Where Do I Start? Checklist (print this)

Some people have asked for a short summary of the 7 Day Essentials and the 47 Steps that is printable just to get started on the basics. Feel free to print this out. It is a good starting point.

If you would like to take some positive steps while you are researching what to do, this document is adapted from the “Checklist” at ALSWinners.com and we feel it is a good place to start. We are not medical professionals. This is based on information gleaned from PALS who have reversed their symptoms. You need to make your own decisions based on your research, the research of your support team, and the advice of medical professionals.

BASIC CHECKLIST FOR ALS

Know that you can heal. Others have done it. You can too. The others who have reversed ALS were not misdiagnosed. Many have had their ALS diagnoses confirmed, two, three, four and even five times, because people could not believe they actually reversed ALS.

BUILD BELIEF. This is covered in much more detail in Steps 1 & 2 of 47 Steps to Healing ALS Course

Know that it is possible to heal from ALS (you, your family members and anyone on your support team should do this).

1. _____Watch the videos in Step 1 of the 47 Steps–see top menu of HealingALS.org. Each one of these PALS found their own path to healing using different methods. Most tried many different methods before they found a combination that worked for them.
2. _____Click on ALS Reversals on the top menu of HealingALS.org. Click on every link to read about what each ALS Reversal and long term survivor did to heal.
3. _____Write down a few details about each person and key points about what they did to heal. Think about what they did that resonates with you as you begin your healing journey.
4. _____Peruse the websites: ALSWinners.com, shackel.info, ericiswinning.com. Explore these sites. There is much good information here.
5. _____Contact Kay Cherry via the contact form of at ALSWinners.com. Kay volunteers her time and can set up a time to speak with you and family members together. Kim faced some big challenges very early in his ALS diagnosis and was given a year to live back in 2011. Kim was able to golf until 2022 when heart issues took over and he passed away from heart failure in 2024.

TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME AND BE PATIENT. Know that everyone is overwhelmed at first.

Do not try everything at once. Start small. Start with one or two things on the list below. Once those are mastered, then add one or two more things. The most important thing is to start. 

It took you years to get sick. Please give your body the time it needs to begin healing. Be patient.

ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM: This is covered in much more detail in the 47 Steps to Healing ALS Course.

1. _____Include only people who believe you can heal–friends, family, parents, children, siblings, cousins. Family members and friends can be extremely helpful in doing online research.
2. _____Find a holistic (functional) medical professional in your area who believes you can reverse your ALS symptoms and can start you on the road to nutrition, supplements and detoxification. As you do your own research you will refine this but a good holistic medical professional can be a godsend to get you started. Some guidelines are in the 47 Steps, Working with Medical Professionals.
3. _____Only add people to your team who will help you get well, not help you die. 
4. _____Your team may consist of only one or two people at first. Make sure they have all read the “Build Belief” items above. They also need to understand all the points below or understand how important they are for your well being.
5. _____Remember you are captain of your healing ship. Your team members are there to assist you. You have to be comfortable with everything you do. If you are not comfortable, you need more information or research. Even in the relationship with any medical professional, he or she is there to advise you. It is you who makes the decisions. If you are only comfortable with part of the protocol suggested, do that part while you research the rest. Then decide.
6. _____You are the most important member of your team. Take responsibility for your own health and wellness. If a medical professional, family member, friend strongly suggests you read a book or article, read it, or at least skim it. If they strongly suggest looking into a protocol, then look into it. Take responsibility for understanding why sugar, gluten, dairy and grains are not good for you. They will be much easier to pass up when you understand the science behind it. 

KEEP TRACK OF YOUR PROGRESS AND FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN THE HEALING ALS OBSERVATIONAL STUDY (HAROS)

• Visit ALSRegistry.org. Start with filling out the Profile Document. Visit HealingALS.org home page to find out how to join HAROS, the Healing ALS Registry Observational study! If you have any questions, email registry@healingals.org.

THINGS TO STOP/GET RID OF. This is covered in much more detail in Steps 5 through 12 of the 47 Steps to Healing ALS:

1. _____Check your home for toxic chemicals: bleaches, cleaners, sanitizers, etc., and eliminate.
2. _____Eliminate all processed food that contain preservatives, sugars, vegetable oils, etc., like aspartame, MSG, corn syrup, aluminum, fluoride, nitrates and nitrites.
3. _____Eliminate all soft drinks and fast foods. Fries are cooked in vegetable oils (harmful) and chicken fingers and burgers often have food additives.
4. _____Eliminate all chemical fumes, perfumes, deodorants, cosmetics, (even Chapstick)
5. _____Eliminate toxic soaps.  Toothpaste (get fluoride free), shampoo, hand & bath soap, laundry soap, dryer sheets.
6. _____Reduce carbohydrates and reduce or eliminate fried foods. 
7. _____Eliminate sugar
8. _____Eliminate gluten, and reduce or eliminate grains. Grains are inflammatory
9. _____Eliminate dairy or reduce to a minimum.
10. _____Nuts and seeds are okay if you are not sensitive, except peanuts (usually have mold/mycotoxins) and almonds (high in oxalates).
11. _____Eliminate alcohol and tobacco.
12. _____All of the above is the current majority opinion of most integrative/functional medical practitioners. We are now finding that many people diagnosed with ALS are doing well and gaining weight on carnivore beef-based (or any ruminant animal with four stomachs) diet, which is high in protein (good for muscles) and fat (good for the brain) and eliminates high oxalate foods, lectins, and other inflammatory foods.

THINGS TO CONSIDER STARTING: This is covered in much more detail in Step 13 of the 47 Steps to Healing ALS.

1. _____Start taking 4000 mg of Vitamin C daily.  Vitality C is excellent brand.
2. _____Start taking ubiquinol form of CoQ10 since it is more absorbable.
3. _____Start using coconut oil, as ointment on weak muscles and build up slowly to 6 to 8 tablespoons per day with food.
4. _____Get Magnesium.  Our favorite forms are Dr. Carolyn Dean’s ReMag and ReMyte and Jigsaw MagSRT. Magnesium malate is good. Magnesium citrate is not as good a source of magnesium.
5. _____Take a glutathione supplement.  Wellnesspharmacy.com sells a 5 oz bottle (I t. per day). Eat an avocado daily, get good sleep in dark room, and use grapefruit essential oil to build glutathione.
6. _____Take Vitamin D3/K2, 5000mg/day. If you are low to catch up.  D levels should be 60-90.  Get D levels checked and supplement accordingly/ Check again in 6 months to make sure your level is good.
7. _____Take a good B Supplement plus additional B12. Most PALS are deficient in B12. Even if your B12 is “normal” yet not at least 700-800, then you do not have sufficient levels to grow new neurons.
8. _____Take Turmeric.  750 mg per day, If combined with black pepper, 500 mg per day. Theracurmin is also a good product.
9. _____Take ALA. Alpha Lipoic Acid. It helps get rid of poisons in your body. Exception: if you still have amalgam dental fillings (50% mercury) in your mouth then do NOT take ALA since it can draw the mercury out of the fillings and into your body).

ALS DIET

Please note that some of these recommendations will go against what conventional dieticians and other medical professionals will recommend. Please ask yourself: How many of these professionals have assisted someone in successfully reversing ALS symptoms? The Healing ALS group has successfully helped many people reverse ALS. The recommendations below are based on both experience from PALS who are successfully reversing ALS and top functional/integrative medicine practitioners.

1. _____We know that gluten/grains, dairy and sugar are inflammatory and many PALS do very well on a gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet. No grains with gluten such as bread, pasta & crackers). Vegetable oils, especially are inflammatory, and even worse when they are cooked. Some people do well on eggs, others find they are sensitive to them and cannot consume them without side effects.
2. _____Check your blood work for Triglycerides/HDL ratio. If this ratio > 1.5, you are insulin resistant which means you do not process grains and sugars well and need to seriously consider restricting your daily intake of carbohydrates.
3. ______Protein. If you do not consume enough protein, the body will experience muscle loss, since it is not getting the nutrients it needs to build muscle. The minimum protein requirement recommended by most functional medical practitioners is 1.5 grams of protein for each kg of ideal body weight. Example: 68kg = 150 lbs needs needs 102 grams protein per day. Some people will need more than this, depending on your level of exercise and other factors. Please listen to your body.
4. _____Important note: Ingesting protein and fats together helps the body fully digest and absorb the protein and fat. Consider eating fruits, grains and vegetables separately from protein and fat. Eating these together can interfere with nutrient absorption.
5. _____Fats. It is important to eat good fats. Your brain is made of mostly cholesterol so you want HDL to be high and it is fine for total cholesterol to be high when you are healing from a neurological disease. Saturated animal fats are the healthiest form of fats and best absorbed. Best fats: Tallow, ghee, butter, coconut oil, MCT oil, avocado oil. Olive oil is okay as long as it is not cooked. Other seed oils should be avoided: no corn oil, no canola oil, no vegetable oil. They are sprayed liberally with pesticides and are toxic. Daily fat requirements in grams are roughly double your daily protein requirements. Please note that this information is cutting edge, and most medical practitioners are still in the “low fat” mode since that is what they learned in school. Yet our observations make it very clear that a high fat, adequate protein diet is beneficial for ALS patients. If you do not have a gall bladder or your poop floats then you must take digestive enzymes or bile salts in order to digest fats fully. The amount of fats required will be about double the amount of protein required (see 13. above).
6. _____Fruits and vegetables. In the past we were told to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Now we are finding that fruit is too high in sugar and detrimental to the health of many PALS. Many vegetables are inflammatory and contain damaging oxalates and lectins. In addition, many PALS have low level food sensitivities to many fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains.
7. _____Carbohydrates. Many PALS do well on a ketogenic diet (<25 grams carbs per day), or a ketovore diet (<10 grams carbs per day) or a carnivore diet (0 grams carbs per day). Others do best on <50 grams of carbs per day. Some have found a modified Terry Wahls diet helpful by modifying it with limited carbs. Every body is different. Get educated. Listen to your body. Do what works for you. Google for more info. If you lose weight on limited carbs then likely you are not getting enough fat (see above). Again, please note that this information is cutting edge, and most medical practitioners are still in the “low fat” mode since that is what they learned in school.
8. _____Increase hydration.  Try to drink at least 2 liters of pure water per day. We like Big Berkey gravity fed filter. If you cannot get Big Berkey, try AlexaPur. If you use reverse osmosis water, you must add a mineral supplement such as ReMyte or Aussie Minerals. If you are using Brita or most under the sink water filters, they are only getting out 50% of the contaminants. The Big Berkey and AlexaPur and Patriot Pure water filters get 99% of most contaminants and 95% of fluoride (a neurotoxin) with the additional fluoride filters).
9. _____If swallowing is an issue (Bulbar ALS), start drinking carbonated water and consider getting a feeding tube immediately. Studies show that the sooner a feeding tube is placed, the longer the average ALS survival. To heal ALS you need good nutrition and hydration. Many PALS have been able to get their feeding tube removed once they heal and no longer need it.
10. _____Learn ways to detox your body.  Google ways to detox.

POWER OF THE MIND — Develop PMA (Positive Mental Attitude). This is covered in much more detail in Steps 9 and 17 in the 47 Steps to Healing ALS.

1. _____Read and watch the videos from Step 8 Clean Mind: Thoughts in the 47 Steps.
2. _____Invoke divine assistance.  Pray a lot.  But remember that God helps those who help themselves.  (Pray as though everything depends on God, then work as though everything depends on you.)
3. _____Read positive, uplifting books and listen to good uplifting music.
4. _____Paste positive clippings around your home and/or workplace.
5. _____Do not allow negative input from family, friends, doctors.  Tell them you are going to beat this and believe it yourself by vocalizing in daily.
6. _____Find some people you can serve, beyond your immediate family.  Care centers are a great place to find people that can lift you up by letting you serve them.  Great therapy.
7. _____ Find a way to keep doing what you enjoy doing, for as long as you can. Refuse to give in to this disease. 
8. _____ A change of attitude will change the outcome.  (One of our PALS said that she added spirituality as we had suggested and said that it has made a huge difference for her.)
9. _____Read further on some of the PALS and experts on using the mind to facilitate healing in the body. Check out https://healingals.org/als-reversals/

TAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME AND BE PATIENT (We are repeating this because it is important):

Take small steps. Do not try everything at once. Start small. Try one or two things. Once those are mastered, then go add one or two things. The most important thing is to start. 

It took you years to get sick. Please give your body the time it needs to begin healing. Be patient.

COMPLETE 7 DAY QUICK START HEALING ALS ESSENTIALS

SOME GOOD REFERENCE MATERIAL TO START

Remember basic knowledge is one of the keys to healing. It is overwhelming at first, but the more you learn, the more understandable it will be and the less overwhelming. These two references are a good place to start.

1. ______Read Eric Edney’s book, Eric Is Winning. It is an excellent primer for where to start and what to do. While we do not agree with every detail, it contains invaluable information. It is available on Amazon.com. Look at Eric Edney’s website: www.ericiswinning.com/regimen.heml.  Eric passed away in January of 2015 at age 85 from complications of a stroke and heart attack.  He was diagnosed with ALS in his early 60’s and until his stroke, his functionality and ALS symptoms were improving.
2. ______Read Steven Shackel’s website, shackel.org. This site has excellent information on a variety of ALS topics and is well-written and readable. Steve was diagnosed with ALS in 1994. His symptoms worsened to the point where he could not leave the house without a wheelchair and his speech was compromised. Most of his ALS symptoms have since subsided.
3. _______Another excellent free website about holistic healing is draxe.com. It is searchable and has a lot of the basics.