Guest Post: This post was written by Dr. Terry Wahls, an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she conducts clinical trials. In 2018 she was awarded the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Linus Pauling Award for her contributions in research, clinical care and patient advocacy. She is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which she improved tremendously with her own diet and lifestyle program.
Additionally, Dr. Wahls has appeared as a guest on the FUMS Podcast Show. Here are links to those interviews:
FUMS 010 – Dr. Terry Wahls On Her Diet vs. Dr. Roy Swank’s Diet for MS
FUMS 103 – Diet and Lifestyle to Halt Your MS w/Dr. Terry Wahls
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Does changing diet make a difference for people with multiple sclerosis (MS)? That is the question our team is trying to answer. Our lab received a $2.5 million gift from the Chapman-Shreve Foundation to compare the effects of two popular diets—the modified Paleolithic elimination diet and ketogenic diet to a control diet (the person’s usual diet) —in improving quality of life and reducing fatigue, a disabling symptom that can significantly interfere with a person’s ability to function at home and work. The gift will allow us to conduct one of the largest dietary intervention studies ever completed in the setting of MS. The two-year Efficacy of Diet on Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis (EDQ-MS) study will also be one of the longest in duration and will include brain imaging to study the effect of diet on brain structure.
We will recruit 156 people with relapsing-remitting MS between the ages of 18 and 70 who are not taking Coumadin or insulin and can walk 25 feet with no or unilateral support (can or walking stick). Participants will have baseline assessments which include several surveys, in-person assessments of walking, hand function, cognitive function, and vision with a baseline non- contrast MRI of the brain. They will be randomly assigned to follow a time-restricted olive oil-based ketogenic diet, the modified Paleolithic elimination diet or the person’s usual diet. Participants will complete brief online surveys every other month and will return at the end of two years to repeat all assessments.
I have been studying the effects of diet on MS for more than a decade. I was diagnosed with MS in 2000, and by 2003 the disease had progressed so much that I was confined to a wheelchair. In 2004, I began reading basic science articles about progressive multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. I decided the mitochondria were not working well in MS patients which contributes to the gradual worsening. I began experimenting on myself, first with supplements and then diet changes to provide better support for my mitochondria and my brain cells. In 2007 those interventions resolved my fatigue. My physical therapist noted that I was getting stronger and advanced my exercise program. For the first time in six years, I was able to bike again. I worked with other University of Iowa researchers to write up a paper describing her treatment and disease course , which was published in 2009.
Our work has progressed from the initial case study describing the use of diet, exercise, and electrical stimulation in the setting of secondary progressive MS to a small pilot study using the same protocol that I used for my recovery in others with progressive MS which was published in 2014. In 2021, we completed our largest study, the Dietary Approaches to Treating Multiple Sclerosis Related Fatigue study, which had 72 participants. With this gift, we will be able recruit 156 participants, include brain MRIs and watch people for two years. This study will be an important contribution to the MS dietary research.
Eligible participants aged 18 to 70 years must have relapsing-remitting MS, and meet other study eligibility requirements. Individuals interested in being considered for enrollment in this study may complete screening questionnaires at https://redcap.icts.uiowa.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=MLM4JYPM8D. For questions about the study, please email MSDietStudy@healthcare.uiowa.edu. Wahls conducts other MS studies. Information about these can be found at https://wahls.lab.uiowa.edu/join-study.