Overview
There are so many different diets that’s it’s hard to figure out the right one for you or your loved one. What is abundantly clear is that the food you eat will affect the way you feel and the way your body and brain function.
There are a few major rules that you need to be aware of:
Toxins: you want to look for high quality, organically grown food. Herbicides and pesticides (including glyphosate) can cause major problem for both body and brain. Also beware of food that are known to be high in mold, these foods can cause inflammation, immune response and mitochondrial dysfunction. You can find tons of discounted organic products on Thrive Market, and high quality organic meat at Butcher Box.
Inflammatory foods: the five most common allergen are gluten, dairy, eggs, soy and corn. While food allergies seem to be the latest trend, they are a very real issue causing lots of harm to your body. I would recommend getting food allergy testing or doing an elimination diet and seeing how you feel. Worst comes to worst you try out a new diet for a month and find out you can eat all the pizza you want (I’ll be jealous AF) but odds are you may find some mysterious ailments disappearing.
Fats: you want to make sure the fats you use are high quality short chain or medium chain fats. You also want to make sure that the fats are cooked and stored appropriately - if you cook an oil at too high of a temperature it can become toxic. Fats to use are: ghee, coconut oil, grass fed butter, avocado oil, olive oil. Avoid fried foods as much as possible
Veggies: EAT MORE always. Lots of colors and varieties. Chinese medicine always recommends cooking food to help break it down, but there are lots of nutrients found in raw vegetables as well. Switch it up.
For most people struggling with a neurological disorder, the Keto diet is a fantastic place to start. It’s a fairly easy diet to adjust to and it’s pretty delicious and incredibly nutritious when done right! The diet was developed after finding that fasting would stop or slow down seizures. Fasting induces ketosis, a state in which the body burns ketones for fuel. Most people on this diet feel like they have more energy and a clearer mind. Keto can be tricky long term, many people find some balance by adding some carbs and in dressing MCT oil. MAD is a modified Atkins version of keto which is less strict but still low carb and high fat.
What might be considered a “spin-off” of keto is Dr. Terry Wahl’s - “Wahl’s Protocol”. This diet is similar to keto (high fat, low carb) but focuses on specific vegetables to potentiate detoxification and optimize mitochondrial function. Dr Wahl’s has an incredible story of recovering from MS and I highly recommend looking into her work. I have no doubt her diet would be great for most of not all people.
Other diets that have been incredibly helpful for many people include the GAPS diet, the Body Ecology Diet, the low FODMAP diet, Paleo diet or even just Gluten free/Casein free diet. Whatever diet works best for you and your family - just make sure to eat lots of whole foods that make you feel good!
Supplement suggestions (general):
High quality probiotics
Digestive enzymes
GI Revive
Fermented foods
Bone Broth
Collagen