Terry Wahls, M.D.

Two months ago, I presented MINDING YOUR MITOCHONDRIA at Iowa City TEDx.  That video has since gone viral, reaching 259,000+ views. Since many are now beginning the journey to better health and greater vitality, I will talk this month about how to begin and sustain major behavior changes. As always, this is education, not medical advice. I recommend that you check with your personal physician prior to starting new diets, vitamins or supplements. 

One way to adopt the Wahls Diet™ is to use a phased approach:

Phase 1 = Eating 9 cups of non-starchy vegetables and berries each day (greens, sulfur, color).

Phase 2 = Going gluten free, dairy free and soy free to reduce the risk of food allergies.

Phase 3 = Going Paleo by reducing/eliminating grains, legumes and potatoes.

Phase 4 = Getting evaluated for potential food allergies, toxic load issues and more personalized nutritional needs by a practitioner of functional medicine. The Institute for Functional Medicine can help you find a provider in your area. 

Many ask if a vegetarian diet that stresses grain and legumes, such as what is advocated in the China Study, is healthy or harmful. Certainly, a plant-based diet that is low in saturated fat is superior to the standard American diet. But my interpretation of the science is that a Paleo diet is likely superior. There are no head-to-head studies comparing the Wahls Diet and a vegetarian diet (grains and legumes), although I am working on a grant proposal for such a study. The risk of grains and legumes is the high level of carbohydrates and insulin needed to handle those carbohydrates. The high insulin levels lead to worsening inflammation. And too many carbohydrates leads to a greater risk of the wrong bacteria in the bowels, further increasing the inflammation and risk of autoimmune problems. For those who are vegetarians for deep reasons, I would recommend at least switching to gluten-free grains and soaking or sprouting the grains and legumes for 24 hours prior to eating them.

The problem with gluten (wheat, rye and barley) and casein (dairy) is that, in the genetically at-risk person (estimated to be 1 in 8), those proteins can sometimes be recognized as foreign invaders (bacteria) by our immune cells. Too much inflammation happens, leading to many kinds of health problems and symptoms including asthma, skin rashes, arthritis, mood problems and multiple sclerosis. 

If you develop sensitivity to gluten or dairy, you are more likely to have autoimmune types of problems. If an individual has trouble with gluten sensitivity, that person is nearly always sensitive to casein as well. If you are going gluten-free, I urge you to also go casein-free (dairy-free). But don’t make the mistake of eating a lot of gluten-free pancakes, pastries and other such treats, or you will still have the sugar-loving trouble-making bacteria and yeasts in your bowels. When people eliminate sugar and white flour, they often find many symptoms reduce.

If you would like to learn more about how to design a diet that will ensure you have more of what your cells need to thrive, check out my book.

 It includes recipes and sample menus to help you get started. Note that I donate half of all profits from the sales of my books and lectures to supporting my clinical research, which tests the benefits of intensive nutrition and lifestyle changes for those with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. These funds have allowed us to gather the pilot data, which will enable us to get funding for larger studies. The ultimate goal of all my research is to bring health and vitality to as many people as possible.

Giving up food you love to eat the Wahls Diet™ to improve your health is usually a journey. Many people make the transition gradually. Take your first step. Learn how to cook for your mitochondria. 

Please feel free to comment below. 

Coconut Milk Oyster Stew Ingredients:  

1 lb of shucked oysters

¼ lb bacon

1 onion, chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 basil leaves

½ bunch of cilantro, minced

1 small yam

1 cup mushrooms

3-inch piece lemongrass

1-2 tbsp lemon juice

2-3 cups fish broth, clam juice or chicken broth

1 can coconut milk

Cooking Instructions:  

Let onion and garlic sit for 15 minutes to stabilize. Fry bacon. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, broth, yam, lemongrass and coconut milk. Simmer 10 minutes. Add oysters and lemon juice and simmer 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Add minced cilantro  and basil and serve. You can add other fish and shellfish as another variant. 

Eating for our cells and our mitochondria can be delicious and restorative. 

You can also support our work by sending the TEDx Talk link to your friends and family or refer them to come to TheWahlsFoundation.com for more information. Please feel free to comment on the video on how eating the way your DNA expects — meaning following the Wahls Way™ — has helped you and your loved ones.

For your convenience, here is the link to my TEDx talk to share: http://youtu.be/KLjgBLwH3Wc

If you’re looking to read something a little more technical, here is a short article about the benefits of garlic for those with dementia. Add more garlic, onions and leeks to your menu. They are best eaten raw, but still offer healthful benefits if cooked at low temperature.

Note about garlic: you lose about 30 to 50% of the nutritional benefits when you cook the garlic, more if you fry it. I have a short video talking about growing garlic here.

If you want to learn more about how easy it is to grow your food, check out the FOOD AS MEDICINE Part 5.

In this lecture series, I partner with a master gardener who delivers a wonderful presentation on how to begin to create nutritional abundance for you and your family. All you need is some sunshine to begin.

An easy way to use more garlic is to mince it finely and add it to vinegar (or lime juice) and oil (such as walnut, hemp or flax) for your salad dressing. It also makes a wonderful addition to your soups and stews. Be generous–use lots of garlic, onions and leeks. They do many wonderful things for your cells!

To Your Health,
Dr. Terry Wahls

Strawberry Spinach Salad Ingredients:

Spinach
Fresh strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp fruit jam
2 tbsp flax oil
1-2 tsp lime or lemon juice
1-2 tsp water (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

Whir together the last four ingredients in a blender to make the dressing. Pour dressing over the greens and berries and toss. 

As we age, our brains shrink, and that shrinkage progresses more rapidly for those with multiple sclerosis. In fact, anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease is also at a higher risk for brain shrinkage. Brain shrink occurs when brain cells die and are not replaced. As you can imagine, that is not a good thing -- it is far better to help keep brain cells healthy, thus preventing their premature death. There is more and more research about the foods that help protect our brain cells from this premature dying. Antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruits are an important brain-maintaining food category we should eat everyday.

Flavonoids, a group of compounds found in plants, have been studied extensively for their positive health impacts. In general, plants that are brightly colored have a good supply of helpful flavonoids; some of the best sources include berries, black grapes and citrus. These compounds have been shown to protect brain cells that are grown in laboratory. This article explains a bit more about how flavonoids help protect our brain cells and their effects on memory and cognition. In another study, Concord grape juice supplements improve memory function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, subjects with mild memory problems -- not diagnosable dementia -- were randomized and given either grape juice or purple sugar water. Neither the subject nor the researchers knew who was drinking real grape juice. After just 12 weeks, significant improvement in memory and verbal recall was observed in those receiving daily grape juice!  

Although the precise mechanism of action by which flavonoids protect brain cells is not known, studies have shown diets rich in berries not only protect brain cells but also lower the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.

Berries, grapes, and citrus are potent sources of flavonoids. Beets, both the tops and the roots, are also excellent sources of flavonoids and many antioxidant compounds. The greens have a lot of oxalic acid, which should be avoided by those with a history of kidney stones.

I advocate food as our primary defense to keep our brains as healthy and vibrant as possible. As you know, the Wahls Diet ™ is 9 servings of vegetables and fruit: 3 servings of green leaves, 3 servings of sulfur rich and 3 servings of bright colors. People with diabetes should rely on vegetables, but if you are not diabetic, you may enjoy berries as well. They are wonderful in smoothies, as an accent in salads or as the finishing touch to your meal.