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Valley woman battling multiple sclerosis says plant-based diet dramatically improved health

Carol Brines began to question if she was on the right path to better health. She began incorporating more veggies in her diet in 2008.

A Valley woman diagnosed with an incurable disease is beating the odds by overhauling her diet and now she’s helping others who are also battling multiple sclerosis.  

Carol Brines was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis nearly a decade ago.  

"My legs going out from me. My arms weak. I had a problem with hearing on the left side. I had a balance problem," Carol said.  

 After testing and meds that didn't make Carol feel well 

Carol said she went through numerous tests and took so many medications that didn’t make her feel better.  

"I would lots of times have to have a steroid treatment in home. So, things were challenging. I didn't like the quality of my life," Carol said.  

She began to question if she was on the right path to better health. She began incorporating more veggies in her diet in 2008.

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"That was the start and I felt so much better and with each step, I did that I wanted to know more," Carol said.

It all led to more research and eventually the whole-food plant-based diet she and her husband Buzz follow today.  

"The more we started trying, the more I started experiencing better health. My symptoms were reducing. I didn't get as tired as often. I didn't have as many exacerbations," Carol said.  

With a gardener's dream of a back yard, Carol feeling much better and fewer MS attacks, she decided to go to the Mayo Clinic in 2013 to be checked out. 

And her results were shocking.  

"Didn't find any new lesions. None of the existing lesions were flared up and I wasn't having any problems with them. My blood work was great. They said 'Keep doing what you're doing,'" Carol said.   

It was an unimaginable improvement compared to when she was first diagnosed.  

Dr. Shipra Bansal of A.T. Still University, who knows about Carol's case, says MS and other autoimmune disorders have a foundation in inflammation in the body. 

"So it makes sense when we change our diet to reduce inflammation the symptoms of autoimmune disease, in general, go down. However, this is a relatively new way in looking at autoimmune disease in terms of looking at diet, so certainly quite a bit more research needs to be done," Dr. Bansal explained.  

Carol says now she only relapses when she is stressed or in the heat. 

"You may be walking perfect one day and flat on your back the next," she said.  

Determined to stay active, the Carol family started "WhoFoo Adventures" where they help others who want to join their plant-based lifestyle.  

And she recently spoke to students at A.T. Still University, hoping to help others who feel hopeless like she once did. 

"I think most MS patients don't know how to deal with it because I think everything is uncertain. There's no hope. Everything is unpredictable," Carol said.  

While Carol's lifestyle change may not give everyone the same results, she says it has brought her healing answers. She encourages others to look into alternative treatments as well. 

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