I recently finished The Wahls Protocol, a diet and lifestyle book for treating autoimmune conditions. The author, Dr. Terry Wahls, was able to go from a state of progressive multiple sclerosis to a state of significant remission (enabling her to resume physical activity and bicycle many miles). I definitely appreciate that she is a medical doctor (M.D.) and that she embraces alternative approaches to treating disease.
The book presents variations of a “Wahls” diet, giving readers three levels of commitment. The diet has some of the elements of a Paleo lifestyle, including reducing carbohydrates and increasing fruit/vegetable consumption, discarding dairy, discarding gluten, and increasing organic meats and wild-raised fish. But this is only touching the surface: there are definite differences at each level of the diet. And there are also lifestyle suggestions such as proper exercise, detoxification, stress management, and vitamin supplements.
I really appreciated this book for a host of reasons: I like that the author is a doctor of medicine but also a doctor embracing alternative remedies, there are three levels of diet alterations to chose from, there are supplementary lifestyle alterations, and there are scientific explanations for why these changes are good. I do feel that I might incorporate some of the basic diet changes into my own regimen: getting more greens/veggies, cutting down on dairy and gluten, and increasing organic meats/wild fish.
I definitely think this book is worth a read, whether you have an autoimmune condition or you just want to become more healthy in general.
