Customer Reviews

The MS Recovery Diet

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The Art of Getting Well: Maximizing Health and Well-being When You Have a Chronic Illness

I was excited when I saw the strong customer reviews for Ann Sawyer's book, but disappointed to actually read it. (Judith Bachrach is also listed as author, but it seems to come mostly from Sawyer.) Her claim is that finding the right diet can resolve nearly all MS symptoms, but she doesn't tell you how to do it. It's not really a diet; it's an approach to figuring out your own healthy diet. This is a good idea; I just don't think it will work for many people in this form.

Could be I'm a bit jealous. I've had MS for 30 years, and it's kicking my butt pretty good right now. My first book, The Art of Getting Well, is largely based on my experiences with MS (along with interviews with 30 other people with chronic illness.) My book has never sold in anything like the numbers that MS Recovery Diet is selling. But I think I'm being objective - I'm still looking for help, too.

The basic dietary advice is given in a few pages. You have to consider stopping any or all of the following: dairy products, grains that contain gluten, eggs, legumes (beans) and yeast, in that order of probability. But that might not do it, so you need to test yourself for food allergies, either through blood tests or an elimination diet.

Well, I've done all those things and seen very little difference. Sawyer and Bachrach say you can determine what foods to avoid by closely monitoring yourself after eating. If a food makes you feel bad, get rid of it. The problem is that, for me and for many people with MS, the worse symptoms might not come on for two or three days after eating (or being exposed to cold, or getting stressed, or whatever the problem is.) So it's very hard to tell which food, if any, is causing problems.

There's a lot of scientific language in this book, but I would class much of it as pseudo-science. For example, they talk about allergenic food damaging the blood-brain barrier, but give no idea how that could happen or any studies to back it up.

The book is filled out with many chapters on what MS is, the history of MS, the history of medical treatments and dietary approaches, success stories of people who have used their approach, and lots of recipes. The success stories mostly fall within the range of the natural variation of MS. The recipes might actually be useful to someone who wants to try this approach.

I support people trying dietary approaches for their MS. I agree with the authors that the medications don't work well, and that many other things (diet, Vitamin D, digestive enzymes, Chinese medicine to name a few) can help. But be careful! When you've got advanced MS, you have fewer sources of pleasure in your life. Making yourself crazy about food and depriving yourself of things that give you pleasure is not likely to help.

In its graceful, readable style, The MS Recovery Diet offers a powerfully healing path. Though I don't have MS myself, I have watched one of my closest friends save her own life through this diet. From being barely able to sit up for any length of time, my friend now walks with me in the woods. Each step is a miracle and a testimony to the efficacy of this diet. Bachrach and Sawyer offer not only the diet itself, but a thorough and accessible understanding of the biochemistry of how it works as well as many personal stories that infuse the information with humanity and humor. Best of all, for me, was the cookbook, which will prove indespensible not only to those who have MS, but to anyone who is interested in addressing physical challenges through diet. I was so inspired by my friend's recovery that I went on the diet myself and find that much of the chronic pain and digestive ailments in my own body have diminished radically. This book is a gift, not only to those with MS, but to all who seek relief from chronic pain and limitation. Try "Marion's Chocolate Mousse" (p.343) if you're afraid that a limited diet is no fun!! Better than any mousse I've ever tasted, and not a speck of dairy, sugar or eggs!

With this diet I am winning the fight against MS. I am grateful that I found this diet and implore any one with MS to try it! What a difference that it will make for you. Especially since all you have to do is eat well. I know that I love the fact that I now have more energy than my two year old!

The book would have been worth it just for the wonderful and up-to date overview what MS is and how it can be treated. It is soooo definitely worth the money.
I went on the diet (or at least what I believe the diet should be for me), and found it very challenging. Surprisingly the challenge was not so much in avoiding the known immune-triggering foods (except when I am walking past a bakery (:-}), but mostly in figuring out what foods fall into that category for me [the book says that everybody has different triggers, but gives some likely suspects for most people which is what I started with]. I had some health improvements right when I started the diet, but then after a few weeks I seemed to become more sensitive a wider range of foods than before. In any case I have only been "dieting" for about 6 weeks now, too early to give any final judgments. I will stick with this a few months more and then evaluate what it does for me. You have to have patience with this disease.
The definite and unexpected side benefit is that I have been losing quite a bit of weight without any conscious calorie restriction. On weight loss diets I have a very hard time to succeed,like my body is holding on to every tiny gram of fat. And now I did not even try to lose weight --and off came the pounds. I read somewhere than inability to lose weight can be related to food allergies. Well that seems to be true in my case for sure. Never lost weight so effortlessly.
My recommendation is a DEFINITELY BUY THIS BOOK if you can afford it. Worth every penny. Also their website [msrecoverydiet.com]is full of useful info.

"Welcome to an MS world that is not dark and dismal, but a place filled with hope, progress, and gratitude," Ms. Sawyer confidently states in the introduction to this clearly formulated, comprehensive plan for controlling this devastating disease. What MS sufferer would not want to discover how to achieve this?
Not only is MS clearly defined in highly readable, medically backed terms, but specific aids to recovering one's health are given, such as "The Benefits of Exercises" (highly specific) and "Depression: A Block to Healing." Both "Ann's Story" and "Judi's Story" are deeply moving. I have the greatest respect for the steps these courageous women have taken in their transformations from compromised physical lives to those of normalcy. The stories of other MS sufferers also provide direction and support.
And the diet? Once you find the "trigger" foods--those that aggravate your MS symptoms--you can stick with a diet (and partake of the 140 pages of delicious recipes) that will lead to the recovery of your life.

Finally a book with all the information put together for an easy to follow diet for MS. If you have MS (or any illness) and the incentive to help yourself eliminate your symptoms this book is for you. The information is clear and easy to understand, the recipes are great and easy to do. I was tired of going to doctors and getting no help as to what diet I should follow. They just said eat sensibly?? This book has made it very clear and I thank Ms.Sawyer and Ms.Bachrach. I have already bought ten books to give to everyone I know that has MS.

I feel extremely lucky to have found this book. When I was diagnosed with MS in October 2007, I instinctively became very careful with my diet because of past health problems due to food (Celiac's,food allergies & sensitivies).

But there were things I didn't know in regards to food & MS. This book explains why diet is important & how different foods effect MS. I also enjoyed reading all the personal case histories of real MS patients who have tried this diet.

I plan on staying on this diet the rest of my life. (I want to do everything possible for me to achieve the best possible outcome, so I also take one of the MS drugs (Avonex) in addition to this diet.)

Also, this book explained more to me about the disease of MS than all the neurologist's I have seen put together. I am deeply grateful to Ann Sawyer & Judith Bachrach for writing this book...Thank You!

The MS Recovery Diet is an easily accessible read for the lay person who does not have MS. The book explains the disease, its onset of symptoms, and the chemistry and physiological effects of MS with solid research to help anyone who does have MS. Reading the personal stories of the authors, Ann Sawyer and Judi Bachrach, and knowing that they have both been able to reverse their symptoms of MS by following the food guidelines makes this book all the more relevant and meaningful. Putting all this together with recipes following the food guidelines makes this book a Godsend for anyone with MS or knows anyone with MS. I have bought several copies to share with friends as well as one for myself.

I was originally diagnosed with MS in 2007, but my doctor misdiagnosed what DID turn out to be MS with something else. After some time, I was admitted into the hospital earlier this year because I couldn't walk or use my hands and was told that my MS condition, which I did have after all, since 2007 was much worse. To make a long story short, and after many different types of drugs and methods on how to hamper my relapses, I came upon this book while recently in the hospital (latest MS drugs were not working). I downloaded it on my Kindle and have been reading it ever since.

The authors in the very beginning explain the basics of the MS Recovery Diet (do's and do not's) and make you start thinking right off towards changing your diet to better a human body with MS. I think this is very helpful so that you can start making dietary changes immediately. Another really great thing about this book is that the author's explain MS and neurological conditions very well, even better than my (new) Neurologist as a matter of fact. I've been on the diet for about two weeks now and happy to say that I do feel better. I'm only hoping that with the information from this book along with a new medicine regime, I can start living again and not rely on "life crutches."

To be honest, hope is always possible... but Judith and Ann just enhance it ten fold!!!

I bought this book and read it with some skepticism. I was diagnosed 10 years ago and had already changed my diet (no red meat; low-fat; little sugar). I still had considerable pain on every area of my body. Maybe even more pain than I had ten years ago. I was exhausted and depressed. I no longer had any muscle strength because exercise hurt. Well, this book's recommendation to eliminate dairy, legumes, gluten, eggs, and yeast was spot on for me. After two weeks, I felt much better. I noticed I had problems with other foods (potatoes, eggplant, and corn). I have had some sort of pain for twenty years, but after months of staying away from offending food, the pain is all gone. Same for the stomach pain, depression, exhaustion, and eczema (born with it). I stopped running twenty-two years ago, but I started again and I'm training for a 5K race. I do not feel deprived of food because the food I was eating--no matter how healthy--was like poison. I've replaced it with all sorts of interesting gluten-free grains, more veggies, fish, and almond milk. Yes, cooking takes a bit more time and eating out is difficult, but I don't care. I have my life back. I will also say that my food bill has gone down.

I cannot recommend this book enough and I can't thank the authors enough for making this information available in a readable, thoughtful, and compassionate way.