The Wahls Paleo Diet is the diet that turned me around in less than a year. This eating plan has kept me in complete remission from Lyme Disease and co-infections since November 2014. I also treated the Lyme Disease with Stephen Buhner’s Herbal Protocol and had completed an extensive parasite cleanse. My parasite recipe can be found here. You can read about everything else that I did to recover my health here.
My health was terrible when I started the diet. I had been chronically ill for over 20 years and given a CFS/Fibro diagnosis and finally Lyme Disease. I was completely disabled, housebound, overweight, hypothyroid, weak, exhausted, anemic, had debilitating pain, chronic migraines, and horrible digestive issues. I had been eating a protein and fat heavy Paleo Diet with very minimal improvements. Just prior I was a raw foodist, near vegan for over 3 years. Hair tissue mineral analysis revealed many mineral deficiencies, which is not unusual for anyone with chronic infections. My digestion was terrible and I could only eat about 5 foods. I had to go on a cooked food diet for the first 6 months. My stomach burned just from drinking water.
I was looking for a diet that would provide me with all of the recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals – a diet that would heal my gut so that I could rebuild my immune system. I wanted every single bite of food to be packed with healing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and essential fatty acids. A diet that would heal my broken biochemistry. I already knew that real food was powerful medicine.
I became instantly drawn to the work of Dr. Terry Wahls, whose nutritional research led her to develop a diet to treat her own secondary progressive Multiple Sclerosis. The disease had left her confined to a tilt recline wheelchair for four years. She had tried many of the conventional drugs for MS available at the time with little success. As a physician-scientist, she created the diet and lifestyle which brought her out of her wheelchair and able to bike 18 miles within 9 months. The Wahls approach of eating the most nutrient-dense real food made sense to me, and I purchased her book “The Wahls Protocol”. Watch Dr. Wahls’ Ted Talk, Minding Your Mitochondria! It is fantastic!
Since I was already eating Paleo (with many dairy “cheats”), the transition wasn’t that difficult. This is a basic outline of what I would be eating each day:
- 3 cups of dark green vegetables – romaine is my preference
- 3 cups intensely colored vegetables: 1 cup red vegetables/fruit, 1 cup blue-black vegetables/fruit, 1 cup yellow/orange vegetables/fruit
- 3 cups of sulfur-rich vegetables: Mushrooms, onions, shallots, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and bok choy
- Seaweed for iodine and trace minerals- I take 6 kelp tablets per day.
- Omega 3 rich foods – Wild fish and seafood, cod liver oil
- Eat organ meats (offal) once per week. (We eat beef liver covered in onions once per week).
- Regular bone broth – We were already making a slow simmer 48-hour beef broth. My new favorite broth is made from chicken feet for lots of collagen.
- Fermented foods or a probiotic – sauerkraut and beet kvass.
So how was I going to eat 9 cups of fruit and vegetables each day? The addition of a green smoothie every single morning would boost my fruit and vegetable intake easily.
Note- Dr. Wahls suggests eliminating eggs for a 30 day period and then re-introducing them if there is no reaction. I stopped eating eggs for about 2 months and added them back without any negative symptoms. I continue to eat pastured eggs almost every day.
My Typical Day
Breakfast/Lunch – 11 am – This first meal is usually one of the following:
1/Super healthy Green Smoothie. In addition, I often have 3 boiled eggs on the side.
2/ Real Food Rebel Soup for Chronic Illness.
3/ Large Salad– A large salad with lots of different greens, carrots, purple cabbage, cucumbers, olives, onions, peppers, slivered beets, jicama, boiled eggs or leftover meat. I top this off with my Easy Salad Dressing Recipe.
Dinner – 5 pm – This is usually a completely cooked meal of grass-fed meat, organic free-range chicken, or wild-caught fish along with lots of cooked sulfur-rich vegetables. I love cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts. If these are steamed I cover them in butter.
Intermittent Fasting – This eating/fasting schedule is what comes most naturally to me now. I really try not to eat anything in between these meals. I have the most energy and clarity when I stick to this schedule.
Additional supplements that I take with meals – Betaine HCl, digestive enzymes, magnesium, whole food multi-mineral/vitamin, kelp tablets, cod liver oil, desiccated liver pills when I travel, copper or manganese (according to hair tissue results) and moringa in my smoothies.
Within one month of integrating the green smoothies into this diet I began feeling better; I was warmer, less fatigued and my head was clearer. I was hooked! I have never measured out my food but eat until satisfied and try to fulfill many of Dr. Wahls’ dietary suggestions.
Within 6 months I was able to walk five miles, swim daily, begin resistance training, and lost over 20 lbs. Constipation, intestinal pain and chronic infections are no longer a problem.
This is my very first hair analysis from December 2011. I was housebound at this time and extremely sick. My mineral levels were almost nonexistent. I was a near vegan and raw foodist from 2009 – 2012.
The results of my hair tissue mineral analysis were much improved after one year on this diet. If you click on the test it will enlarge. The levels on the bottom show the results from Sept/2014. The upper value shows the most current levels taken Aug/2015. You can see how several minerals have improved in only 11 months. My mineral levels are now within the acceptable range.
Here is my most recent hair test from August 28, 2019
Although this test is good it might have been a little different had I not backpacked for a month in Peru. I completed the 4 day Inca Trail and climbed Rainbow Mountain. Physically challenging to say the least and my adrenals were screaming for weeks afterward. I’m sure I burned through a lot of minerals. Currently, I am working on boosting levels and trying to get manganese a bit higher. My thyroid function has improved and body temperature is normal since incorporating this way of eating. My hair, skin and nails have greatly improved. My last blood results showed an excellent red blood cell count and ferritin levels. Prior to this, I had struggled with anemia my entire life.
Initially, I went from 165 lbs to 115 lbs. The second picture was taken in 2015. My weight stays steady now between 120 and 125lbs. This weight is a good one for me at 5’4″.
Today!
There is no doubt that I am now enjoying the best health and shape of my entire life. I have had 5 years of amazing health. At age 57 I hike, swim, bike, carry all of my groceries home by hand and lift weights. In 3 weeks I will be climbing volcanoes in Guatemala. I am so grateful to Dr. Wahls, for sharing this diet with us! It is exciting to heal and regain my health using nutrient-dense real food and other natural therapies. I love eating this way and hope to for the rest of my life. Go ahead and give this a try! You have nothing to lose except for some extra pounds, toxins and illness!
My passion lies in helping others with similar health issues. If you would like a little extra help, I offer nutritional therapy consultations and hair tissue mineral analysis for a fee. Please go to this page for a list of my rates and to book an appointment for health coaching.
Blessings and Best of Health!
Brenda♥
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