I just returned from speaking about diet and nutrition at the 5th Annual Patient Day at the Guthy-Jackson Charitable Foundation’s conference on NMO. Again, it was inspiring for me to meet and connect with the brave folks battling this rare autoimmune disease.
Us autoimmune disorders have to stick together! In fact, many with NMO were originally misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis before having NMO confirmed by an NMO antibody test. Since MS pharmaceutical therapies can actually harm those with NMO, it is worthwhile for those with questions to get the IgG blood test and find out for sure.
One of the common symptoms of NMO, along with optic neuritis; weakness, numbness or partial paralysis of limbs; or shooting or tingling pain in neck, back, or abdomen, is bowel and digestive tract distress.
If there’s any group of sufferers that is in dire need of dietary guidance, this is it!
My sessions focused on cleaning up your diet by avoiding toxins and contaminants in our food supply, including The Scary Seven and GMOs, and generalized advice on adopting an anti-inflammatory diet.
Any issue that has inflammation at the root will benefit from an anti-inflammatory diet. Think about it: if you are inflamed –either internally or visibly– and you remove the stimuli that are found to cause you inflammation, then you will become less inflamed and will feel better.
Of course, the best anti-inflammatory diet is one that is custom-designed for your body using state-of-the-art scientific analysis of your blood (MRT) and urine (enzyme urinalysis). That’s what I do in my therapeutic dietary clinic with my clients all over the country.
I look forward to working with many more NMO patients in the future and helping them sort out the best anti-inflammatory diet approach for them.
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Hello mam,
I’m neha from india, my mother(47 years old) has nmo,, since 2014 september. She is not able to eat & swallow food.she only take food through RT TUBE, and she is also Tracheostomised , slowly she is loosing the eye vision, not able to walk…. She always get infected by pneumonia in 2-3 times in a year. Actually doctors recommend us good diet for her…
Please help me in this and recommend a good diet for my mother…… I am waiting for your reply.. Pls and u can send diet details on my email…..
Hi Neha,
I’m so sorry to hear about your mother’s decline. The best advice I can offer you is to stick to clean, whole foods. I would avoid anything with additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colors, and fragrances. This includes self-care and cleaning products.
I wish her all the best,
Elizabeth
Hello Madam
I am Shrestha Das from India .I am 28 years old and suffering from relapsing remitting Neuromyelitis Optica since november 2010.I had total of five attacks and last attack was on October 2013. I am a patient of Hypothyoridism since 2007 and i have vit D deficiency and osteoporosis since 2011.I have persistent numbness and tingling on many parts of my body.I am also under weight (36 kg) and my blood counts are low .Please tell me what diet should I follow.Please reply me on my email id
Thank you
My name is anastacia cordero Im from aurora Illinois,I was diagnosed with NMO last month. My life has changed completely,I was paralyzed from the waist down. I would like to know if you have any other information about this disease, or what would you recommend for a diet cause I’ve been loosing my appetite due to my condition ,I’ll be waiting for your answer, thank you very much.
Hi Anastacia- Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I’d be happy to offer you a free initial phone consultation and tell you all I know about NMO and diet. Please email me directly using the Contact page on this site to schedule.
Anastasia- My son has active NMO and has been accepted into a clinical stem cell transplant study at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. We are in Chicago now for the harvesting of his stem cells. The transplant is next month. We are very hopeful for good results. Check out this link! I hope you see my reply soon! Praying for you. This trial has given mant patients with autoimmune diseases a chance at a better life.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00787722?term=NMO+%2B+burt&rank=1
Hello Jill. How has your son gone with the stem cell trial. Thanks Paula
hi mem…my name is sarita.i m from India.My 21years old sister suffering from nmo from last 5 months.plz tell me diet plan for her.plz send me mail on my mail ID.
Hey
I am an NMO sufferer in the UK and have been living with NMO now for nearly 9 years.
I am really interested in customized anti-inflammatory diet for using the MRT test the LEAP and would like to know how I am able to do this in the UK or who I may need to speak too.
I am quite health conscious already and have tried many different things over the years, so this would be another great thing to try and see if it works for me.
Thank you so much for your help in advance
Belle
Hi Belle! In theory, you should be able to get the MRT done in the UK, but in reality I have not been successful in making it happen for several reasons. 1. Because of the UK healthcare system, getting a blood draw for an out-of-network test is almost impossible. If you know a phlebotomist who can do that for your, that would be one hurdle down. 2. The blood sample has to be delivered via overnight courier to the lab in Poland. 3. You have to work with the lab in Poland to arrange for payment and processing, which is a challenge in and of itself. It’s actually easier to achieve if you happen to visit the US and get the blood draw then. If you want to try to go down this path, send me an email through the contact link on this website and we can begin looking into the possibility.
Hi Amenah, my daughter was diagnosed with NMO in August this year. She has also Ceoliac disease too and diet is super important for her. She has lost sight in one eye and gotten through 3 other episodes this year.
Forgot to mention, she’s only 7 yrs old.
Hi. It pains me to hear about kids who get NMO so young – my heart goes out to both of you. You must be very concerned at how rapidly she is progressing (4 episodes so far this year! That’s crazy fast, even for NMO).
I’m glad to hear you both are aware of the importance of diet in managing autoimmune issues, and I encourage you to take it a step further and consider a customized anti-inflammatory diet for her using the MRT test the LEAP dietary protocol as a roadmap to follow.
I’d be happy to connect you with other NMO patients who have used this approach with good results for keeping symptoms at bay and staying in remission. Here’s what another NMO sufferer has to say about this approach here: http://elizabethyarnell.com/effortlesseating/2014/05/nmo-diaries-a-fight-ms-with-food-case-study/
And please, please feel free to email me directly at any time through the Contact link on this site and I’d be happy to offer you a free initial phone consultation to tell you everything I’ve been learning about the connection between NMO and diet.
I look forward to hearing from you and from anyone else interested in discussing it further. We all have to eat… we might as well be eating the right foods to enable our bodies to function well. The MRT takes the guesswork out of the process.
Hi,I just want to tell you that you are such an inspiration! We are wahcnitg Masterchef in Sweden right now and it is wonderful to see you cook. I hope everything is going well for you in the future and thank you for showing that everything is possible!!! Lots of hugs from Sweden
Hello mam iam nagarajan from india I have nmo since last 5 years I have vision problem and numbness do I have to follow any particular diet for this please gide me mam thank you waiting for ur reply.
Hi Nagarajan,
While the right diet for each person is as unique as a fingerprint and I use sophisticated MRT testing to know exactly what is right, you can help yourself by eliminating wheat and cow’s milk dairy products as well as everything artificial and synthetic from your diet. See this post: http://elizabethyarnell.com/effortlesseating/2013/06/our-toxic-world-and-our-own-toxic-threshold/
I also find that my NMO clients need an herbal parasite cleanse, too.
Are the MRT and enzyme urinalysis tests expensive? And would I just have to see a dietician about them? I have NMO and have had bowels issues for as long as I can remember….and I’m only 35. I just fear that if I don’t get on top of this that I’ll be in big trouble later in life. I am also without health insurance.
I need help planning an anti inflammatory diet. I was diagnosed with NMO.
Hi Amenah. That’s what I’m here for. I sent you a direct email reply, but you can always reach me through the contact form at http://www.elizabethyarnell.com.