Multiple Sclerosis Vlog: Can Fasting Help MS?

Good morning ☀️. Oh I am so glad that you shared this information 😊

With PPMS I practice 18/6 TRE on a whole food plant based diet. Once a week I water fast 24 hours and have recently completed a 7day water fast. At 60 years old this has proved to be immensely beneficial. I eat between 12 noon and 6.00PM. No new brain/spine lesions for many years.

I did 4. 5 day water fasts and I have never had another MS attack and it’s been 7 years . I also had Hashimoto’s and it cured it . Fasting saved my life

Is in June of this year. I had been isolated because of the pandemic for 14 months. I too gained a huge amount of weight for the same reasons that you did. My A1C was up to 9.8. I put myself on the healthiest Food intake I could put together. Combined that with the 8 /16 intermittent fasting. Incorporated recumbent bike riding. And 5 bottles of water A-day. In 3 months I dropped my A1C down to 5.4. And in 5 months I lost 45 pounds. I have had MS for 30 years. Was untreated for 27 of those years. I have been coping with secondary progressive for a couple years now. But have to admit by making all these changes. I actually think I feel healthier now than I have in a very long time. I also suffered from chronic obstructive sleep apnea with hypoxi. And I no longer snore I no longer wake up with a dry mouth and unable to breathe properly. So I would have to say that for myself I or myself I believe that intermittent fasting was the best thing to happen to me during my struggle with MS. It was the one thing that made the biggest positive difference for my situation. Thank you for sharing your journey with us.

I’ve followed your lead and started intermittently fasting. I downloaded the free app and am on my 32nd day. I’ve lost 12 pounds and my body looks like I’ve lost more. It is changing. My skin seems to be tighter and I have never drank so much water in my life. That’s a blessing in itself because I was the girl who always (I mean always) had a big cup of Diet Coke in my hand. When I weaned myself off the chemical ridden soda (before fasting) I switched to ginger ale (full natural sugar) thinking I’d dine a great thing. Problem was I was drinking 4-5 bottles of that a day. Not the best idea. So when I started fasting I was forced to drink water. Now I’ve replaced all the sugary drinks and feel so much better. Relative to the MS, my brain fog is diminished and I really feel good. It’s easy and it’s free. I would suggest everyone (MS or not) give it a try. Thanks Dr.B!

Absolutely intermittent fasting along with a Whole Foods mostly plant based diet have helped my symptoms immensely. I now know that if I eat processed salty foods I will have a few days of fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, and swollen restless legs at night. I feel like Intermittent fasting with a few days of eating lots of salads with cucumbers, celery, onions, olives, avocado, olive oil, vinegars, and fish or chicken is a great way to “reset” if I find myself in a rough patch with my eating patterns and MS symptoms. The great thing is that changing lifestyle is a way that we as MS patients can feel a sense of control of our health in the midst of a disease that can feel very controlling at times.

🟪 Thanks for the video, Dr Boster! I’ve been following a fellow YouTuber called “Steve Solves MS” and I took him up on his recommendation to do OMAD (One Meal A Day). He explained that he does it to help limit the inflammation that occurs in our bodies every time we digest food. I’ve been doing it for just over 6 months and I really adapted to it well. I was already on The Wahls Protocol for my RRMS and between the Wahls diet and OMAD I’ve lost 123 lbs since 1-1-2021 and feel great. Rarely do I have any pain or spasticity from my MS. I’m only on LDN (low dose naltrexone - 3 mg daily) and should be starting Kesimpta in a few weeks once my bloodwork comes back.

Can u give us an update please? Thank you for all u do. You fuel my proactive MS self care🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Hey there! I’ve been practicing intermittent fasting for about 3 years now. I am a medically retired nurse due to MS, so I used my medical knowledge to research it. I also do the 16/8 method. When I started, I only needed to lose 15 lbs and lost the weight in about 6 weeks. After I lost my desired weight, I continued to use I.F. To maintain my weight. I try to keep my goal weight (+)or (- )5 lbs. if I notice I’m approaching the upper limit, I go back to it strictly. If my weight gets below my desired weight, I might slack off a little. My point here is Intermittent Fasting is a lifestyle for me and can be easily tweaked to meet my needs. Good luck to you Dr. B, and to all my fellow warriors out there!

Dr. Boster thanks for sharing your struggles with food, lifestyle, and positive changes and their impacts on the body, I love what you share with your audience. 70 lbs lost. Eating only from perimeter of grocery store. My last meal is 4pm I do not eat until next day 8am. Works for me, I am in bed by 7 pm. I do not eat dairy, gluten, processed foods/sugars. Started at 218# at the start of a very mad 😠 😡 MS flare. Feb 1, 2021. Which also sucked away my appetite. By July 1, 2021 I weighed in at 148#. Went to PCP yesterday Dec 6, 2021, I weighed in at tada.....148#. I am maintaining this weight. I feel better and I am 5'9". Went from size 16 pants to a 5/6. I love it, and my body is thanking me!!!!

I do 20:4 and it works really well for me. The added bonus is I only have to think about food, prepare food and clean up afterwards just once a day. It saves so much time and effort :)

Hey Dr Boster, You’re spot on, last year I followed Dr Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 and lost 15 kg (sorry in Australia not sure what that is in pounds). Never felt better. I believe fasting also helps with inflammation and I certainly noticed as I lost weight and gained fitness many of my MS symptoms lessened ☺️. Thanks for sharing. Love your work.

I’ve been doing a version of this for quite a while now, involuntarily. MS has killed my appetite and I pretty much have to make myself eat. I don’t do a formal schedule but I only eat when I’m genuinely hungry and I don’t eat much then. I focus on protein and healthy fats with greens. I’m not a carb nazi but I limit intake. I had gotten up to 296 pounds and felt awful. Now I’m down to 206 and have plateaued but I’m not worried. I seem to plateau about every 25 pounds or so but it’s not something I worry about. My body seems like it needs to equalize every now and then. I’ve got a goal of getting below 200 but that’s not my end goal. I haven’t been below 200 for about 35 years. It’s a good short term goal. I know I’m doing well when I have to buy smaller clothes, lol!

LOVE it that you are here talking about Intermittant Fasting! I've been on a 16/8 lifestyle for about a year, and I'm a fan! A couple times a week I try to go 24 hours fasting but I have not gone much longer. My primary care doc and I were just discussing IF a couple weeks ago, and he made the observation that IF helps control insulin and blood sugars, and maybe that can be a pretty positive thing for me as an MS patient because it helps reduce inflammation overall. I started investigating the subject a bit, and was intrigued by a couple studies on fasting and MS that are in process right now. It gives me some hope that maybe there's more I can do to help myself! Thank you, again for being out here talking to us!

Lost 20 pounds through intermittent fasting. Due to cognitive deficits, I struggle with impulsivity, task management, etc. Things with a high reward are extremely hard for me to gain control over. I liked the idea of trying to create a 6 hour window of eating where I could try and get control over my eating habits. This by default forced me to consume less due to getting full. Previously I would have multiple food periods throughout the day without any knowledge of how much I ate. The timeframe alone started to create discipline. Without understanding the science of what was happening, the weight loss started happening. I didn't know how it affected sugar hormones or glucose. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks Dr. Boster! I have done intermittent fasting and do feel it helps my MS. I feel better, sleep better, and move better! Like you I have gained a few pounds during this pandemic and it is time to lose them. You have inspired me to get back on track with it.

I have been IF-ing for about a year. My goal is 14/10. I am always hungry so 14 hours was quite hard for me at first. I go longer than 14 hours if I can, and I am considering 16/8 as a goal. I am struggling with getting enough nutrition with the small eating window. Overall it is going well and I lost weight. My goal was healing my gut, not weight loss.

Actually fell upon intermittent fasting by accident, just because of my daily routine: After (water and coffee and) chair exercise, mindfulness and other cool stuff on the Jerusalem Senior CitiZoom program, takes me till 1 to shower and eat breakfast anyway. Evening water, coffee and snack of dates and almonds at 5-6, dinner (generally cooked vegetable) about 8-9. Actually lost so much weight that I make sure to smear bread with peanut butter or coconut oil at breakfast, so that the Vitamin D and Omega will "stick". Then a huge salad. As a fringe benefit, this routine even keeps the bowles moving. So no, an occasional fast doesn't hurt us MSers, and I'm just waiting to hear what I'm supposed to do when after all that, my disability progresses despite the Ocravus. 😩 Wishing everyone Chanukah miracles from Jerusalem! 💦 ☕ 🧘‍♂️ 🛁🥣 🥗 🥥 🥜 🌴 💊 🚽🤫🕎🙏

Way to go Dr. B . Thanks for sharing.

I am grateful to Dr. Gretchen for introducing you to my world of multiple sclerosis. I've had m.s. since 18 yo., am now 61. Over the pandemic I have gained 20 lbs. Years ago I did fast but must not have been doing it correctly. I may try again. Thanks for the update. P.S. love your channel and all of the information you share.