Focus:
Understanding that your nervous system is listening, and giving it signals of safety.
Repetition:
My nervous system is safe.
My body knows how to heal.
I am held. I am whole.
ALS: Motor Neuron Regeneration
ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is the slow loss of the motor neurons, the cells that carry the brain’s signal out to the muscles. The pictures vary: a weakness in a hand that does not pass, a twitch and fasciculation that grows, a slurring of speech, a tiredness in the legs, a gradual wasting and loss of strength. The modern story holds that the disease is mysterious, inexorable, and without remedy.
We hold a different view, not in opposition, but in addition. The motor neuron is a cell, and a cell is built and run by what we eat, drink, breathe, see, sleep through, and feel safe within. Where the terrain is restored, the cell has its best possible conditions to live, to repair, and (within whatever range remains) to regenerate.
There is great variability in this picture. There is real reason for work, and real reason for hope. We work gently, faithfully, and from every direction. The body is a faithful student. It learns the conditions it is given, and it does what those conditions ask of it.
This article is offered as a companion to the diagnosed person and to those who walk beside them. It does not replace the medical care being received; it sits alongside, doing the deeper restorative work the medical picture rarely addresses.
What ALS Is
The motor neurons are the long, large nerve cells whose job is to carry the order to move from the brain down through the spinal cord and out to the muscles. There are upper motor neurons (in the brain and the descending tracts) and lower motor neurons (in the spinal cord and the cranial nerves). ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is the picture of progressive loss of both, and so a picture in which the muscles do not receive their signal and slowly waste.
The clinical course varies enormously between people, and there are well-documented cases of long stability, of slowing, and of partial reversal. Variability is real; we work for it.
The early signs are often small, a hand that does not grip well, a foot that drops, a slurring of certain words, a thickness of the tongue, twitches under the skin (fasciculations) that grow more frequent, a fatigue in the muscles that does not ease with rest. Where any of these are present and progressing, the deeper work is to begin without delay.
The Terrain Behind ALS
We work always from the terrain. Where there is loss in the motor neurons, several fields are nearly always found in the background. Each of them is a place we tend to.
Glutamate excitotoxicity
Glutamate is the brain’s principal excitatory signal. In its proper amount it is the body’s way of saying ‘fire’ to a neuron. In excess, glutamate burns the neuron out, it asks the cell to fire and fire and fire, and the cell exhausts itself and dies. The motor neuron is particularly vulnerable to this.
The modern diet pours free glutamate into the system: MSG, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed protein, soy protein isolate, the long-cooked broths and bouillons, the aged cheeses, and the broad picture of processed food. Removing the free glutamate from the food is a first and powerful step. (This is also one of the reasons we use meat stock, four to six hours, made from meaty bones, and we do not use bone broth, whose long-cooked extraction draws out the free glutamates.)
Heavy metals
Mercury, aluminium, and lead all settle into the nervous system, and motor neurons are particularly vulnerable. Mercury sits in the motor cortex and the motor neurons themselves; aluminium clusters in nerve tissue; lead displaces calcium in nerve and bone. The cleaning of these metals is slow, careful work, done with adequate minerals and with the bowel kept open.
Chelation is approached on Sarah Myhill’s gentle pattern, a small dose, a careful schedule, a period of work, a period of rest, and the body’s own routes (bile, bowel, sweat) are kept clear.
Mould and mycotoxins
Mycotoxins, the small, neurotoxic molecules made by mould, are now recognised by many of the more careful practitioners as one of the most under-recognised drivers of ALS pictures. They are deeply neurotoxic, they are everywhere in the modern environment (water-damaged buildings, contaminated food, certain crops), and they target the motor system specifically.
Where a mould burden is suspected, long exposure to a water-damaged home, a workplace with hidden moisture, a chronic sinus picture, a sensitivity to smells and chemicals that has grown over years, the mould must be addressed at its source, the body’s exposure ended, and the slow work of clearing the toxin done. (See our Mould article in this collection.)
Glyphosate
Glyphosate, the world’s most-used herbicide, is now everywhere in the food, the water, the air. It binds minerals, particularly manganese, zinc, and copper, all of which the nervous system depends on, and it disrupts the gut microbes, the methylation pathway, and the bile. Glyphosate is associated with a marked rise in neurodegenerative pictures, ALS among them. The work is to lower the load, eat clean, well-raised animal foods and produce free of conventional agricultural treatment, and to support the body’s clearing of what is already inside.
BMAA and other cyanobacterial toxins
BMAA is a neurotoxin made by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). It is found in algae blooms, in some seafood from contaminated waters, and, strikingly, in the cycad seed eaten by the Chamorro people of Guam, where ALS rates were extraordinarily high. BMAA is incorporated into proteins in place of the amino acid serine, and slowly poisons the motor neurons. Avoiding contaminated waters, blue-green algae supplements (a real source), and seafood from algae-bloom regions is part of the work.
Pathogens
Stealth pathogens drive much chronic neurodegeneration. The most commonly involved in ALS-pattern pictures are Borrelia (Lyme) and its co-infections, Epstein-Barr (EBV), retroviruses, and mycoplasma. Many practitioners have reported that ALS-pattern symptoms ease meaningfully when a chronic infection picture is identified and the four-layer protocol is run patiently. (See our Chronic Bacterial and Viral Infections article and our Shingles article.)
Mitochondrial collapse
The motor neuron is one of the most metabolically demanding cells in the body. It is long (a single motor neuron can run a metre or more from spinal cord to muscle), and it depends on a continuous, abundant supply of energy from the mitochondria, the small powerhouses inside the cell. Mitochondria are damaged by glutamate, by toxins, by infection, by oxidative stress, by deuterium-heavy water, by EMF, by glyphosate, and by the modern processed-food diet.
Restoring mitochondrial health is at the heart of any motor neuron regeneration work, and the ARP framework, with its ketosis, its ancestral fats, its sunlight, its grounding, its sleep, and its minerals, is mitochondrial work from end to end.
Glutathione depletion and oxidative stress
Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant, and the motor neuron depends on it heavily for the daily clearing of oxidative damage. In ALS pictures glutathione is consistently found to be low. The supports, NAC, glycine, selenium, the fat-soluble vitamins, and direct liposomal or suppository glutathione, are foundational here.
Methylation
Methylation is the body’s chemical pencil, the silent process by which it adds and removes a small chemical group to turn genes on and off, build neurotransmitters, repair DNA, and detoxify. In ALS, methylation is nearly always burdened, by glyphosate, by toxins, by infection, by the food. The B Ladder work, B1 and B2 first, in their settled order, is core.
Ketones: the motor neuron’s preferred fuel
Where the motor neuron is sick, glucose is often poorly handled by it, and ketones, the fats-derived fuel that the brain can use directly, become the kinder, cleaner energy source. Ketones also lower the brain’s glutamate tone and raise BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), the body’s growth signal for nerve cells.
Steady, food-based ketosis, built on the ancestral animal-fat-and-protein menu and the careful avoidance of sugar and grain, is one of the most important single interventions in ALS pictures. (See our Ketosis article for the full picture.)
Light, deuterium, and EMF
The body runs on light. The mitochondria, in particular, are deeply responsive to it. The motor neuron, with its enormous mitochondrial demand, needs the light it was made for, full-spectrum natural sunlight on bare skin and into bare eyes, and the lowering of the deuterium load in the water that runs the mitochondrial machinery.
EMF (the man-made electromagnetic fields of phones, wifi, smart-meters, and the rest) burdens the same mitochondrial machinery; lowering exposure is part of the work. (See our Deuterium article for the deeper picture.)
Nutrient Deficiencies to Tend
Magnesium, the great relaxant of muscle and nerve; deeply protective of the motor neuron against glutamate excitotoxicity (magnesium gates the NMDA receptor). Built up slowly to bowel tolerance, in glycinate and malate forms.
Lithium (food and orotate forms), the trace mineral, in tiny amounts, has been one of the most encouraging interventions noted in ALS research. Used as orotate at low doses (1-5 mg) by some practitioners. Built up carefully and slowly.
B12 (methylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin), the great nerve B-vitamin; the myelin sheath and the mitochondrion both need it. Taken sublingually in high doses where absorption is poor.
B1 (benfotiamine), supports nerve energy and the membrane. Top of the B Ladder. Sometimes high-dose under guidance.
B2 (riboflavin), activates B1, B3, B6, and folate; without B2 the rest of the methylation chain does not run.
Methylfolate (B9, not folic acid) and B6 (P-5-P), core methylation supports, built up in order on the B Ladder.
Selenium, the trace mineral at the heart of one of the body’s principal antioxidant enzymes (glutathione peroxidase). Brazil nuts, well-raised animal foods, or a small supplement (200 mcg).
Zinc and copper, always together; for mucosa, immunity, methylation, and the connective tissue around the nerve.
Vitamin D (with K2), for the nerve and the bone, from sun first.
Vitamin A, from cod liver oil, butter oil, egg yolks, organ meats.
Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols, food-source), protects the membrane fats of the motor neuron.
CoQ10 (ubiquinol), the central mitochondrial nutrient; depleted by statins, by infection, by oxidative stress.
Choline, for the membrane of every nerve cell; from egg yolks, liver, and phosphatidylcholine.
Omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA), structural to the nerve membrane; from cod liver oil and well-raised animal fats. Always balanced against well-raised omega-6 (no seed oils).
L-glycine, taurine, and L-serine, the amino acids of methylation, bile, and (in serine’s case) the membrane lipid the motor neuron is built upon. Some practitioners use L-serine specifically in ALS to compete with BMAA at the protein level.
Pathogens, Toxins, and Metals: The Hidden Drivers
Pathogens
Borrelia and the Lyme co-infections, now widely recognised as a driver in many ALS pictures. The full pathogen protocol is the patient work.
Epstein-Barr (EBV), chronic EBV is a near-universal background to neurodegenerative disease in the modern person.
Retroviruses (HERVs, endogenous retroviruses), the reactivation of latent retrovirus is part of the ALS picture in current research.
Mycoplasma, low-grade mycoplasma drives nerve and connective tissue inflammation.
Cytomegalovirus and HHV-6, old herpes-family viruses that hover in the nervous system.
Strep and oral pathogens, low-grade strep and the oral picture (gum disease, root-canalled teeth, hidden abscesses) feed the brain’s inflammation.
Toxins and Metals
Mould and mycotoxins, ochratoxin, trichothecenes, gliotoxin and the rest; deeply neurotoxic. Source removal first; clearing slowly. (See our Mould article.)
Mercury, from amalgam dental fillings (dealt with by a properly trained biological dentist only), from fish at the top of the chain, from old occupational exposures.
Aluminium, from cookware, antiperspirants, certain medications, vaccines, processed foods, and unfiltered water.
Lead and cadmium, from old paint, old plumbing, contaminated soil, smoking.
Glyphosate, from conventional crops, oats, wheat, legumes, processed food.
Fluoride, displaces iodine; accumulates in bone and brain.
BMAA and cyanobacterial toxins, from algae-bloom waters and contaminated seafood; avoidance and L-serine.
EMF, phones in pockets, wifi at night, smart meters, 5G. The simple practices, phone in airplane mode at night, wifi off at night, distance from the body, EMF-shielded sleep, are gentle and faithful protections.
The View from Traditional Chinese Medicine
In the old Chinese framework, ALS sits in the category of Wei syndrome, the atrophy disorders, in which the muscles weaken and waste. The principal organs involved are the Spleen (which rules the muscles and the flesh), the Stomach (paired with Spleen, governs the absorption of nourishment), the Liver (which governs the sinews and the smooth movement of qi), and the Kidney (which holds the deep essence, jing, and supports the bones and the marrow). The Lung is the source of qi from the air.
The pattern almost always involves weakness in the Spleen and Stomach (poor nourishment of the muscles), Kidney essence depletion (the deep, constitutional level), and Liver involvement (sinew weakness, frustration).
The emotions
Worry sits in the Spleen, fear in the Kidney, anger and frustration in the Liver, grief in the Lung. Long-held grief, the carrying of unspoken sorrow, the bracing against fear of what is coming, and the worry that never lets the body settle, all of these are part of the inner picture, and all of them are tended to in the limbic, somatic, and gratitude work. The body softens when the heart softens.
Acupressure points
ST 36 (Zusanli), four fingers below the kneecap on the outside of the leg, the great point of qi and immunity; tonifies Spleen and Stomach, builds the muscles, helps in every wasting picture. Sustained pressure 1-2 minutes a side daily.
SP 6 (Sanyinjiao), four fingers above the inner ankle, just behind the bone, the meeting of three Yin meridians; nourishes blood and yin, supports connective tissue.
SP 9 (Yinlingquan), in the hollow below the inner knee, clears damp and tonifies Spleen.
KI 3 (Taixi), in the hollow between the inner ankle bone and the Achilles, tonifies Kidney essence.
KI 27 (Shufu), in the depression below the collarbone, beside the breastbone, tonifies the Kidney and the breath.
GV 4 (Mingmen), on the midline of the lower back at the level of the second lumbar vertebra, the ‘gate of life’; tonifies the Kidney yang and the deep vitality.
LV 3 (Taichong), in the web between the big toe and the second toe, releases the Liver, eases frustration, frees the sinews.
LI 4 (Hegu), in the web between thumb and index finger, moves stagnation, eases pain, supports immunity.
CV 6 (Qihai), two fingers below the navel, the sea of qi; builds the deep vitality.
CV 17 (Shanzhong), in the centre of the chest at the level of the nipples, the upper sea of qi, the master point for the diaphragm and the breath; for grief and for breathing trouble.
GB 34 (Yanglingquan), in the dip below and forward of the head of the fibula, the influential point of the sinews, deeply helpful in any muscle and tendon picture.
Daily, breathing pressure on these points, held one or two minutes each, is faithful, quiet medicine. A loved one’s hands on these points becomes one of the gentlest, most loving things they can do.
Movement, Fascia, and Lymph
In ALS the work of movement is delicate: we want to move enough to keep the lymph flowing and the fascia free, and to send the nervous system the signal that movement is still wanted; we do not want to push to fatigue, which exhausts the motor neuron and accelerates loss. The principle is little, often, and well within the body’s range. No cardio, no HIIT, no running.
Slow, supported walking on the earth, barefoot where possible, in morning sun, for as long as is gentle and easy. Stopping well before fatigue.
Soft bouncing on the earth (or on a rebounder for those who cannot stand for long), a minute or two at a time, several times a day; the gentlest lymph mover there is.
Gentle range-of-motion movement of every joint each morning, slow circles of the wrists, ankles, shoulders, neck. Keeping the joints and fascia free.
Slow swimming or floating in clean, salted water, supportive of the body, gentle on the muscles, helpful for breath. (Saltwater pool or sea where possible.)
Assisted stretching and passive range of motion, when the person cannot move alone, a loved one’s hands moving the limbs slowly through their full gentle range is profoundly important. Daily.
Gentle fascia work, soft hands on the body, slow effleurage along the limbs toward the heart, sustained holds on tight spots, the lacrosse ball used very lightly. The body responds best to gentle hands.
Diaphragmatic breath work, the breath is the body’s principal lymph pump, and breath training is doubly important in ALS. Slow nasal breathing in any comfortable position, several times a day.
Lymph work
Dry skin brushing toward the heart, before showering, every day.
Castor oil packs over the liver three or four nights a week.
Cool or cold water, to tolerance, to the legs, the arms, the back of the neck. Where full cold immersion is too much, even cold water over the wrists and ankles is a quiet good.
The Microbial Foundation
The gut and the brain are one continuous conversation. The microbes of a healthy body produce neurotransmitters (GABA, serotonin), short-chain fatty acids that lower inflammation, and signalling molecules that protect the motor neuron. The modern gut, depleted by antibiotics, glyphosate, processed food, and stress, falls short of all of these. We feed the inner ecology back.
Birth microbes commonly low
Lactobacillus fermentum CECT5716, foundational, anti-inflammatory, supportive of the nervous system.
Bifidobacterium infantis, the great infant strain; supports immune tolerance and lowers neuroinflammation.
Lactobacillus reuteri, supports the gut-brain axis; one of the great quiet supporters of the nervous system.
Akkermansia muciniphila, keeps the gut barrier sound, which is the first line against the leaking of inflammatory pieces into the body.
Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, the body’s principal butyrate producer; deeply anti-inflammatory.
Antagonist microbes
Bacillus subtilis HU58, a soil-based keeper of the terrain; lowers low-grade inflammation, supports the immune tone, makes vitamin K2 in the gut.
Bacillus coagulans, settling and anti-inflammatory.
Saccharomyces boulardii, where any yeast or fungal terrain is suspected.
Lactobacillus plantarum 299v, broadly supportive of the gut barrier and the immune tone.
The HMOs (human milk oligosaccharides)
Built up slowly over weeks, the HMOs (2’-FL and lacto-N-neotetraose) feed the birth Bifidobacteria preferentially and lower neuroinflammation through the gut-brain axis. Foundational in any neurodegenerative work.
The Four-Layer Pathogen Protocol
Where pathogens are suspected, Lyme, EBV, mycoplasma, retrovirus, the standard ARP four-layer protocol applies, matched to the pathogen using the resources kept in the Facebook group. The work is patient and slow.
Layer 1, NAC or Ambroxol, to thin and lift the biofilm. Taken an hour away from food and drink on either side.
Layer 2, the best quorum-sensing disruptor, one hour after Layer 1. Disrupts the chemical communication the pathogens use to hold the biofilm together.
Layer 3, the matched microbial antagonist, one hour after Layer 2. The strain matched to the pathogen using the matching guide kept in the Facebook group.
Layer 4, lactoferrin, with Layer 3, as the toxin neutraliser; binds the iron the pathogen relies upon and ties up the toxins released as the pathogen dies back.
Zinc with copper for mucosa rebuild, and MSM for everyone (built up slowly per Dr. Sarah Myhill’s dosing), run alongside the protocol. The pace is the pace the body can clear, too fast, and the toxin burden rises; too cautious, and the work does not move. Faithful, daily, careful.
The Food: The Daily Foundation
ARP foods, in a ketogenic shape, the ancestral, animal-fat-and-protein-centred menu, with the low-antinutrient plant foods only where they suit the person, and strict avoidance of seed oils, grains, sugars, and the processed-food picture. Foods rich in free glutamate are avoided where the motor neuron is involved.
Animal fats with every meal, butter, beef tallow, lard, fat on well-raised meat. These carry the fat-soluble vitamins, build the nerve membranes, and feed the ketosis the motor neuron benefits from.
Egg yolks daily, choline, A, D, K2, B12, lutein, zeaxanthin, lecithin, every one of which the motor neuron needs.
Liver and other organ meats weekly, the densest food on earth in fat-soluble vitamins, copper, B-vitamins, and CoQ10.
Meat stock daily, the slow-simmered stock from meaty bones, made for four to six hours (never longer, which would extract free glutamates). Mineral-rich, gentle. We do not use bone broth.
Cod liver oil and butter oil (or DaVinci ADK), the daily ancestral foundation of A, D, K2, and EPA/DHA.
Cooked low-oxalate vegetables, in their right amounts and well-cooked in animal fat, where tolerated.
A daily raw grated carrot, with vinegar, salt, and good fat, supports the bile and binds spent toxins for the bowel to carry out.
Lacto-fermented foods, small daily amounts of properly fermented sauerkraut, kvass, or kimchi, where tolerated.
Good water, spring water where possible, mineralized, taken slowly with sea salt. Deuterium-depleted water is used by some in ALS pictures (see Deuterium article).
We avoid: MSG, autolysed yeast, hydrolyzed protein, soy protein isolate, bone broth, long-simmered stocks, aged cheeses, processed meats, vegetable and seed oils, sugar, grain, conventionally-grown crops, factory-farmed meats, and contaminated seafood.
Foundational Supplements for ALS
The mitochondrial core
CoQ10 (ubiquinol), the central mitochondrial nutrient. 200-600 mg daily, with food.
PQQ, supports the building of new mitochondria. 10-20 mg daily.
Magnesium, built up slowly to bowel tolerance in glycinate and malate forms; protects the motor neuron against glutamate.
D-ribose, supports the ATP cycle; per Sarah Myhill’s dosing.
L-carnitine (acetyl-L-carnitine), carries fats into the mitochondria; foundational in ALS pictures.
Creatine monohydrate, supports the energy reserve of muscle and nerve. Long studied in ALS pictures.
The methylation and antioxidant chain
NAC, supports glutathione; taken away from food, an hour from any pathogen protocol layer.
Glutathione (liposomal or suppository), directly supports the master antioxidant; one of the great foundations.
Selenium, 200 mcg, food or supplement; runs glutathione peroxidase.
Alpha-lipoic acid, antioxidant and gentle mercury supporter.
Vitamin C (low-dose, food-source), antioxidant.
Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols), protects the membrane lipids.
Nerve and motor neuron support
B12 (methylcobalamin and hydroxocobalamin), high-dose sublingual; some practitioners use methylcobalamin injections under guidance.
Lithium orotate, 1-5 mg daily, built up slowly.
L-serine, where BMAA exposure is suspected, used at meaningful doses under guidance. Available work in this is encouraging.
Phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine, for the nerve membrane.
Lion’s mane mushroom, supports NGF (nerve growth factor) and BDNF; one of the most studied of the regenerative nerve foods.
MSM, built up slowly per Sarah Myhill’s dosing; the great sulfur source.
Zinc with copper, for the mucosa, the nerve, the immune system.
The B Ladder
The B vitamins are restored in their settled order, never as a generic B-complex, with B1 and B2 always first because B2 activates B6, B3, and folate. B1 (benfotiamine) is built slowly toward 2,600 mg over 9 months; B2 (riboflavin) is 400 mg for 5 months, paired with B1 from the start; then B3 (non-flush niacin); then B5; then B6 (P-5-P), 25 mg building to 100 mg where there is nervous-system involvement; then B9 (methylfolate, never folic acid) 1 mg building slowly to 5 mg, with B12 (methylcobalamin) 500 mcg added at the same time.
In ALS B12 and B1 are particularly important and may be used at higher doses with practitioner support.
Detoxification and the open routes
Bicarbonate of soda, ¼ to 1 teaspoon in warm water, morning and evening, away from food. Lowers acid load and supports detoxification.
Citrate electrolytes, potassium toward 4,000 mg/day and magnesium to bowel tolerance; the morning electrolyte work.
Calcium-d-glucarate, supports the bowel-side clearance of spent hormones and toxins.
Milk thistle or burdock tea, bitter herbs, Liv 52 (Himalaya), for the liver, the great clearing house of the body. (See our Liver Issues article.)
Castor oil packs, over the liver, three or four nights a week.
Coffee or chamomile enemas, for those for whom enemas suit; supportive of liver clearance. (See our Enemas article.)
Daily, complete bowel movement, Phase III is the bowel; without it, every other phase of detox is undone.
The Body Scan, the Limbic Work, the Inner Life
ALS is one of the most demanding diagnoses a person can carry, and the nervous system, held in fear and grief and the weight of what is to come, can itself accelerate the loss. The inner work is not an extra; it is medicine.
The body needs the signal of safety, of love, of meaning, of presence, of being held, and of slow time. Every day, this is fed.
The morning body scan, lying flat on the floor, no pillow, arms slightly out from the body, palms turned up. Slow, soft attention through the body, breathing slowly, naming any held places and inviting them to soften. Twenty minutes where time allows, ten most days. One of the single most powerful daily practices.
Slow nasal breathing through the day, the slow exhale longer than the inhale. Calms the nervous system, supports the diaphragm, and is itself a quiet medicine.
Hand-written gratitude, a few lines each morning. The gratitude state is incompatible with the fear and grief state.
Humming, singing, gentle chant, vibrates the vagus, calms the nervous system, supports the breath and the voice that the motor neuron carries.
Limbic retraining, the gentle, daily practice of re-teaching the brain that the body is safe. Done in small, faithful doses, it eases the alarm that drives much loss.
Presence in nature, twenty minutes a day under the open sky, with no phone. The deepest calming the body knows.
Community and laughter, the body heals more in the presence of people who love it than in any clinic. Isolation in chronic disease entrenches; shared life eases.
Loving touch, the hand of a loved one held, the head stroked, the feet rubbed, the back walked along with kind hands. The motor neuron softens where the heart is held.
Meaning, the body that has reason to remain remains longer. Family, faith, daily purpose, the small kindnesses that make a life, these are medicine.
Light, Sleep, Sun, Cold, and Earthing
Morning bare-eye sunrise viewing within the hour of waking, for the circadian set, the mitochondrial signal, and the systemic anti-inflammatory effect.
Sun on skin most days, the foundational mitochondrial light.
Earthing, bare feet on the earth, ten minutes or more daily where possible. Lowers inflammation and supports the body’s electrical balance.
Avoidance of EMF where possible, phones in airplane mode at night, wifi off at night, no phone in the pocket against the body, distance from wifi routers, careful around 5G transmitters.
Cold therapy to tolerance, cold finishes to the shower; cold water to wrists, ankles, the back of the neck. Where full immersion is too much, gentler work still serves.
Deep, dark, unbroken sleep, the body repairs the nervous system in the small hours. No screens for two hours before bed; bed by around 10pm; the bedroom dark, cool, and quiet.
Lowering the deuterium load, by eating animal fats (which are deuterium-depleted), by spending time at altitude if possible, by drinking spring water of low deuterium content. (See our Deuterium article.)
A Sample Day for ALS
Wake at the same time each morning. Bare-eye sunrise viewing within the hour. Warm water with mineral salt and lemon if tolerated; bicarbonate of soda ¼ to 1 teaspoon in warm water, away from food. Citrate electrolytes, potassium and magnesium, built slowly.
The morning body scan, flat on the floor, no pillow, arms slightly out from the body, palms turned up. Twenty minutes where the time allows.
Hand-written gratitude. Slow nasal breathing.
Gentle range-of-motion work of every joint; gentle assisted stretching; soft bouncing on the earth for one to two minutes; a slow walk in the morning sun for as long as is easy.
First meal around 10am, eaten slowly and gratefully: meat stock (short-simmered, no bone broth), egg yolks in butter, liver or other organ meat as it can be built up, soft-cooked low-oxalate vegetables, a daily raw grated carrot with vinegar and salt.
With food: cod liver oil and butter oil (or DaVinci ADK); CoQ10; acetyl-L-carnitine; creatine; magnesium; zinc with copper; MSM; the B Ladder vitamin of the stage; selenium; lithium orotate; lion’s mane; vitamin E.
Midday: lying body scan or rest. A castor oil pack two or three afternoons over the liver. Acupressure on ST 36, SP 6, KI 3, GV 4, CV 6, GB 34, LV 3.
Second meal mid-afternoon, the same shape as the first.
Late afternoon: another slow walk if possible; sun on skin; gentle assisted stretching; humming or singing; loving touch from a family member.
Evening: a cool or cold finish to the shower; a quiet, screen-free wind-down; a short body scan in bed; bed by around 10pm.
A Word at the End
ALS is one of the hardest things a body can be asked to carry, and the person and the family who carry it carry a great deal. This work is not a promise, there are no promises in this terrain. But it is the deeper, slower, faithful work the medical picture rarely offers, and it is real.
Many of those who have done this work have found the slope shallower, the days longer, the function better held, the inner life richer, and the love clearer. The motor neuron is a cell, and the cell responds to its conditions. Where we give it the food it was built upon, the minerals it needs, the light it was made for, the rest it heals in, the calm it can repair within, the microbes that quiet its inflammation, and the love that holds the whole body together, it does what it can do.
Begin gently. Begin daily. Trust the slow turning.
The body wants to be well, and so long as it is here, it is working with you.
Be still, and know.