Optimum Nutrition Spring 2019 PREVIEW

More documents

Info

INTERVIEW I n 2014, a book called The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine landed on the Optimum Nutrition desk. Inside, Dr Terry Wahls, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, USA, described how dietary changes reversed her MS symptoms. A bold claim indeed. Although there is a great deal of research into MS, treatments have typically focused on medical intervention with recent studies even looking at drastic treatment to knock out and reboot the immune system. A dietary and lifestyle protocol was nothing new, however; both the Swank Diet and the Jelinek Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis programme already existed. Yet in Wahls’ book there was something that seemed almost miraculous about her recovery. At her worst, she was in a wheelchair. Now she cycles every day. Yet despite Wahls’ seemingly fantastic recovery, it proved difficult to get somebody with MS to read the book — such a viewpoint would have been valuable. But in the words of one contact who had lived with MS for 30 years, she felt as though she had already tried “everything” and didn’t believe Wahls had anything new to say. Eventually we found a young woman with a recent diagnosis who was interested. She concluded that it wasn’t just a book for MS sufferers; it was a book for everyone. But she was not prepared to put Wahls’ protocol in place — yet. The thought of giving up grains, pasta and potatoes was so unappealing she would rather wait until her symptoms had worsened. When, by email, I ask Wahls to comment on this response to her book she is unsurprised. “Not everyone is ready,” she says. “People [are] at varying stages of interest in trying a therapeutic lifestyle. Think of how many people are addicted to tobacco, alcohol and will die earlier as a result of their addiction. They know the harms caused by their addiction, but they are unable to stop.” She acknowledges that lifestyle changes are not always easy — her followers have been dubbed “Wahls’ warriors”, she explains, because what they do is not easy. “They implement a therapeutic lifestyle giving up sugar, processed foods [and] sedentary habits, and sustain new nutrient-dense diets and lifestyle habits,” she says. “Sustaining a therapeutic diet is very challenging — that is what behaviour scientists will tell you. “If it was easy, we would not have an epidemic of chronic disease.” Some who find it hard to change behaviours, she says, may have “learned helplessness” and might benefit from cognitive behaviour therapy to help them — if they wanted to change. And for anyone used to a standard western diet high in carbohydrates and processed foods, the Wahls protocol is not an easy option. There are different levels to follow; at its strictest — the level she herself follows — it involves staying in ketosis; so eliminating sugar and starchy carbs. At its very basic level, it involves eliminating gluten, dairy and eggs, and incorporating a wide range of vegetables and fruit, meat and organ meats. For Wahls, this is now her way of life. After being diagnosed in 2000 with relapsing remitting MS, and in 2003 with secondary progressive MS, conventional treatment was not enough. She underwent chemotherapy in an attempt to slow down the disease but was eventually forced to use a tilt-recline wheelchair, to which she was confined for four years. She believes that she had been facing the prospect of being bedridden. According to the Multiple Sclerosis Trust in the UK, an estimated 2.5 million worldwide have the condition. Affecting the myelin sheath (protective covers) of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain, MS leads to signalling problems in the nervous system, causing a range of symptoms that often lead to disability. Relapsingremitting MS is the most common form, characterised by attacks during which symptoms worsen or new symptoms appear. Another form is primary progressive MS, which is characterised by slow onset and steadily worsening symptoms. Because MS is considered to be a degenerative disease for which there is no cure, Wahls’ book was startling in its claims — although she does not claim to have been cured of all illness. Her website says: “I am... a patient with a chronic, progressive disease.” So, whilst she keeps busy with her work, she says she is committed to taking care of herself. Research It was the question of how to take care of herself that led Wahls to search for ways to manage her condition. Just as any of us might turn to books, journals or the internet to cope with illness, Wahls immersed herself in the latest ...one of the biggest changes for Wahls, however, was — as a vegetarian — incorporating meat and organ meats into her diet research; relearning biochemistry, cellular physiology and neuroimmunology to make sense of what she was reading. Yet she knew that what goes on in laboratories can take decades to impact human medicine, so began taking supplements of nutrients associated with brain health. But although her physical decline slowed down, it did not stop. Dietary changes Gradually, Wahls’ diet radically changed. Many ordinary foods such as bread, sugar, pasta and potatoes were dropped, and a range of vegetables added in. Her protocol excludes gluten, dairy and eggs. Foods known as nightshades, which include peppers, chillies, tomatoes and aubergines, are also excluded for people with rheumatoid arthritis or who haven’t responded to the initial levels of the protocol. Perhaps one of the biggest changes for Wahls, however, was — as a vegetarian — incorporating meat and organ meats into her diet. Having grown up on a farm in Iowa, she had given up meat because she believed that it was wrong to farm animals for food and that it was environmentally unsustainable. But after reading the work of Dr Ashton Embry who recommended a diet that included meat but excluded grain and dairy, she considered it for herself. It was not an easy decision. “It took a great deal of prayer, meditation, and a gradual process,” she says. In her blog she describes adding meat to soups, after which she began to feel stronger. Now, although her diet is commonly described as ‘paleo’, it is not focused on meat as that label seems to imply. Emphasis is given to a range of vegetables and fruit each day, with small amounts of good-quality meat. Whilst what works for one person may not work for another, evidence supporting Wahls’ protocol is based on subsequent research and results from SPRING 2019 | OPTIMUM NUTRITION 21
ALL ABOUT Study authors have found insufficient evidence to make it illegal to sell energy drinks to children, yet would welcome voluntary action including exclusion zones. James Billot writes D espite several supermarkets imposing their own bans on selling energy drinks to under-16s, the Science and Technology Committee’s Energy Drinks and Children Report, published in December last year, concluded that there wasn’t enough “quantitative evidence” to warrant making their sale to children illegal, potentially halting any government plans for legislation. The report advised that it was currently unclear whether energy drinks were more harmful than other soft drinks. Yet, despite this, it welcomed any voluntary action — including exclusion zones — taken by schools, retailers and local communities that could reduce the consumption of energy drinks by children. It also recognised that despite its main findings, that “it might be legitimate” for the experiences of teachers and other groups (“qualitative evidence”) to lead to a statutory ban. 1 As a result, the government faces the decision as to whether it should act now, or wait for further evidence. According to the report, children in the UK are the largest consumers of energy drinks in Europe. Between 2012 and 2017, the market ballooned by 19 per cent and globally it is predicted by business analysts to increase by 3.7 per cent year-on-year over the next five years. But in spite of this rise, there has been no long-term research into the effects of energy drinks. Although warnings have come from sources such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), so far only one country in the EU, Lithuania, has banned the sale of energy drinks to minors. Main issues The NHS defines energy drinks as soft drinks with high levels of caffeine, taurine (an amino acid) and vitamins. They also contain high levels of sugar: while a 330 ml can of Coca-Cola has 32 mg of caffeine and 35 g of sugar per can, a 473 ml can of Red Bull has 151 mg of caffeine and 52 g of sugar. However, it is their high caffeine content that the NHS, EFSA and WHO links to a number of health and behavioural problems. “The main issues are the level of sleep deprivation, hyperactivity and bad behaviour in the classroom,” says Kawther Hunt, a registered nutritionist at charity group Action on Sugar. “But there is also a link between risky behaviour and energy drink consumption, which can include under-age alcohol consumption and drug use.” Whilst risky behaviour in children such as drinking alcohol and smoking was found by the committee to be associated with drinking energy drinks, there was no evidence that one actually caused the other. The committee also could not confirm that children’s drinking habits were significantly different for energy drinks over other caffeinated drinks such as tea or coffee. That is not to suggest there is parity between the two: while a 250 ml cup of coffee contains 95 mg of caffeine, a 550 ml can of Relentless Origin 44 OPTIMUM NUTRITION | SPRING 2019
Page 3 and 4: THIS ISSUE 20 “Banned to brillian
Page 5: INTERVIEW When Dr Terry Wahls devel
Page 9: MOVE IT T hey say you can’t reinv

Optimum Nutrition Spring 2019 PREVIEW

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?