019 Dr. Terry Wahls – The Wahls Protocol

Dr. Terry Wahls, an internal medicine doctor, has an amazing story of how through using food as medicine she was able to reverse the effects of multiple sclerosis and turn herself around from being in a wheelchair to cycling around the block. We talk about the role of food, supplements, functional medicine in the Wahls protocol. This is an inspiring and true story and Dr. Terry Wahls as she herself is living proof of food as medicine.
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Dr. Ron Ehrlich:                   Hello, and welcome to Unstress. I'm Doctor Ron Ehrlich. Now, if you've been following the podcast, in fact, if you just read the name, you'll know it's all about the various stressors in our modern world, and most importantly, what you can do about it. In order to solve a problem, you've got to know what that problem is.
Now, you may have heard the expression in health that our genes load the gun, and lifestyle pulls the trigger, but what do we mean by that? Well, the stress model that I've used professionally and personally for over 35 years says that anything that can compromise our health is a stress, and so I think it's useful to look at the stressors in your life, in terms of either nutritional, emotional, environmental, postural, and dental stressors, and see which of those are impacting in your life, and on your health.

Now, the subject of autoimmune conditions is a big one. There are over 80 autoimmune conditions. I mean, this is the body attacking itself because of various stressors, and your genes will determine how that manifests itself.

For example, if it's your thyroid, you'll have an underactive or an overactive thyroid, Hashimoto's or Graves disease, it's called. Very common, and rising. If it's your joints, you may have rheumatoid arthritis. If it's your skin, you may have psoriasis. If your genetic predisposition is your nerves, it could be Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis.

My guest today has an incredible story to share, and some important lessons for us all, whether you've got an autoimmune condition or not. Doctor Terry Wahls is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa, where she has taught, seen patients, and also conducts clinical trials. Now, importantly, she's also a patient, diagnosed over 18 years ago with an advanced form of multiple sclerosis, which got to the point where she was actually confined to a wheelchair for four years.

Being a clinical professor, she did just as you would expect, following the best that modern medicine had to offer, which, as it turned out, didn't work out too well. And then she did just what you would expect her not to do, and it worked out brilliantly. We're obviously going to be talking about that today.

Terry has written some fabulous books. She has a YouTube clip which has been viewed by over two million people, and in May 2018, she's coming out to Australia. I'm really looking forward to meeting her in person. I've been following her story for many years, and it's been such a treat to finally talk with her. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Doctor Terry Wahls.

Welcome to the show, Terry.

Dr. Terry Wahls:                  Hey, thank you for having me.

Dr. Ron Ehrlich:                   Terry, very excited about you coming to Australia, and I've been following your story since you published your book, and I think that was in around 2011, was that right?

Dr. Terry Wahls:                  My very first book, "Minding My Mitochondria," came out in 2010. Then my next book came out in 2014. Then my cookbook came out in 2017.

Dr. Ron Ehrlich:                   Wow. Okay, okay. But "The Wahls Protocol" was the one that I was really taken with. Now, tell us. This is such an incredible story for so many reasons, not the least of which is your own medical background. And so, you've got some really interesting perspectives on this, so can you just share with our listeners a little bit about your story?

Dr.