Brain & Nervous System
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
A progressive motor neuron disease causing muscular weakness, atrophy, and respiratory failure — managed with intensive nutritional support including vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, flaxseed oil, and a clean plant-based diet alongside regular hydrotherapy.
Also known as: ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, motor neuron disease, MND, atrophy (definition: wasting away of muscle or tissue)
📝 At a glance
Likely root causes: Hereditary factors account for about 10% of cases.; Other contributing factors include strenuous occupational physical work combined with nutritional deficiencies (especially vitamins B complex, E, F, and C).; Viral infections, physical exhaustion, and trauma..
First thing to try: A nourishing diet, with complete vitaminA natural substance your body needs in small amounts to stay healthy, like vitamin C or D. More →/mineralA natural building block your body needs in small amounts, like calcium or magnesium. More → supplementation plus fresh fruits, vegetables, and vegetable juices.
See a doctor if: See a doctor if symptoms are severe, persistent, or worsening, or if you are unsure — natural supports are meant to complement, not replace, professional care.
🔎 Start with the cause
Lasting relief rarely comes from covering a symptom. First find what is feeding the problem, change what you can, and then help the body do what it was designed to do — heal.
Likely root causes
- Hereditary factors account for about 10% of cases.
- Other contributing factors include strenuous occupational physical work combined with nutritional deficiencies (especially vitamins B complex, E, F, and C).
- Viral infections, physical exhaustion, and trauma.
- Heavy metals — inhaled or ingested — can induce damage to the nervous system and motor neurons.
Change what you can
- A nourishing diet, with complete vitaminA natural substance your body needs in small amounts to stay healthy, like vitamin C or D. More →/mineralA natural building block your body needs in small amounts, like calcium or magnesium. More → supplementation plus fresh fruits, vegetables, and vegetable juices.
- Vitamin E (ask your practitioner about the right amount for you) deficiency is a special factor in ALS — supplement daily.
- Flaxseed oil (or wheat germ oil as secondary option) is essential for essential fatty acids.
- Hydrotherapy (J.H.
- Kellogg prescriptions): Prolonged Neutral Baths, 1–3 hours daily, combined with massage to slow progression and improve circulation.
🌿 Then assist nature: remedies & protocols
With the cause being addressed, these are the actual things people do for this — ranked by the community. Vote ▲ on what helped you and ▼ on what didn't, and open How to do it for the steps. Each shows two quick signals: Evidence (how much science backs it) and Gentleness (how safe and in keeping with whole, natural health).
★ Start here — our first-line pick, pinned for safety
This is the gentlest, most foundational support — good nutrition alongside your neurology team's care can help quality of life, though it cannot reverse or cure ALS.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: ALS increases the body's energy and nutrient needs as muscle wasting progresses, so a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and complete nutrition may help support general health and energy, though it cannot slow the underlying nerve degeneration.
- Work with a dietitian familiar with ALS to build a plan that meets your changing calorie and nutrient needs.
- Include a wide variety of colorful vegetables, fruits, and whole grains daily.
- Add a tablespoon of flaxseed oil to meals for essential fatty acids, as tolerated.
- Adjust food textures (pureed, thickened liquids) as swallowing changes, per your speech-language pathologist's guidance.
Ongoing daily habit · With every meal
Caution: ALS is a serious progressive disease requiring ongoing neurology care — diet is supportive only and does not slow nerve degeneration. Swallowing difficulty (dysphagia) raises choking and aspiration risk — get a swallow evaluation and follow food-texture recommendations closely.
When to get help: Seek prompt medical care for choking, new difficulty breathing, a bluish tint to lips or fingertips, or a sudden inability to swallow even saliva.
Source: Traditional nutrition-support practice
Comments & experiences ▾
Also helps — ranked by the community (vote to reorder)
A gentle nutritional add-on alongside your care team's plan — always check supplement doses with your practitioner first.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Vitamin E and essential fatty acids support normal nerve and muscle cell membrane health as part of overall nutrition; there is no evidence this changes ALS's course, but it supports general wellbeing.
- Talk with your doctor or dietitian before adding any new supplement, since high-dose vitamin E can interact with blood thinners.
- Include vitamin E-containing foods like leafy greens and vegetable oils as textures allow.
- Add a small amount of flaxseed or wheat germ oil to soft foods or smoothies.
- Reassess food textures regularly with your swallowing team as the disease progresses.
Ongoing daily habit · Daily with meals
Caution: Do not take high-dose vitamin E supplements without a doctor's guidance, especially if on blood thinners. This has not been shown to reverse or slow ALS — it is nutritional support only.
When to get help: Seek prompt medical attention for unusual bruising or bleeding if taking vitamin E supplements, or for any sudden worsening of breathing or swallowing.
Source: Traditional nutrition-support practice
Comments & experiences ▾
A comfort and quality-of-life measure only, used alongside neurology and physical therapy care — it does not slow ALS progression.
How to do it ▾
Why it works: Warm water and light massage can temporarily ease muscle tension and improve local circulation and comfort, though they have no effect on the disease process itself.
- Fill a tub with comfortably warm water (never hot) and check the temperature with a thermometer.
- With help as needed for safety, soak for 15–20 minutes.
- Follow with gentle massage of the arms and legs using light pressure.
- Dry off and rest afterward in a warm room.
15-20 minutes · A few times a week, as tolerated and enjoyed
Caution: Fall and drowning risk is real as muscle weakness progresses — always have help nearby and use bath safety equipment (grab bars, bench). Water that is too hot can worsen fatigue and weakness in ALS (heat sensitivity is common) — keep it comfortably warm, not hot.
When to get help: Get emergency help for any fall with injury, sudden trouble breathing, or signs of near-drowning or aspiration.
Source: Traditional hydrotherapy practice (J.H. Kellogg tradition)
Comments & experiences ▾
How the numbers work: a weighted voting system — trusted published sources cast endorsement votes for each protocol, and your ▲/▼ adds to them. Not medical advice.
🩺 When to see a doctor
- See a doctor if symptoms are severe, persistent, or worsening, or if you are unsure — natural supports are meant to complement, not replace, professional care.
🌿 The seven pathways to health
Seven pathways for your amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als) — tap the circle to check one off (saved on your device), or ask Remy for help.
“Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health... In case of sickness 1cause should be ascertained, 2go to work intelligently to remove the disease. 3Unhealthful conditions should be changed, 4wrong habits corrected. 5Then nature is to be assisted in her effort 6to expel impurities and 7to re-establish right conditions in the system.”
🌿 Overview
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is the most common motor neuron disease, resulting in muscular atrophy and eventual paralysis. It is progressive and ultimately affects respiratory muscles. Only 10% of cases are hereditary; the majority involve a combination of occupational strenuous labor, nutritional deficiencies, viral infections, physical exhaustion, trauma, and heavy metal toxicity. The disease may progress slowly over years.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease or motor neuron disease) is a progressive condition affecting the nerve cells that control voluntary muscles. Over time it causes increasing muscle weakness and wasting, affecting movement, speech, swallowing, and eventually breathing, while thinking and the senses are usually preserved — which makes it an especially hard diagnosis.
This is a serious neurological condition managed by specialist medical teams; there is no cure and no natural remedy that halts it, so the focus is on care that supports quality of life, comfort, and dignity. Around medical treatment, supportive measures matter greatly: good nutrition (adapted as swallowing changes), physical and occupational therapy, breathing support, communication and mobility aids, and emotional and practical support for the person and family. This is a tender, difficult journey, and compassionate, coordinated care — including strong support for caregivers — is central. Any progressive, unexplained muscle weakness warrants medical evaluation to find the cause.
Common signs
- Progressive muscular weakness and atrophy.
- Weakened respiratory muscles (which can result in pneumonia).
- Difficulty chewing and swallowing.
- Stiffness, cramping, and involuntary quivering (fasciculations) of small muscles.
- As the disease progresses, difficulty speaking and breathing.
🍃 Supporting foods & habits
The gentle, everyday foods and supports that help in the background — secondary to the active remedies above. Vote on what helped you.
A nourishing, easy-to-swallow diet supports strength and energy (swallowing or breathing changes need prompt attention from the care team).920
How the numbers work: this is a weighted voting system — every published book or article recommending a remedy counts as an endorsement vote, and your ▲/▼ counts too. Not medical advice. *Ties are broken by our editor score (sources, safety, simplicity, cost, lifestyle fit, eight-laws alignment).
🍽️ Eating to help
Food is one of the gentlest medicines — small, steady changes help most.
Avoid dairy products, meat, sugar, and white-flour products. Eating a clean plant-based whole-food diet can accelerate healing. Fresh fruits, vegetables, vegetable juices, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds.
⚖️ Good to know
- ALS requires medical supervision.
- Natural remedies may slow progression and support quality of life, but cannot reverse the underlying nerve damage.
- Respiratory weakness requires monitoring — respiratory complications can be life-threatening.
- Heavy metal assessment and detoxification may be warranted.
⚕️ What a doctor may offerConventional treatments for this condition — for your information.Show ▾
RemedyRank's heart is natural healing — and honest information. Here is what conventional medical care commonly involves for this condition, listed to inform, never to promote. Decisions about treatment belong with you and your own physician.
ALS has no cure; care is multidisciplinary to maintain function and comfort.
Commonly offered
- Medications that modestly slow progression (riluzole, edaravone)–
- Physical, occupational, speech, and respiratory therapy–
- Breathing support and nutrition management–
- Multidisciplinary ALS clinic care–
Worth knowing
- Progressive weakness or speech/swallowing changes need neurology evaluation.
- Breathing support planning is important as it progresses.
- Specialist clinic care improves quality and length of life.
👍/👎 shares whether a treatment helped you — community experience, not medical advice. For full professional details, see the sources under “Learn more” below.
📚 Learn more
Sources for further reading. These open in a new tab.
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