Raw Food Diet Help With Multiple Sclerosis

In recent years there has been a lot of talk about multiple sclerosis and raw food diets. There is still a large percentage of the medical community that refuses to see the connection between eating a healthy diet and reduced or eliminated symptoms of MS. However, in recent years far more research is being conducted in the areas of diet and nutrition as a way to improve the overall health of the multiple sclerosis patient and alleviate their symptoms.

Why a Multiple Sclerosis Raw Food Diet?

In order for the brain to function properly, it needs a constant supply of micronutrients. These micronutrients are supposed to be obtained from the foods we eat. Sadly our standard western diet consists mainly of highly processed foods that have almost no nutrients in them. The contents of these prepackaged foods have literally been cooked to death and are devoid of the minerals, micronutrients and vitamins we need.

By creating treating your multiple sclerosis with a raw food diet, you are eating food that since it has not been heated or cooked in any way, still has 100% of all the essential nutrients that your body needs. One thing that needs to be noted here is that while technically raw food means that the foods have not been cooked, it does not mean they have not been heated. In many cases the foods have been warmed in a dehydrator or low oven, the maximum temperature must not exceed 115-120 degrees Fahrenheit as this is the point at which the foods begin to cook and lose their nutritional value.

Is a Multiple Sclerosis Raw Food Diet Effective?

One has only to look around at the vast numbers of people that are switching to an all raw food diet to see just how healthy this type of diet is. It is only within the last hundred or so years that we have become obsessed with cooking everything we eat. Recent studies of patients with multiple sclerosis and a raw food diet are showing some remarkable signs of success.

In Germany, a Dr. Joseph Evers has successfully treated over 1,000 patients with multiple sclerosis by switching them over to a raw food diet. The carefully documented results were nothing short of amazing as his patients experience full remission of their symptoms and over time have shown little or no progression of the disease. In answer to the question, MS can be helped with a raw food diet.

Multiple Sclerosis Types

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the Myelin which is the covering that surrounds the spinal cord. The myelin provides insulation for the nerves coming from the spinal cord, and it helps the conduction of impulses along the nerves. In MS inflammation destroys the myelin causing the nerve impulses to slow down and degenerate. This can cause a person to have difficulties in walking, talking, and can affect their vision and many other important functions. There are 5 different multiple sclerosis types that patients can have, the most common forms are relapsing- remitting, primary-progressive, and Secondary-progressive.

Of the 5 different multiple sclerosis types, relapsing-remitting is the most common accounting for 65 - 80% of all MS cases. In relapsing-remitting, patients experience a series of attacks then the disease goes into remission until another attack occurs which is called the relapse. There can be days, weeks or years between relapses. Recovery during the remission phase can be partial or complete. This means that while the attack may subside, residual symptoms may be present that can be permanent due to the damage that is done to the Myelin.

Primary-progressive MS is steady symptoms from the onset that do not remit, meaning that their intensity increases over time, rather than going into remission. Between 10-20% of people with this disease are diagnosed with primary progressive. This diagnosis does not usually get made until a person has a history of unremitting symptoms and no acute attacks.

Secondary-progressive MS often follows the relapsing-remitting types of multiple sclerosis. Approximately 60 % of relapsing-remitting patients will progress to this stage of MS. Again like primary-progressive there is no real remission periods in this stage of the disease, only short breaks or plateaus from the progression of the symptoms. During this phase many people will experience a steady decline in abilities with sporadic attacks.

Of all the multiple sclerosis types, progressive relapsing and malignant multiple sclerosis are the most rare and intense. With progressive relapsing there is no remit phase, only continuous attacks and no relief from symptoms. Malignant multiple sclerosis is very rare and highly aggressive causing a swift decline into disability often within weeks or months of the onset.

I have benefited greatly from a book which has examined the link between what we eat and multiple sclerosis. If you would like to know what foods are attacking your body, what supplements you must take and how to create the energy that you need, then this book is a must read.