Last Updated on December 7, 2023 by Cathy
The 4 R’s of Healing is part 2 of a series of articles. If you would like to read Part 1, click here. You don’t need to read each individual article to benefit however they do work together for the best results.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that attacks the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerve. By following the 4 R’s of healing you will be addressing the root cause. Researchers have discovered increases in certain bacteria associated with inflammation in people with MS. This may lead to the development of probiotic strategies for stopping the progression.
MS is caused by chronic inflammation, also known as systemic inflammation. It creates an immune response causing havoc on organs and throughout the entire body. Many factors contribute to chronic inflammation, but for the most, it all begins in the gut.
Chronic inflammation leads to:
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Bone loss
- Heart disease
- Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
- Viruses
- Yeast overgrowth (Candida)
- Autoimmune diseases
Leaky Gut
Leaky gut syndrome is when the protective gut lining loses its tight junctions allowing undigested food particles, toxins, yeast, and bad bacteria to enter the bloodstream and blood-brain barrier.
Common factors creating a leaky gut:
- Antibiotics – they not only kill the bad bacteria they also kill the good bacteria.
- Environmental toxins – plastics, herbicides (Roundup), pesticides, flooring, shower curtains, furniture, shampoos, deodorants, toothpaste, etc.
- Infections – bacterial overgrowth, yeast overgrowth, viruses, and parasites.
- NSAIDS (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) – aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen (anti-inflammatories like Alene and Midol)
- Poor diet – refined sugar and carbohydrates.
- Stress – Learn techniques to remove stress, for example, yoga, deep breathing, meditation, and even taking walks outdoors.
Your digestion is important for absorbing nutrients and eliminating waste for a healthy immune system. When things are out of balance it’s time to adjust the causes to begin the healing process. Functional medicine follows a protocol called the 4 R’s to stop the disease’s progress and begin healing.
Functional medicines 4 R’s of healing:
- Remove
- Replace
- Repair
- Reinoculate
Remove
The first step to healing is removing the toxins that are causing your gut harm and creating an environment for bacteria, parasites, and yeast overgrowth to thrive. This includes processed foods, refined sugar, refined carbohydrates, conventional meats, antibiotics, and household chemicals. You can read more in Part 1.
Some toxins are hard to remove others like food are easy to correct. Learning which foods have an anti-inflammatory effect will be beneficial in reversing MS symptoms. If you can purchase organic grass-fed meat, organic pasture-raised poultry, wild caught fish, and organic produce.
Yeast Overgrowth (Candida)
Everyone has Candida it aids in digestion and absorbs nutrients, but when it grows out of control it creates a leaky gut releasing toxic byproducts. Normally the good bacteria keeps Candida under control but factors, such as antibiotics, kill the “good guys” and Candida takes over.
Candida is the primary culprit causing MS, unfortunately, most patients don’t realize they have a yeast overgrowth. Plus, conventional medicine is just starting to recognize the significance of Candida yet they have not looked into the connection with MS.
As Candida penetrates pass the protective gut lining it spreads into the bloodstream and the blood-brain barrier. Candida produces toxins toward the nervous system and invades other organs.
Signs you have Candida overgrowth:
- Autoimmune disease
- Athletes foot
- Brain fog
- Chronic fatigue
- Oral thrush
- Skin issues (acne, eczema, rosacea, etc.)
- Sugar and carbohydrates cravings
- Toenail fungus
- Vaginal yeast infections
Antibiotics are the main culprits to Candida, they not only kill the bad bacteria but they also kill the good bacteria. Candida is not affected by antibiotics and continues to grow. If you become ill or hurt you can’t always avoid antibiotic medications. If you do need to take some also take a probiotic at a different time of day. For example, if you take an antibiotic in the morning then take the probiotic in the evening.
To get Candida under control, you need to do these three things: stop the yeast overgrowth, build up the friendly bacteria, and antifungals. Sugar is what feeds yeast, start by eliminating most sugars including natural sugars. It’s okay to eat berries, lemon, limes, and grapefruit due to their lower sugar intake.
Vinegar and Alcohol
Although vinegar and gluten-free alcohols are okay on the Paleo diet they are not okay on the Candida diet. The fermented yeast and sugars from both will feed the Candida. The only vinegar that is allowed is apple cider vinegar (ACV). ACV acts as a prebiotic which helps the good bacteria grow while eliminating harmful foods that feed Candida.
If you are suffering from skin or nail fungus, you can apply ACV topically to the problem areas. It’s good as an antifungal and antibacterial, although you will need to take it internally to fight Candida and flush out toxins. Add it to your bone broths, use it with salad dressings, or wherever you see fit.
You can even drink diluted ACV, although I have to warn you… it tastes bad! Add one tablespoon to a glass of room temperature water, you can add lemon juice or Stevia to make it taste better. Then rinse your mouth with water to the vinegar doesn’t damage your teeth. Make sure you purchase ACV that has the ‘mother’ still intact, I like to use Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar.
Antifungals
Start taking antifungals to get Candida under control, there are two prescription forms but they are very hard on the liver. Therefore, it’s best to use herbal remedies, start by taking a low dose and work up slowly increasing your dosage. This will prevent your body from Candida die-off.
Die-off happens when large amounts of Candida cells die, releasing some of the toxins back into the bloodstream. It’s also important to change the antifungals around, Candida is sneaky and will adapt to them. The best herbal antifungals are:
- Caprylic acid is found in coconut oil. Eat 3-4 tablespoons daily, you can also take a supplement form. If you are suffering from an athlete’s foot or a skin rash rub coconut oil. For oral thrush brush your teeth and tongue using coconut oil. You can also swish coconut oil in your mouth for a few minutes then spit it out in the trash. You don’t want to swallow the coconut oil, it has toxins in it and you don’t want to put that back into your body.
- Pau d’Arco is a powerful antifungal agent which inhibits the growth of Candida. You can drink it as herbal tea or take a supplement, which isn’t as strong. Unfortunately, Pau d’Arco tea is an acquired taste, in other words, it doesn’t taste that great. Not that it’s horrible but I’ve been drinking it for a while and I’m still not a fan. But… it’s worth it for my health.
Stress
Have you ever noticed when you get stressed out you can feel it in your gut? As your body gets stressed it temporarily shuts down the digestive system for that fight-or-flight response. The blood rushes to other parts of the body leaving the gut vulnerable to more damage.
Stress plays a major role in MS, it can be what triggers MS, and it can also create flares. Today our society has stress from every situation. Including work, schedules, money, and family, having MS itself creates stress. Studies have shown that managing stress levels reduces an MS relapse. It was years of chronic stress that worsened my MS and caused my walking ability to get worst.
When stressed our body creates a hormone it increases our blood sugar. Candida feeds off sugar, it doesn’t care where the sugar comes from. When we are chronically stressed there is always a production of cortisol (sugar).
So how do we manage our stressful lives? RELAX! Take deep breaths, meditate, do yoga, or do tai-chi. Go for a walk outdoors (weather permitting), and get good quality sleep.
The 4 R’s of Healing
When living with MS, remember you have the ability to change your lifestyle and work with your body to heal. Your body is amazing and with the proper nutrients it will have the chance to reverse the damage caused by MS. There is no guarantee that this will work, you have to believe in yourself that you will get better.
Next week I will be talking about functional medicine’s second step to healing – Replace. It’s important to eat healing foods to get the most nutrients for your body.
Read Part 1 – Is there a cure for multiple sclerosis?
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Is There a Cure for Multiple Sclerosis? Part 2 – The 4 R’s of Healing
