Diet and Lifestyle to Help You Thrive with MS, Part 8 - It Starts With the Gut

November 28, 2011

We are happy to share another installment of Laurie Erdman’s diet and lifestyle series:

Sometimes I wish science would figure it all out and leave well enough alone. Every time I turn around, we are learning new and more information about how the body works. It can be confusing. It’s also fascinating (at least for this nutrition geek).

The scientific evidence that has me most excited these days, are the studies piling up about the role our gut plays in our health, especially the role it plays in auto-immune disease. You see 70% of our immune receptors resided in our digestive tract. This makes sense. We put a lot of substances into our mouth, so our immune system has to be well poised to determine if what we ingest is friend or foe.

A healthy digestive tract means a healthy immune system. “Friends” – in the form of whole foods – help our blood pump, our pancreas operate properly, our brain to function and our immune system to be strong and discerning. “Foes” – in the form of processed, chemical-laden foods – on the other hand, depress our digestion, clog our arteries, fog our brain and trigger our immune system into action. Enough triggers and the immune system goes awry and can attack the weakest link in your body.

The best way to keep a healthy (non-suppressed, non-over-active) immune system is to care for your digestive tract. How? Look no further than your grandparents or great grandparents. Every culture in the world has as part of their diet, fermented foods. Yet in our melting pot of a nation, we have gotten away from many of these cultural foods.

Fermented foods include kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut and many others. These foods ensure a healthy digestive system and thus a healthy immune system less likely to go awry.

I know that not everyone wants to sit down to a bowl of sauerkraut like my husband. So here are a few delicious and healthy ways to enjoy your fermented foods. First, cut an avocado in half, remove pit, peel and top with a heaping fork full of sauerkraut and enjoy. Second option is to combine chopped kale, quinoa and kimchi as a tasty salad.

Share your ideas for caring for your digestive tract.

Laurie Erdman helps busy individuals living with chronic illness, stress or fatigue double their energy so they get moving again. She overcame multiple sclerosis, fatigue, and chronic stress, and now inspires and educates others to create a healthier, more vibrant life. Laurie is Founder and Chief Wellness Hero at Chronic Wellness Coaching.
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Diet and Lifestyle to Help You Thrive with MS, Part 7 - What are You Grateful For?

November 21, 2011

We are thrilled that our wellness hero, Laurie Erdman, is back to share her seventh installment of her diet and lifestyle series. She provides amazing support and strategies that help people make wellness a part of their everyday life:

Wouldn’t it be great if you could eat one thing (kale maybe) and transform your life with energy, emotional freedom and sparkle? Many people I talk to believe if they change their diet they will miraculously enjoy their life and all their problems will disappear.

Guess what? It’s not that easy.

Sure, diet was a critical part of my healing journey with multiple sclerosis. But there is so much more to the equation.

Creating a life you enjoy – free of disease – requires changing what you eat AND what you think, how you relate to others, and what you believe about yourself and what you deserve. This sounds like a lot and can seem impossible when you’re stuck in a rut with a body that is failing you and a life you don’t know how to change. I mean really, can’t you just eat your broccoli to remove the gloom? Change seems so overwhelming.

Here’s one of my secrets. Start with gratitude.

It’s where transformation starts. Not with kale – although that is super important. Not with green juice – although it helps a lot. Nourishing the body without nourishing the soul will not create the healing results so many of us desire.

I know this sounds simple. But as I was experimenting with my anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle approach, I was also spending 5 minutes every morning writing down 3 things I was grateful for that day. It wasn’t always easy. But I did it every day.

This simple practice helped me bridge the gap between my old, hard driving, overworked, stressed-out, anxious way of living to an empowered, energetic, pleasurable life, clear of brain fog and unrestrained by fatigue.

Gratitude interrupts the overwhelmingness and resets your compass to keep you on the path toward your goals.

Yes, gratitude actually helps transform your diet and your health. It helps reduce inflammation. It alleviates depression. It helps you supercharge your life.

Gratitude is powerful and easy to use. You don’t need anything fancy to do it. Any piece of paper will do to record your gratitude.

Share what you are grateful for.

Laurie Erdman helps busy individuals living with chronic illness, stress or fatigue double their energy so they get moving again. She overcame multiple sclerosis, fatigue, and chronic stress, and now inspires and educates others to create a healthier, more vibrant life. Laurie is Founder and Chief Wellness Hero at Chronic Wellness Coaching.

August 12, 2009 - A Guest Blog

November 18, 2011

We were fortunate enough to be connected with this incredible young man, Tristan Williams, through one of our other fabulous guest bloggers. Our friend Tristan was diagnosed with MS at the age of 19, and decided to launch a support group for MSers in his community! Besides founding and running the support group, Tristan is also in the final stages of creating his own nonprofit organization, The Tristan WilliaMS Foundation, to spread MS support and awareness on a global level. Pretty amazing right!? Here is his story:

August 12, 2009 ~ The Day of Diagnosis

Day in and day out I prepare to fight a battle against myself, but how does that make any sense. My body has turned against me, and I am afraid that there is no turning back. My name is Tristan Williams, and I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis two years ago.

Nothing could’ve prepared me for this life changing diagnosis. There I was, sitting in the Doctor’s office awaiting the same news that the other 2 Doctors gave me, “We can’t seem to find anything wrong with you Mr. Williams.” As the Doctor walked into the room, he told me he had good news and bad news. I obviously asked for the bad news first.“Based on the results of your MRI, we have come to the conclusion that you have Multiple Sclerosis, do you know what that is?” To be honest, at that time I had no clue what MS was, so I asked him to tell me the good news before I started jumping to conclusions. “Well the good news for you, Tristan, is that MS won’t affect you until you hit your 30’s.” That statement will never be forgotten; because here I am two years later, 21 years old, trying to figure out what went wrong.

I am currently on my 3rd medication, and I am still progressing. My cane has recently become my new best friend. With increased difficulty walking, combined with an array of other symptoms; MS has stripped away a lot of the things that most of us can take for granted.

Through all of this, I saw the lack of support for young adults with MS within my community. I decided to start my own Non-Profit Organization, and a localized support group for MS to be able to help give a voice to those in need.

The “Road to You” MS Support Group was co-founded by me and Jennifer Doran, my nurse (and trusted friend) from the Montreal Neurological Hospital. The group, created 7 months ago, already has a total of 25 group members and counting. Each session is held for 90 minutes, once a month. We discuss new treatments, research, complementary and alternative medicines; but, most importantly, we share our individual struggles, triumphs and stories about the disease that brought us together.

Pictures of the MS Support Group Session

I am hoping for the Tristan WilliaMS Foundation, to be up and running within the next 6 months. My goal is to spread awareness for Multiple Sclerosis to all ages and demographics internationally.

MS has taught me to live through my heart, and not let anything come in the way of what I believe in. I have fully committed my life to the betterment of MS not just in my own community, but in communities worldwide.

-Tristan Williams

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Don't Rush the 2nd Act - Van DiBernardo

November 9, 2011

Words of wisdom and advice from our dear friend and guest blogger, Van DiBernardo. We are so thankful for him to share his positive, inspiring outlook on life and MS:

Michael J. Fox was 29 years old when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease.

At that time, he was told he had only 10 years left to work. That was 20 years ago.

Fox may not share our same disease, but he shares our same struggle: how to daily manage the emotional and physical challenges of a perplexing disease.

When he shared his story to a sold-out audience in Buffalo this week, I was charged by Fox’s motto – something he had been taught as a young actor. This is how he told it:

“If you have a character who’s going to end up in a certain place, don’t play that until you get there. Play each scene and each beat as it comes. And that’s what you do in life: You don’t play the result,” Fox said.

Words to live by, no matter what ails you. We cannot predict what will happen next. As Fox summed it up: “The script of your life is not yet written.”

2 Degrees of Separation - A Guest Blog

November 4, 2011

We are excited to feature another post from our guest blogger, designer Van DiBernardo. Former DKNY shoe designer and inspiring MSer, he is in the process of designing a fashionable cooling vest which will help exacerbate MS heat intolerance. Van has an amazing message and story to share:

We are typically only two steps away from the solution to most of our immediate challenges.

We are all familiar with 6 Degrees of Separation when, in truth, we can find what (or who) we need with two strategic moves. The secret is this: in order to get help, you first have to make your problem known. Put it out there.

Buffalo NY is a small “big city”. In fact, many Buffalonians refer to our city as one very long couch. Our city slogan “City of Good Neighbors” sums up why I love it here. When I needed my own not-so-long couch removed from my 2nd floor apartment, I lightly mentioned it to someone I knew only casually. Two days later, my couch was carried away. And likewise, I have heard the need of others.

Some of you know it’s been 3 years since I first started designing a fashionable cooling vest for folks like us – a time span that seems a contradiction of my own philosophy. But the truth is that, despite the 3 long years of R&D, prototyping, and strategizing (while also managing MS!), I have met ALL the right people. In every area of development, I have enjoyed the support and guidance of the most brilliant minds in business, medicine, and marketing. Now that I am ready to manufacture, I am sure the right investors will also come along. In fact, if financing came through last year, I would be introducing a garment that has since been improved ten-fold.

Timing is everything. So is word of mouth. So is putting it out there, faith, Six Degrees of Separation, whatever you want to call it.

What you’re looking for is already there. You need only say what it is.

-Van DiBernardo