a diverse audience enrolled in this study. She is doing everything she can and reaching out to different communities to make this happen.

Here is the information directly from Dr. Wahls’s website:

“We are recruiting patients for a new research study: Efficacy of Diet on Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis. Complete this survey to see if you are eligible. Download the study brochure here.”

Take a listen below and see if you’re interested in and able to participate.

In any case, even if you’re not a fit for this particular study or you don’t have RRMS, taking the survey gets you into their registry for future studies. As you will hear Dr. Wahls say in the IG Live, she is fervently working on funding for progressive MS in the future.

Here is the actual Study Website. Do check it out for full details, and please pass on this MS research opportunity to someone you know who might be a good fit.

The Need

Do you realize that MS research is especially important for minority populations where MS often shows up differently than in Caucasians? And that Caucasians are who the studies and therefore treatments and such largely fashioned after?

Improvement in the care of minority populations with MS is going to be directly proportionate to research findings on minority populations. There just is not any way around it. Data is needed.

For data to be collected, participation must happen!

The IG Live With Dr. Terry Wahls!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dr. Folake | MS Recovery Expert | Course Creator—MS Mastery ™ (@folaketaylormd)

Toodles!!!

Dr. Folake.

DISCLAIMER!!!

Lastly, check with your doctor before implementing anything new. I am NOT your doctor, though I am a doctor.

This is purely educational, not giving you medical advice, and it is certainly not tailored specifically to you because I don’t have enough information on you to do that.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons into lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability to stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

The post MS Research Opportunity! appeared first on folaketaylormd.

Grandpa & Whoopi are fast friends!

What’s going on in MS land these days? Well, what had happened was, my father came into town. And for almost 2 weeks, I did not record a single lesson in MS Mastery™. Welp! Prior to that, I was doing great on knocking out one module each week, and I was halfway done.

Take a seat. I promise you a happy ending to this share.

I felt alive however. I hadn’t seen Dad in 5 years, thanks to Covid, and expired visas and new rules for obtaining US visas and mega delays in the process and all of that. And I hadn’t seen him since Mom passed 2 years ago. 😢

The trip was long overdue.

What’s Going On in MS Land with Fear and Doubt?

But I was petrified of how I would handle the visit. Catering to him. Especially feeding him, since I’m on such a specialized diet (Wahls Paleo Plus).

And there’s the issue of bandwidth… Because. MS.

In fact, I worried so much that I almost made myself sick. But once I started to feel symptoms, I knew I had to course correct and fix my attitude. Only 2 things make me feel bad these days: Physical exertion or negative thoughts. I’m teaching you how to get here in MS Mastery™ by the way, and so much more as I continue to heal too. (Shameless plug!)

What’s Going On in MS Land with Marrying All the Nutrition Needs?

I decided to trust that God and the universe will teach me how to cater to him, since hubby and I had decided we would not cater out his foods due to all the cutting corners in the food services industry since lock down. My dad made a somewhat recent shift to the blood type diet and his health and numbers have never been better. His discipline in the absence of Mom has been just so admirable. Naturally, we want to support him maximally.

We decided we would also feed him organic non-gmo foods, and high quality proteins like we eat, except for our (minus me!) Nigerian foods that are not certified organic.

And do you know what happened? We started to figure it out. I don’t cook for my husband usually, He makes his own food and  doesn’t put pressure on me in the kitchen. So, I hadn’t made Nigerian stew in years, and really hadn’t been eating Nigerian food because they’re hard to come by, if not impossible, as certified organic. But I figured out how to use all organic produce to make chicken stew without the habanero or any of the conventional peppers that we normally use, which is where we get the spicy pepper kick. But we can’t ever find those peppers organic.

What I did was to use a combo of red bell peppers with crushed red peppers, both organic. And it worked. Yay! I’ll spare you the details of all the dishes that I’ve made for him. how I’ve married our foods for ease of preparation, and how I get around things I can’t taste but need to make for him. 🤣

What’s Going On in MS Land concerning Asking For and Receiving Help?

17th wedding anniversary IG post! 3/29

Then I was so blessed to have hubby help out whenever I needed him to. I actually asked for help. Hubby is amazing, but that bad habit of not asking for help is a hard one to break completely free from.

Luckily for me, I’m partnered with a man who pays attention and notices things. He first noticed my one zit pop up next to my lip. Then it was my back brace that had started to make an appearance here and there (though that wasn’t so unusual), then my wrist brace. I think the wrist brace did it for him because it hasn’t come out in years. He basically marched into the kitchen and informed me that I was doing too much and he needed to do more. Then he listed what things he was taking on. Why? Because I was so exhausted by the end of the day he said, and it’s just week one, so we need a better plan.

What a blessing, in this world where close to half of marriages impacted by MS don’t make it. This from a man who has always done a lot and continues to do so. I did not really want to ask him to do as much because I was also concerned for him and his demanding job.

This extra help however enabled me to lean into Dad’s presence, his company, his emotional support. And it’s simply been amazing.

What’s Going On in MS Land with the Research on Asking For Help & Receiving Help?

Research paper…

So, what’s going on in MS land with research concerning help? Did you know that the ability to lean into family support impacts our MS course? Specifically, our ability to ask for and receive help. In fact, not asking for help from those around us is as bad as not having a support system at all on this MS journey.

How do I know this? Research supports it. And one of the traits that leads to MS is feeling like you can go it alone in life.

In this publication titled Relationship between Psychosocial Factors and Onset of Multiple Sclerosis, while doing a comparison of psychosocial factors between people with MS and healthy controls, there were significant differences in subjective support, and utilization of social support between the two groups.

So toxic and I hate to admit it but for a long time, so me. I didn’t want to “bother” people. That happens to be a trauma response by the way that stems from not feeling safe for whatever reason.

It was just a story in my head and this research proves that our perception is different, which of course leads to not utilizing the support.

All this is to say, lean into your support system.

What’s Going On in MS Land with Emotional Support?

The emotional boost of having Dad under our roof has been so good for me, the same way I feel when my brother is in town.

I’ve gotten to a point in my MS and life journey where if I’m not feeling great, I seek out human connection. I find my husband in the house and go spend time with him. He centers me. He truly is my peace and with all that my health issues have thrown at us, it is a blessing. Sometimes I go hang out with my daughter or Whoopi the dog, or both. They work too. 😃

So, if you’re one of those I can go it alone people, stop it. Rethink your stance because it does not serve you at all, and certainly not your MS course.

Let’s talk MS Mastery™!!!

As for me, I will soak in all the family love I can get, while I continue to work on MS Mastery™ at whatever pace I can muster. The real happy ending to this story is this. I have figured out how to still continue to record the rest of the course, so that I can get it to you.

In fact, I intend to send out detailed information on how to get into all the goodies I’ve been cooking up within the next few weeks. I have recorded 7 out of 13 weeks already, and about two-thirds of the slides.

And I’m so excited for all of the information that you’ll be able to glean for your MS journey.

In the meantime,

Happy MS Awareness Month!!! 🎉

And even though I wanted MS Mastery™ to be ready during our special month, here’s my gift to you. It’s how hard I’m working to get this program to you in the next few weeks.

Toodles!

Dr. Folake.

DISCLAIMER!!!

Lastly, check with your doctor before implementing anything new. I am NOT your doctor, though I am a doctor.

This is purely educational, not giving you medical advice, and it is certainly not tailored specifically to you because I don’t have enough information on you to do that.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons into lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability to stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

PS: Get on the waitlist for MS Mastery™ here if you haven’t already. What are you waiting on?

The post What’s Going On In MS Land? Are You Utilizing Support? appeared first on folaketaylormd.

Let’s talk about mental wellness and MS. Now, before we dive into the deets, kudos to this sentiment that we’re now pushing, that mental health is simply health. I am completely here for it. I hope you are too!

I choose to use the term mental wellness as opposed to mental illness. But we all know that multiple sclerosis does often come with some form of mental health challenge or the other. And it’s not necessarily because you’re sad that you live with MS, or you’re sad about being disabled. Though those are valid and often the case, depression could arise just because.

Don’t get me started on anxiety. Having MS is most definitely very nerve-racking. A moment of memory lapse could send one into a panic that looks like you went from zero to 100 in 2 minutes.

 

LET’S TALK ROOT CAUSE

 

GUT: Probiotic Foods

I love the trend that I am seeing on social media while discussing mental health awareness month, however. We’re talking about the gut. This is music to my ears and honestly, one of my favorite topics to discuss. 

I believe that this is one of the reasons why mental health issues co-exist with MS. They have the same root cause. An imbalance in our gut.

MS and autoimmunity in general are often the end result of an initial breakdown of the gut barrier and gut dysbiosis (an imbalance in the gut microbiome). It is now pretty evident since many neurotransmitters are made in the gut. About 90-95% of Serotonin is made in the gut for that matter, so mental health challenges are often also an end-point of gut problems.

That my friends is the link between MS and mental health.

However, most people can probably rattle off 2 probiotic foods, maybe 3, and then crickets. They can recall any more. To view one of my Instagram posts on gut health, see Exhibit A to the right and just click on the graphic to access the full post on probiotic foods >>>>>

 

GUT: Probiotic Supplements

Food is what I consider to be by far the best way to get probiotics into the body. However, because it is not always possible to get enough or to have access to these as much as we should, we also often need probiotic supplements.

There are so many probiotics on the market that it is often a daunting task to figure out which one to go with.

Some probiotic strains are more beneficial for certain conditions.

It’s a lot of nuances involved in what to take.

This post on Instagram sheds light on these facts and helps to guide your probiotic choice. Just click on the image to the left <<<<<

 

GUT: Prebiotic Fibers

Part of making sure our microbiome is adequate and diverse is feeding it with the right prebiotics. These are soluble and insoluble fibers and can come as food, supplements (capsules or powder), or even teas.

Great ones are inulin from chicory root, dandelion root/ greens, Jerusalem artichoke, onions, asparagus, and jicama root. Also rich in inulin prebiotic fibers are garlic, leeks, and a small amount in bananas.

Beta-glucan can be found in barley, oats, and konjac root.

Burdock root and yacon root are rich in both inulin and FOS, an oligosaccharide. Wheat bran is rich in an oligosaccharide called AXOS.

Cacao and flax seeds are rich in polyphenols, which help increase the good bacteria and decrease the bad, simply put.  Don’t sleep on seaweed either, as they are mostly soluble fiber and can produce short chain fatty acids that nourish the cells of the gut lining. Apples are rich in pectin, which is a soluble fiber. They produce antioxidants and short-chain fatty acids as well.

For a look at what I do with konjac root, for example, check out this post on Instagram by clicking on the image >>>>>

Please continue to pay attention to food sensitivities, as I will not be touching wheat or barley (due to gluten), and very infrequently will I consume oats (gluten look-alike) as a very small component of something, but certainly not a bowl of it.

I will be posting some more content on IG in the upcoming weeks where I will share more tips on how I get in my prebiotic fibers daily.

 

GUT: Postbiotics

What are those, you might ask? I’m not going to delve deeply into this here, but you will be hearing about it more, if you haven’t already. Essentially, they are the byproducts of the probiotics feeding on prebiotics through the process of fermentation. These by-products are useful waste products. Examples are enzymes, short chain fatty acids that nourish the gut lining such as acetate, butyrate, and proprionate, vitamins such as B and K, organic acids such as fulvic and humic acids, and more. These can be augmented by taking them as supplements. 

 

Trauma

The pandemic has brought the issue of trauma to the forefront. But we all had trauma long before the pandemic. That’s especially true with those of us who live with MS. At this point, I believe we can all agree you don’t need to have fought in the war and been diagnosed with PTSD to have experienced trauma. We experience Big T Trauma and Little t Trauma throughout life, but how we process it, or not, determines if it has a big part to play in our future health, mental and physical. So, trauma is a root cause of mental illness.

I realized about a year ago that chronic pain was a trauma response, and I was able to work my way through it and heal from chronic pain with that realization. This means fewer medications/ supplements for me because I no longer need pain or sleep medication.

I have also recently come to the realization that MS itself is so closely linked to trauma, emotions, and a habit of not processing emotional issues adequately in childhood or earlier in life, and our bodies eventually giving up on us. This is why yoga, meditation, EFT Tapping, and such help so much.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Western Medicine has kind of separated mental and physical health but they are not separate, and we need to be working on both. To start to heal physically, in addition to everything else you’re doing for the body and brain, please make sure to care for your mental health as well, because they are one and the same.

In case you hadn’t noticed a pattern, there’s an IG post for that too! <<<<<

 

What Am I Saying?

It’s great to get the help that you need for mental health. I highly recommend it. See that therapist. See your psychiatrist. Take that medicine. They all work together. I’m certainly not saying forget about treating depression and anxiety and just heal your gut. No. Far from it. But so you can hopefully, perhaps not need medication forever, heal your gut is what I’m saying.

This will help the biochemical changes that the medications are trying to correct slowly start to normalize. Some people need fewer medications after a while, and some need no medications. Whatever you do, please discuss it with your doctor.

Gut health is serious business.

Food and anything that goes in our mouths is serious business. But when you have MS, and mental health challenges, you had better get familiar with how to optimize your gut health.

And if you’re up for more information, I have curated a guide on nutrition and gut health on my IG page. That’s in addition to an entire story highlight of recipes.

 

In Conclusion

Mental health is Health. Period!

Fix your gut for MS.

Fix your gut for mental wellness.

And also, fix your mental health for MS.

It’s all connected. One and the same. We cannot, and should not separate them.

MENTAL HEALTH IS HEALTH!!!

 

DISCLAIMER!!!

Lastly, check with your doctor before implementing anything new. I am NOT your doctor, though I am a doctor.

This is purely educational, not giving you medical advice, and it is certainly not tailored specifically to you because I don’t have enough information on you to do that.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons into lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability to stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

PS: Get on the waitlist for MS Mastery™ here if you haven’t already. What are you waiting on?

The post Mental Wellness and MS appeared first on folaketaylormd.

You would not believe what happened just a week after my last blog post titled “Is Keto A Trigger For Vegans?” An article was published in UVAToday which supports the ketogenic diet for MS. It is titled Ketogenic Diet Show Major Benefits For Multiple Sclerosis.

They said, and I quote:

“The ketogenic diet, which replaces carbohydrates with protein and healthy fats, may be a key to managing MS, new research co-authored with UVA Health shows.”

Research Findings

The study was on 65 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis volunteers. The study participants saw reductions in neurologic disability, fatigue, depression, and heightened overall quality of life. Participants also lost body fat, their performance improved on physical endurance testing, such as the 6-minute walk, as well as enhanced fine motor speed. There were also beneficial changes in inflammatory blood markers.

This study will be presented and peer reviewed shortly, but these findings are nothing short of mind blowing. The presentation will be at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) meeting in April. It is titled, Ketogenic Diet as a Strategy for Improved Wellness and Reduced Disability in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis.

The same study was highlighted in Multiple Sclerosis News Today. It is titled, Ketogenic Diet Eases Symptoms, Aids Life Quality in Small RRMS Study. They went ahead and stated categorically that participants lost an average of 20lb (9kg) of body fat in this 6 month period.

While I knew these things to be true in my body, it hits different when it’s supported by research. While my aim with the Wahls Paleo Plus was not to lose weight, I did lose more than 20lb myself, and it helped correct hormonal imbalances.

More MS Nutrition Research On The Horizon

Dr. Terry Wahls my shero and mentor, also bagged a $2.5 million donation toward research studying the effects of nutrition on MS. This is from the Carter Chapman Shreve Family Foundation to the Wahls Therapeutic Lifestyle Fund in the Wahls Lab. You can read about this here as well as here. This study will compare 3 diets. The modified Paleo Diet. The ketogenic diet. The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans diet.

The UIHC article reads: “The two-year Efficacy of Diet on Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis (EDQ-MS) study will also be one of the longest in duration to study the effect of diet on clinical and patient reported outcomes and biomarkers of brain injury.”

It’s been so hard getting large MS nutrition studies because we know who funds most research. It’s usually Big Pharma. They won’t fund something that proves viable alternatives or adjuncts to medication. This is because either way, you will end up on less medication or no medication when you apply these principles. It does not further their cause!

In Conclusion

What I would like to see are more studies on primary progressive multiple sclerosis PPMS. We want to do better than extrapolate from studies using participants with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis RRMS. I do see that Picnic Health is spearheading some PPMS research, and I am most certainly here for it.

Please share in your email with a friend who has MS, share to social media, or Tweet this. I feel like shouting it on the rooftops. So very excited for the future.

🧡🧡🧡

Folake.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons to lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

The post Exciting Changes In MS Research On Nutrition appeared first on folaketaylormd.

The Wahls Protocol

My Specific Nutrition Plan

There are 3 levels of The Wahls Protocol. Wahls Diet, Wahls Paleo, and Wahls Paleo Plus. The Wahls Paleo Plus is a modified Paleo & K with intermittent fasting. It is the most restrictive, hence it took me years to get here, because it is NOT for the faint at heart. Several times in this journey, I did give up a little and fall off the wagon.

Chia Pudding

Little did I know that saying the word K is like smearing poop all over myself, to some people. The way I understand nutrition, there are healthy vegetarians and unhealthy vegetarians. There are healthy vegans and unhealthy vegans. There is healthy K and unhealthy K. I thought everyone else understood it that way as well.

The Meat Of The Matter

Her Way Or The Highway

Bowl of Salad

Me, Me, Me!!!

The Art of Bullying

Is Keto a Trigger Word?

The Fear About Keto, And What I Do Differently

The Morale Of The Story

1. Listen more than you speak. 2 ears. 1 mouth.
2. Be open to other opinions.
3. Don’t be so confident of you and your methods, that nobody can have a different opinion for their life and body. You end up being a complete jerk. Something else can work for someone else, and also be right.
4. Do not be quick to judge folks you are meeting for the first time.

PS: March is MS Awareness Month!!! And it’s about to be LIT.

PPS: If you haven’t already done so, do check out my Gifts to you and the free Resources page.

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons to lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. Sharing what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school, is now my mission. And as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery, I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues.

The post Is Keto a Trigger Word for Vegans? appeared first on folaketaylormd.

Welcome To PPMS-ing!!!

I live with PPMS. So I thought it was befitting to name my musings as such.

As you may know, PPMS is Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. Only 10%-15% of people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have PPMS. And there’s only one approved medication to treat PPMS. Ocrevus. PPMS is also more disabling. MS in general is autoimmune & neurodegenerative.

I may have PPMS, but PPMS does not have me. I choose to thrive to the best of my ability each day with it, despite my disability.

 

The Magic Is In The Food

I remember sitting in my rheumatologist’s office, probably 2 years prior to my MS diagnosis, once again going through everything and assuring me it wasn’t fibromyalgia or lupus or RA et al. I looked at him and asked, “Holistically, where do I start to attack this? What supplements would you suggest?”

That’s how I started with curcumin, garlic, ginger and I believe cinnamon pills. He’s not even a holistic doctor, so I’m not sure why I asked him that. But I wasn’t wrong to ask, because he had fundamental answers, and I built on it with magnesium, CoQ10, Omega-3 et al over the years. I was already on Vitamin D by this time, because I was aware that I was deficient, but I optimized it further and added K2.

And I haven’t looked back since. I made a decision, that I was going to use natural products at my disposal to treat this mystery inflammatory condition that had no name yet.

As a family, we also resolved further on eating organic, non-gmo foods, though it would be much later (after my MS diagnosis), before I encountered the Wahls Protocol. And it was a few more years before I came around to understanding the importance, and addressing my gut, and then the concept of toxins.

I’d come to realize at some point, that I could not out-supplement MS however. As beneficial as supplements are, the feeling I started to get after a kale salad, or some other cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cabbage, or a few cloves of garlic, is almost indescribable. That boost was a feeling that supplements alone without an optimized nutrition plan for me, could not achieve.

“The magic is in the food, not the supplements.”-Dr. Terry Wahls, author of the Wahls Protocol. (Mind-Body & The Vagus Nerve Connection Summit, by Health Means. August 22, 2021.)

 

Thank God Food Is Medicine

Food is medicine for for me, and for every ailment, not just PPMS. My “medicines” are food, supplements, Ocrevus, and everything else in between like exercise, mindfulness and yoga. That’s the combo that has worked for me so far.

It has been a long journey, not so much in years, but in what I have been through, and what I have had to do, to combat MS.

This is where I will share my thoughts with you, that cannot fit in an IG post, and special offers. Hint, do follow me on Instagram. ♥

Let’s go.

 

Blessings,

Dr. Folake.

 

I am Dr. Folake Taylor, and I live with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis PPMS. After 15 years in internal medicine primary care, while battling disability/ PPMS for the last 7 of the 15, I found myself diving deeper into holistic health for answers. Now I’m turning my lemons to lemonade. I refuse to allow physical and cognitive disability stop me, from fulfilling my destiny of using my voice to benefit the world with my knowledge, which I did prior to my illness. I am now sharing with the MS world especially, what I have learned and am still learning about the body’s ability to heal itself, which is quite different from what I learned in medical school. I will take you along with me as the daily journey continues, and as I create an online self-paced course for MS recovery.

The post Introducing PPMS-ing!!! appeared first on folaketaylormd.