We live in the information age, and knowledge can be incredibly empowering.

When it comes to our health and well being, we can look up adverse effects of drugs we may have been prescribed. We can read about foods that are beneficial to us, and those that aren’t.

The United States is facing a chronic illness epidemic. It is estimated that 45% of the population has at least one chronic disease. The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation estimates that more than 400,000 people in the United States and about 2.5 million people around the world have MS. About 200 new cases are diagnosed each week in the United States alone.

That is a worrisome trend, but the good news is, that more people now know that to remain healthy, one has to eat healthy. Drugs are not the only quick fix solution.

What is it that makes us fall ill, or chronically ill, in the first place?

We are either nutritionally deficient, or have accumulated toxins.

Nutritional deficiency can be a result of inadequate intake of food, poor food choices, poor absorption (perhaps due to excessive alcohol consumption, IBS, celiac disease), increased losses (renal disease is an example), altered metabolism (such as due to environmental pollution, drugs, smoking.)

Toxins accumulate in the body as a result of stress, consuming too much acidic food, such as sugar, white flour, caffeine or alcohol. External toxins enter the body through food, water and air. Toxins can also be created by the presence of harmful bacteria and yeast.

Toxins in the body can lead to various neurological disorders and heavy metal toxicity. In order to ward off these problems, it is essential to detoxify the body of chemicals.

Prescription medicine or over the counter medicine has long been an answer for ailments ranging from headaches to complicated disorders like Multiple Sclerosis. Did you know that prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death in America? Half of all American adults take prescription drugs daily. Almost every drug is harmful in some way, and when you take more than three drugs, no one in the world understands what is going on in your body. It throws your body into biochemical chaos, and chaos is the essence of disease.

Given the complexity of human biochemistry, it is not possible to do only one thing. Whenever you do one thing, you do many other things. While a desired good thing may happen, numerous other biochemical reactions are pushed in unfavorable directions. And these are sold to us as ‘side effects’.

Often times, being on drugs makes us sicker. The drugs itself may have not been tested properly before being brought to the market. An anti-inflammatory Vioxx, was removed in 2004 after having caused over 140,000 deaths in the U.S. alone plus millions of injuries.

Disease is a more than two trillion dollar-a-year industry and is growing rapidly. There is a lot of money at stake, and helping people get well rather than treating their symptoms, threatens this huge and very profitable industry. Cancer alone is a billion dollar-a-day industry.

Fortunately, there is a solution. And it is simple. Feed the deficiency, remove the toxins.

A non profit organisation called Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis has been researching the effects of diet and lifestyle alteration on the progression of MS in patients. It carries on the research conducted by Dr. Roy Swank where he followed 144 MS patients over a span of 34 years. Dr.Swank took inspiration from out pre industrial roots; when we ate the fruits of our own soil, when meat was a luxury – before food was distilled into a list of nutrients and ingredients.

A whole foods, plant based diet with sea food, minimal in saturated fat has been found to significantly diminish disease progression. The Overcoming MS Recovery Program is based on the pillars of diet, exercise, stress management, sunlight, vitamin D and omega-3 supplementation, and, when needed, medication.

The founder of the OMS program Professor George Jelinek himself, has been relapse free for over 15 years.

The OMS team is touring the United States this Fall. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn about how to best manage MS, as close to naturally as possible.  Their one day workshops are going to outline everything you need to know about starting the lifestyle-based OMS Recovery Program and gain a much greater understanding of those factors that can prevent disease progression.

The one day workshops are taking place in LA, New York and Boston. A link to each of these events is below:

Los Angeles October 30^th, 2016

New York November 5^th, 2016

Boston November 6^th, 2016

This event is for you if you:

• Have been diagnosed with MS and need to get some insight into the condition and what you might be able to do to support your own health and your potential for recovery
• Are already following the OMS Recovery Program, but want to learn more
• Would like to meet other people with MS who are following the OMS Recovery Program
• Are newly diagnosed and want a warm introduction to the OMS Recovery Program
• Want to maximize healing and wellbeing, increasing awareness of lifestyle modification and self-help techniques

This event will be beneficial to everyone diagnosed with MS including their partners, family and other supporters.

I have adopted the diet and lifestyle changes myself, and am close to celebrating one year being relapse free.

I urge you to empower yourself and take a dynamic approach to being well!

In the words of Dr. Roy Swank, “A lifestyle change will have to take place, which may be a challenge for you, but the challenges of living with a disability are much greater.”