Minding your mitochondria | Dr. Terry Wahls | TEDxIowaCity
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters point to it as a moving personal story that motivated dietary changes, though it is also cited as anecdotal evidence.
What it is
Dr. Terry Wahls tells how she used diet to manage her multiple sclerosis and get out of a wheelchair, drawing on mitochondrial biology. TED flagged the talk as health advice based on personal narrative.
Recommended by 7 HN commenters across 7 different months, 2011 to 2022.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec hvass · 2011-12 · on “Over 40% of cancers due to lifestyle, says review”
Related to this topic I think you might find Dr. Terry Wahls' story fascinating, she pretty much 'cured' herself from Multiple Sclerosis by adopting a 'paleo' diet. She presented her findings at the 2011 Neuroscience conference ("Effects of intensive directed nutrition, progressive exercise program and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (PDF)[1]") She also had a TED talk[2] taking us through the process of getting out of her wheelchair and the specific food she ate. I know this immediately turns on your B.S. sensors, but she changed her lifestyle after spending hours on Pubmed doing research on nutrition's impact on the brain and specifically the
Strong rec abdophoto · 2014-02 · on “Depression is an inflammatory disease; where does inflammation come from? [pdf]”
Less than 2 years ago, my wife was diagnosed with MS (Multiple sclerosis). As soon as we found out, I started digging like crazy to learn more about why this happened and what we could do to prevent it from progressing. I'm a big believer in that the body has the ability to heal itself by avoiding certain foods and intaking others. I mean, food is fuel we put in our body. After digging for a while, I came upon some staggering discoveries. First, there are people who have reversed their MS almost completely on diet alone. The diets consist of A LOT of high-nutrition fruits and vegetables along with Omega 3's, organic meats, etc. These Paleo-like diets also forbid gluten with the main reason b
Recommends adammichaelc · 2012-03 · on “Algorithm Finds Thousands of Unknown Drug Interaction Side Effects”
Just one anecdote on that point. I'm pre-med and I recently shadowed the director of cardiac research (a cardiac surgeon) at the big hospital/medical school in this area. He was asked point-blank by a patient, "I've been reading that with diet and exercise I might be able to reverse my heart disease. What do you think?" The doctor's answer was, "Absolutely not." This is one data point, so it's hardly conclusive, but coming from a doctor who (a) teaches doctors and therefore plants seeds for the next generation and (b) should be an expert on new medical treatments with his position as the director of research, it's troubling. Meanwhile, there is a growing minority of doctors who take patients
Recommends specialist · 2012-12 · on “Ask HN: tips for fueling your brain each day?”
I've been transitioning to the troglodiet (tm): fresh veggies, legumes, meat. More or less the caveman diet, Atkins, paleo, Eat to Live, etc. This Dr Terry Wahls TEDx talk has been very motivating. Minding Your Mitochondria [this video] Dr. Wahls is mitigating her MS thru nutrition. For me, eating lots of vegetables makes my chronic psoriasis go away. When I slack on the nutrition (eg traveling), my psoriasis comes back. I believe, but cannot prove, that psoriasis is basically external arthritis. I figure better nutrition is improving my health overall, including brain function. One side effect I did not expect: I now crave hearty kale salads. Years ago I had a gf who was really gunghu for kale,
Recommends BadCookie · 2015-06 · on “Researchers Find Missing Link Between the Brain and Immune System”
I risk getting downvoted for this, but have you tried any dietary changes? There are cases of people with MS who have seen tremendous improvement on a low histamine or paleo style diet. There are no guarantees, of course, but what do you have to lose? I would think it would be worth the inconvenience of trying it out for a few months even if the odds of success are very small. Here's an example: [this video]
Recommends bellwether · 2020-01 · on “Ask HN: How can I improve my immune system?”
My wife has an auto immune disease and we have both switched (through progressive stages) to the Wahl's Protocol. I've never felt healthier and her symptoms are improving--she's also on disease modifying treatment, so we're doing this in addition to medication, not instead of it. The Wahl's Protocol is designed for cell and brain health, so it may be exactly what you're looking for. See Dr. Terry Wahl's Ted Talk here: [this video]
Recommends wtetzner · 2022-01 · on “Multiple Sclerosis Causality”
An interesting talk about someone who was able to reverse a lot of her MS symptoms with a change in diet: [this video]
Cites mekoka · 2013-03 · on ““Paleofantasy”: Stone Age delusions”
I can agree with him on that specific point, but beyond that there's the issue of people he calls pseudo-scientists (who are actual scientists that do actual academic research on the topic), that are linking degenerative diseases and grain consumption. [LINK] . That and the accompanying evidence on actual people [this video] .