Elizabeth Yarnell, Author, Innovator, Naturopath, Speaker
Amazon icon Audible icon Autographed icon Book Bub icon Booksprout icon Buy Me a Coffee icon Email icon Facebook icon Goodreads icon Instagram icon Mastodon icon Patreon icon Periscope icon Pinterest icon RSS icon Search icon Snapchat icon TikTok icon Tumblr icon Twitter icon Vine icon Youtube icon LinkedIn icon

Tag: Multiple Sclerosis

Vitamin D, Multiple Sclerosis, and Walk MS promo video

MidChix, a wonderful new online community of women between 40 and 60, has just posted one of my articles on Vitamin D and its role in Multiple Sclerosis.

You might already know that vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and teeth, but did you realize that it plays a role in maintaining a healthy immune system, too?

A connection between Multiple Sclerosis and vitamin D deficiency has been studied for decades. Low blood levels of vitamin D are common among the MS population, and according to recent reports, as many as 80 percent of people with MS don’t get enough of it in their diets.  In fact, current research findings suggest that vitamin D may positively influence the immune systems of patients with MS…

(read the rest of the article on Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis here.)

It’s perfect timing for this article as May is the month for many of the annual Walk MS events to raise funds and awareness for multiple sclerosis. This year, the Colorado Chapter of the National MS Society has invited me to host the “Land of Nutrition” at the MS Walks in Denver (May 1), Colorado Springs (May 8), and Boulder (May 15).

As a nutrition expert living with multiple sclerosis, I believe that what you eat plays a role in how you feel, and that your diet affects your health. Changing the course of your health and, at the very least, the severity of your symptoms may be as simple as changing your menu.

Hear me talk more about the National MS Society’s Colorado Walk MS events!

The forecast for the Denver Walk this Saturday (May 1st, 2010) may call for snow (!) so dress warmly and enjoy the coffee and hot chocolate offered around City Park for participants. Take refuge under the Wellness Tent with me, pick up or order an autographed cookbook, and join the discussion on healthy eating!

Hope to see you there!

Physical Activity a Key to Later Health

Those who are physically active in their 50s and 60s are more likely to avoid chronic diseases and premature death, according to a study out of the Harvard School of Public Health.

The Nurses Health Study
The Nurses Health Study

Analyzing data from 13,535 female participants in the Nurses’ Health Study, researchers correlated reports of physical activity at the average age of 60 years with successful survival into the 70s. Successful survival was defined as “no history of ten major chronic diseases, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery and no cognitive impairment physical impairment, or mental health limitations.”

The correlation was considered strong enough to provide “evidence that higher levels of midlife physical activity are associated with exceptional health status among women who survive to older ages and corroborate the potential role of physical activity in improving overall health.”

Incorporate mental activity to your workout, adds neurologist Tim Vollmer, Co-Director of the Rocky Mountain MS Center Clinic, and keep your brain healthy along with your body.

Although repetitive actions like running are great for your cardiovascular system, coordinated arm leg movements like you find in yoga, pilates, dance, tennis, or my favorite, Jazzercise, can help keep all synapses firing.

Of course, you don’t need to wait until you hit midlife to get the benefits from regular physical and mental activity. The research shows that the old motto “Use it, or lose it!” has been proven to be true.

Vitamin D: The wonder drug?

What can reduce rates of cancer, diabetes, and auto-immune diseases like multiple sclerosis? If you’ve been following the news lately, you might be giving a resounding cheer for Vitamin D.

Dr. Oz, Oprah’s favorite physician, sounds off in support of this vital nutrient, though he’s not the only one to be on the Vitamin D bandwagon lately. While I knew that vitamin D played a big role in multiple sclerosis by controlling inflammation, I had no idea of its cancer-protecting role. Here’s what Dr. Oz says about vitamin D and cancer:

It cuts your risk of breast and colon cancer.
Many cells love to multiply faster than rabbits in the arugula patch. But out-of-control cell growth can lead to cancer. Enter vitamin D. It keeps a lid on the rate that cells reproduce, and it turns on your DNA spell checker, called the P53 gene. This gene checks your DNA for typos and kills cells—like cancer cells—that have errors. Experts now believe this is why women who live in sunny climates, and thus have plenty of D (your body makes it when sunlight hits your skin), are less likely to develop breast cancer. D has also been linked to lower chances of developing ovarian and lung cancers and better odds of beating colon cancer. Recent research found that colon cancer patients with the highest D levels are the most likely to survive.

My favorite way to get vitamin D is to expose my skin to the sun (can you say “beach”?!). Sun worshippers like myself have been thwarting our body’s vitamin D production for decades since the sunscreen movement has done such a good job of convincing everyone to slather up at all times. Now, Dr. Oz tells us, we’re learning that while the sunscreen might be protecting us from melanomas it’s leaving us vulnerable for a host of other problems.

Living in a land-locked state keeps me off the sand much of the year, but I still try to get at least my arms and face exposed to the sun for at least 5 minutes at least 5 times/week, when possible. Luckily, the mile-high city where I live sees more than 300 days of brilliant sunshine each year, and even when the ground is covered with snow the sun can be shining brightly and warmly.

For those looking to supplement, be sure to choose D3 (cholecalciferol ), the active ingredient in vitamin D, and not the synthetic form of vitamin D sold more cheaply. Here are Dr. Oz’s vitamin D supplement recommendations:

Aim for 1,000 International Units (IU) daily; 1,200 IU if you’re over 60—though check your multivitamin, which probably has around 400 IU of D, so you don’t overdo. Limit your daily dose to a max of 2,000 IU.

Breastfeeding May Prevent Multiple Sclerosis Relapse

We know breastfeeding is good for babies, but did you know that it could help control multiple sclerosis, too? A new study found that half of the new mothers with MS in the study saw a decrease in relapses when breastfeeding.

We already knew that the odds of having an MS exacerbation were low during pregnancy, but this is the first study to assert that the protection lasts during the breasfeeding stage. The 3-6 months post-partum period have traditionally been a time of increased risk for MS activity, and the study confirmed that 87% of those who did not breastfeed did indeed have a relapse.

It makes me think about my own post-partum experiences. With my first one I never made very much milk and by the time he was 6 months old he preferred a bottle to the breast hands-down.

With the second one, I got smarter. Immediately after the birth I began taking Motherlove More Milk Plus Alcohol Free drops with fenugreek herb to increase my milk production, and within days I had so much that it was spraying out of my nipples at the sound of her cries. Unlike her brother, she insisted on nursing until 22 months, when I was so over it that I was desperate to wean. If she had her way, I’m sure she’d still be nursing at 4!

I always thought I was just “lucky” to have come through two births without any MS indications, but now I wonder if it was the breastfeeding that protected me. In the study, most of the women who chose not to breastfeed did so in order to re-start their injectable MS therapies sooner.

I did a lot of research into this when I was pregnant. What I found was that the MS therapy I was on at the time, Copaxone, dissolved into basic amino acids when it hit the bloodstream, so there was not any intact medication available to come through the breast milk to the baby. Additionally, the molecular weight of Copaxone as it was injected was too large to be excreted through breast milk.

With this knowledge in hand, I felt comfortable re-starting Copaxone treatments as soon as my milk came in, after the colostrum period, and continuing treatment while nursing, which I did. I do not think this would have been wise to do had I been on an interferon-based therapy such as Betaseron or Avonex, and I’m certain I, too, would have been counseled not to breast feed had that been the case.

So, now we see that breastfeeding is better protection for a new mother with MS than any of the chemical therapies. It makes total sense to me because the human body is a wonderous mechanism with the number one goal of survival and self-preservation.

Kicking a Head Cold with Natural Remedies

A 40-hour anatomy of a head cold (or how to kick a head cold in 40 hours):

Wednesday, 3:30pm Walking down the block to meet the school bus I notice that my head feels rather full in the sinus area. Uh-oh, I think. I race home and take 4 homeopathic Aconite after a Sinus Rinse. Aconite can often stave off a viral infection, especially if taken at first sign.

Wednesday, 6:30pm The aconite must not be the right remedy and I’m feeling lousier by the minute. My nose is both stuffed and runny, I’m tired and ready for bed. But first, I brew some Throat Coat tea along with 3 chopped cloves of fresh garlic and the juice from 1/2 a lemon I found in the fridge (have you heard about garlic tea? Very potent.). I let it all steep for 15 minutes, then top it off with a teaspoon full of local honey. While my throat is not sore yet, my lymph nodes feel swollen and I think all the herbs in there that provide respiratory support will be helpful. Most importantly, it doesn’t contain echinecea, which I want to avoid since I have multiple sclerosis. While I wait I do another Sinus Rinse.

Wednesday, 8:30pm I steal the humidifier from one of the kid’s rooms and set it up near my bed. I feel like a Pink Floyd song, “My head swells up just like a balloon…”, but I am so far from being “comfortably numb” that I toss and turn all night. My sinuses are full and the pressure is very uncomfortable. I take some homeopathic Hepar Sulph, which is good for colds with thick mucous and homeopathic ColdCalm to try to relieve some of the symptoms and make me more comfortable. Another Sinus Rinse, a round of Sinusin homeopathic nasal spray, and I head to bed.

Thursday 7:00am I get the kids up and on the bus and off in the carpool and head directly back to bed with large glasses of orange juice, chamomile tea, and water. I switch to homeopathic Natrum Mur, a remedy helpful for relieving blockages like the one behind my eyes, crank up the humidifier, stack my pillows to keep my head elevated, and sleep on and off all day until I have to pick up a kid after Spanish at 4:15pm. (As a working mom, getting to spend a whole day sick in bed with no one needing anything from me was a treat, even though I wasn’t feeling well!) Of course, there were several Sinus Rinses in there, too, followed by squirts of Sinusin.

Thursday 9:00pm Back in bed with mint tea with honey. This time, the night passes restfully.

Friday 6:00am I awake with an empty head and breathe a sigh of relief. With a shower I feel close to human again, with energy to tackle the day. Sure, my nose still needs to be blown regularly, but the pressure is gone and what’s left won’t hold me back. I corral three 4-year olds for a preschool field trip to see the Junior Symphony Guild’s Tiny Tots program, navigate downtown streets to fight an unjust parking ticket, and run errands the rest of the day.

While I’m not 100% better 40 hours after onset of the head cold, I’m back to being a functional human being in record time with the help of homeopathy, herbs, warm mist, and rest. I was pretty impressed with this as my neighbor got the same head cold a few days earlier but was sick and miserable for a week.

Check out my Book!

Glorious One-Pot Meals

Buy It Now! »

Effortless Topics

Recent Posts