About Me
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My name is Maria Theresa Maggi and I’ve been eating a low fat vegan diet since February 2008 when I found Susan’s wonderful Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blog. Before that, for most of my adult life I have pretty much been lacto-ovo vegetarian, though I occasionally ate fish. I was born with mild Cerebral Palsy and in 1996 I was also diagnosed with MS. I also have the complication of Fibromyalgia. Eating this way has stopped the progression of the MS and softened all my symptoms. Over time, the disease process seems to be slowly reversing itself. I have regained the ability to bounce back. My symptoms have become milder and I am able to do more and more, like walk a mile a day and write this blog. My grown son Mike and his lovely girlfriend Kelly were my first enthusiastic supporters, and they join me in this way of eating. They are not shy, so you may see and hear a lot about them on my blog. I live in Moscow, Idaho, with my amazing service dog, Romeo.
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi moonwatcher! I was SO happy to see that you live in Moscow!!! I live in Boise, and although my plant based diet has been a struggle here (NO cafes), I am totally supportive of all of people that are from Idaho (my kindred sisters/brother) that are in the same place as me! You are very much an inspiration since I have a heart condition I think it is imperative that we all ‘stick together’. You are an awesome & beautiful person.
Hi Shellie! Welcome! It is great to meet another plant-based Idahoan.
We are a relatively small but mighty contingent of our beautiful state, and yes, we need to stick together. 
Thank you for your kind words.
Maria
Hello there!
I am so happy to meet you through your blog and look greedily forward to more posts!
May I ask a ms question? Do you take injections?
My reason for asking is that I was diagnosed almost 2 years ago and have been taking Copaxone since. I have been mostly vegan for 20 years but recently began eating fish again at my doctor’s suggestion. I am hoping your blog will help me go back to strict veganism. I am coming out of the stage of newly diagnosed where I felt like I had to do everything my doctor said. I am now looking more to just do what feels right for me.
I am curious if you are living by vegan diet alone or are also taking medications. I hope I am not being too intrusive. Thanks so much for your blog. It will surely help us all.
Hello back, Laura, and welcome! No, I have never chosen to injections or any other meds for MS. I have always used lifestyle changes and alternative therapies. In the beginning I ate fish, as I was also encouraged to do, but that became a problem for me so I stopped. All the things I’ve done have helped, but this way of eating very low fat, gluten free, and now soy free has made the most profound difference for me. Each person’s situation is unique.
Maria
Hi Moonwatcher
Nice to meet you I am in NC and I have Fibromyalgia, Severe Depression Anxiety and A wicked case of OA the cause of both knees being replaced. Carpal Tunnel in both hands. I am a 3rd year Vegan the smell of meat cooking makes me nauseous. I look forward to your blog how do you join in the fun ?
love from NC Umm Elias
Hi umm Ellas, and welcome. If you look to the right of the post near the top, there is a column that says Subscribe. You can click on the e-mail option and be notified when I put a new post up. Thanks!
Maria
Hello,
I am glad to find this blog, I am also a fancier of the FatFree Vegan Kitchen and similar sites. I started my journey in the plant-based diet few years ago and was able to live an almost normal life with Lupus (SLE) few years ago I was diagnosed with SLE and in bad shape. The doctor was telling me that chances where I would end up in a wheel chair. You must know that I am a doglady so I spent lots of time outside with the doggies and I take care of them on an natural way, that means I make all their food by myself. The idea of giving up my dogs made me fight to be able to live for my dogs. Now I can say, I made it. My doctor is very happy with my results and does agree with my way of eating/living. I now am at the strickt minimum of medications and I lost some 40 kgs. I am soo happy !!!
Nicole
hi nicole, and welcome! Your story is very inspiring–I am so happy for you. It really does work, doesn’t it? And I am a dog person too. There’s no better creatures to live for.
Thanks for joining me.
Maria
Hi, Maria….I’ve been following Susan for years, and I welcome the opportunity to follow your blog as well! I too am a moonwatcher, and also a fellow vegan….I became vegetarian on January 1, 2000, and have made the progression to vegan two years ago. I love this lifestyle, and feel a special fellowship with all others who eat a plant-based diet. I wish you well on your journey, and look forward to reading your blog!
Thank you very much, Joann and welcome! I really appreciate that feeling of fellowship as well. I am glad you are here to share it.
Maria
I also have MS, dx 2006 at 46 yo. I started with following the Swank Diet and have transformed into more a plant-based, whole foods, non-red meat type diet. I have gone from using a walker in 2006 to now – 130 lbs lighter and just finished running my second 10K of the year yesterday!!!!! Yes, I do take the tradition MS drugs (Avonex), ect… But the nutrition and exercise has changed my life!!!!! It is TRULY amazing!!!!!!
Wow, Pam, welcome! That’s wonderful to hear. You are an inspiration as well. This way of eating truly IS an amazing tool. Thank you for sharing your fabulous triumph.
Maria
I am very new to the idea of going vegan. I have MS since 1982 it has taken my legs from me…..but I am a fighter. I won’t let it win…I need help on what to buy for food. I know nothing about becoming a vegan. Could you please help me out? Many thanks, Darcy.
Welcome, Darcy. You are doing the best thing you can do by learning to eat this way. If you follow along, and look at Susan’s recipes, you will form a very good idea of what to buy for food. The Engine 2 blog also has a lot of good help with getting started in this way of eatingStick to whole fruits,vegetables, grains and legumes and avoid processed stuff and added oils. You’ll get the hang of it, and find what works best for you. You can do it!
Maria
Hi Maria,
My husband, Mike, and I are from Nampa, Idaho and we adopted a whole, plant-based diet in July, 2010 after reading The China Study. Our oldest son lives in Moscow (a senior at U of I). I am glad to see that you are doing well without the need for MS medications. Mike is a neurologist, and since he learned about whole, plant-based eating and the Swank diet, he has been recommending it to his MS patients (most are whom take the standard MS pharmaceutical treatments). We are interested to find out the results from the OHSU study comparing MS patients on the standard therapies and MS patients following the McDougall diet. I worked as a Coronary ICU nurse while Mike was in medical school and residency, so I am thrilled to know that heart disease can be reversed with a whole, plant-based diet. Since we’ve adopted this way of eating, both of us have seen our lipid panels dramatically improve with no need for statin drugs. Mike no longer needs meds for hypertension. We both dropped from BMI’s of 25 to BMI’s of 20. The surprising thing about this change in diet is that it’s been easier than most people think. The difficult part is convincing others to consider it. I asked our daughter, Kate, to read The China Study, and give me her professional opinion (she is pursuing a Phd in chemistry). After several months of pestering her to read this book, she finally did–and it turned her completely vegan. Our college boys still eat the animal and processed foods they grew up loving (except when they come home for visits). Most of Mike’s patients are more inclined to watch a youtube video or DVD then read a detailed book about nutritional research, so he recommends the Forks over Knives DVD or video clips by various plant-based physicians. What online information do you recommend to people with MS who are not easily convinced to change their way of eating? It is as difficult for some people to decide to give up animal foods and processed foods as it is to decide to quit smoking. If diet immersion programs such as McDougall’s and Esselstyn’s were paid for by insurance, I think more people would take advantage of them. Thanks for sharing your experiences and best wishes!
Welcome, Tami, and thank you SO MUCH for sharing all this with me. I can’t tell you how happy I am to learn there is a neurologist in Idaho that recommends this way of eating to his patients and walks the talk himself! I used to teach writing at the U of I and live right down the block from it. My son’s girlfriend’s family is from Nampa. What a small world. You and your husband are leading the way as health care professionals by setting such a wonderful example and spreading the word. I have no doubt anyone reading this comment with MS will feel less alone in their choice to eat this way knowing there’s at least one specialist out there who gets it and lives it. I feel honored to have you follow along.
Maria
PS: I do believe Dr. DeanOrnish’s program for reversing heart disease, which is quite similar to the Swank, McDougall and Esselstyn approaches, has been approved by Blue Cross of Caliornia. He has also done some ground breaking research showing how this way of eating can reverse early stage prostate cancer.
Maria,
Thank you so much for being brave enough to share your story and inspire others — I look forward to reading more about your journey! I became a vegan after starting on JuicePlus+ — just didn’t want to eat meat and dairy anymore; and after reading Campbell’s book The China Study, I was more convinced it was the right choice. It’s amazing what a change in diet can do, isn’t it? I lost 80 lbs, my vision improved, my skin is clear now, and I have a lot more energy! So glad your son and his girlfriend have joined you! That’s a true blessing! I wish you all the best and will keep you in my prayers!
-Emily
Welcome, Emily! It made very happy to read of your own transformation after choosing to eat vegan. Thank you for reading and for your kind words about my life and writing.
Maria
You are a wonderful lady and an inspiration to us all. I thoroughly enjoy your blog.
Thanks Sharron!
Maria
Isn’t it funny how you can identify with complete strangers? I’ve never followed a blog, but yours spoke to me. I’m a mother of an adorable 5 year old and just turned 30. Soon after my son was born my lovely autoimmune disorders started joining our family! Ulcerative Colitis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Arthritis, and the crazy list goes on. Recently my Neurologist said I have a highly suggestive case of MS but negative MRI’s. If you don’t mind me asking, did you experience anything similar in your diagnosis journey? Not being an idle person, or family, my parents came across The Starch Solution by Dr. McDougall and I’ve been doing my best to follow it for a month now. I already see a vast improvement and this blog gives me encouragement to keep going!!! Thank you!
Welcome, Tori, I am honored to be the first blog you follow! And yes, the internet brings so many of us together, and then we’re not strangers anymore. As I was reading your story, I was nodding my head in understanding and sympathy. I think many women especially have a similar diagnosis journey. In my early 20s, before MRIs, I had a cat scan that was inconclusive. The plaques showen were thought then to be caused by the mild CP. I’ll never know if that’s true or not. And then I also had many more autoimmune symptoms after my son was born, but in those days I didn’t even know to call it that or go looking for what it might be. Then later on in my 30s when it was affecting me so much I had to try to find out, same nothing. The doctor said virus and suggested depression, which I was mistreated for. And on and on. It is absolutely marvelous that you have such great parents who would find you The Starch Solution. I am SO glad to hear you are already seeing improvements. Stay with it! And I hope reading along with me continues to give you encouragement and hope. You can do it! Perhaps you’ll be sharing your own little victories and epiphanies with others some day. Thank you for your lovely comment.
xo
Maria
Hello “Moomwatcher” and all. I am a bit “technologically challenged” but I will try to send an entry. As I read my daughter’s message to you and your reply, I was moved to send a thought from my point of view. To all of you struggling with MS and other autoimmune issues, you cannot possibly know how much you move those of us, your family and friends. Your strength and determination are amazing! You inspire us! I was so happy to find Dr. McDougall’s website, and the info about The Starch Solution. When Tori told me her dr suspected MS, I absolutely refused to just stand by and watch. I wouldn’t give up on her that fast! I would FIGHT like any Mom would, for my sweet beautiful girl! So began the sleepless nights and searching, searching on the Internet in the wee hours of the morning. I was eventually lead to Dr. McD’s sight and was so excited when I saw the video with Dr. Swank on MS. It made so much sense! By then, my sweet girl had woken up one morning numb on the right side and was using a cane. This is a sight no parent should have to see when they look at their daughter, still in her 20′s!!!!! I ordered the book for my husband and I and one for Tori and we were off on another adventure in health. When we saw Tori this past week, we couldn’t believe the difference. We thanked God for her newfound strength. Her Dad and I have gone on the program too; her Dad, in a move of solidarity and myself, to help with my colitis and weight issues. So, we’ll continue to keep you “posted” on our progress. Our warmest thoughts and encouragement to all of you. Momma G
Dear Momma G,
I am thrilled to read your beautiful comment. Thank you so much! You are doing the best thing you can do for your daughter by finding her this way of eating AND joining her in it yourself! Congratulations on being such an amazing and supportive Mom! It sounds like you are all lucky to have each other on this journey. I am so happy to hear how well things are going for you, and glad writing about my own experience provides additional encouragement and support. Do keep me posted!
blessings,
Maria
Dear Maria,
Your story made me cry with hope. My husband has MS. We have done a lot of vegan things, but we are not as strict as you are. We need to go all the way. I live near you, near Portland. I would love to email you. I am sooooo happy for your recovery!!!! May it continue. Thanking God I found you,
Christine
Dear Christine,
Bless your heart for sharing in my happiness at such a deep level. The most important thing you and your husband can do is to eat a vegan diet as low in saturated fat as possible. As Tory and her mother have done, I would suggest reading The Starch Solution. Dr. McDougall does say in that book that if you have serious health issues, it’s best to avoid or keep to a bare minimum higher fat vegan foods like avocado, nuts, tempeh, and tofu. And of course no oil. I follow Dr. Esselstyn’s suggestion to have a tablespoon of ground flax a day for my omega 3s, but generally my use of nuts and avocado is scant and occasional. I would highly recommend his book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease as well, since the principles in it also apply to MS as well as heart disease. I am still trying to assimilate all the new technical things involved in writing this blog and responding to people, and one of those works in progress is mastering how to use my fat free vegan e-mail. Until or if the time comes I’m able to start communicating from there some of the time, please feel free to comment and ask me questions and I will respond this way. Though each person with MS is different, if he is able and willing to commit to it, I believe this way of eating is by far the most effective thing your husband can do to slow, stop or even reverse the progression of the MS. At least that has been certainly been true in my experience. I hope this helps and I am honored to have another northwest “neighbor” joining me here. Thank you so much for following along, and for expressing your hope.
blessings,
Maria
Thanks, Maria,
I will do that! I am getting The Starch Solution ASAP and adding it to all the great Eat to Live advice I have been following. I love the McDougalls’ simplicity. That is actually easier for me to manage than the complex recipes from Dr. Fuhrman. I love Susan’s site so much. The dressing I made last year at Thanksgiving was fab and my family demands it again. It’s great that it’s the healthy option and tastes so good. Thanks for the nudges in the right directions. I am so encouraged. This will be the best Thanksgiving yet. <3
all the best,
Christine
You’re welcome, Christine. I, too, love the McDougall simplicity. He also has a free talk on his web site called something like “Diet and Multiple Sclerosis.” The study he is conducting on diet and MS shows “encouraging” preliminary results. It will be great when the results can be made public. And that’s so great your family loves the dressing you made last year and wants it again! Here’s to the best Thanksgiving yet!
all the best back to you,
Maria
I read about your post on Susan’s Facebook page. I then looked at your about me section. My son suffers from dystonia. Sometimes dopa-responsive dystonia (DRD) is misdiagnosed as CP. DRD can have many different manifestations and is probably very under-diagnosed. High protein diets seem counteract dopamine action and so going on a vegan diet might help the symptoms, to some degree. Have you ever been tested for it or tried dopamine (Sinemet) as a treatment?
Welcome, Janice! Thank you for reading and for your informational comment. I was diagnosed with CP as a child, and I believe that diagnosis is correct. I wore a brace back then as well, to stretch my tight heel cord while it was still growing. I took a quick look at the condition you mention, dystonia, and my symptoms do not really fall in line with the description I read. Whatever the diagnosis I am given, I prefer to treat myself without medications unless they are absolutely necessary. I am quite stubborn about this! But it seems to work for me. I appreciate the information though, and wish you and your son the best. Let us know if a vegan diet helps him with his symptoms.
Maria
Hi Maria,
It’s so nice to see a blogger who’s roughly my age(72). You look younger than that, but you know what I mean. I began my plant-based diet about 5 years ago, after being diagnosed with a blocked artery. I’ve lost 30 pounds since then, and feel terrific, with plenty of energy. My husband also eats this diet and has amazed the drs. with his incredibly good bloodwork numbers. One thing I like about this way of eating is that it requires a whole new way of food prep. It’s fun to be getting much more creative with my cooking! Best wishes.
Crone (Kate)
Hi Kate,
Yes, I do know what you mean! Thank you! (Even though I am 56, I always hope my silver hair helps qualify me for at least “journeyman” crone status.) Congratulations on turning your own health around and losing weight, too, and feeling terrific. And also to your husband for amazing the doctors! I agree how much fun it is getting creative cooking this way. I’ve always loved to cook, but I love it even more now!
Best wishes back to you,
Maria
Hello,
I recently found your website via fatfreevegan and I usually do not like to read anything on people’s websites except their recipes however somehow your stories appealed to me and when I read this passage ” horrible fluctuation of body temperature resulting in pulsing feverish heat I would nearly pass out from, and then chills like the flu.” I knew that I was drawn to your site for a reason because this is what my body does at times and I’m flummoxed. Tell me, what was the reason your body did this…
Thank you and health be with you.
Hi Mooinca,
Thank you for joining me here and for your question. I am happy to know my stories appeal to you. Although my doctor did not require me to go through any specific formal diagnostic process to answer why I had such severe body temperature fluctuations, since those of us with MS often have significant problems regulating body temperature, i.e. cooling off when hot, for example, it was assumed by the doctor, the alternative healthy care practitioner and myself that they were a function of that neurological difficulty regulating body temperature intersecting with peri-menopausal symptoms. Eliminating oil, soy and eating very low fat and unprocessed has dramatically reduced the severity of these incidents. I sometimes have very mild hot flashes which are tolerable and last only a few minutes at most, but the other frequent and severe phenomenon is now thankfully a thing of the past. Everyone is unique, though, and so are the possible causes. It’s a good idea to run what happens to you by your health are practitioner to see what he or she might suggest.
Maria
ps: Wanted to add I am sorry you have to go through this. I hope your own adjustments in diet bring some relief.
Hi Maria, does fat free mean no nuts and no seeds?
Thanks,
kathy
Hi Kathy,
I do use a very small amount of nuts and seeds in my diet. For instance I use a tablespoon of ground flax a day, usually a teaspoon at a time, as a condiment/supplement on my cereal, salads, etc. But I do not cook with oil or use it as an ingredient. I have addressed this in many comments and also in the post “Reading My Way to Straight Up Food.” Once in a while there is a small amount of nuts or nut butter in something I eat, but not all the time. They are never a main ingredient, just more of an accent. I hope that answers your question.
Maria
Maria, I’ve been reading your posts in Susan’s blog. I have a daughter with MS and I’ve shown her information about a plant-based diet. But she’s not ready to go there whole-heartedly now… maybe later, who knows.
I really like your writing style and the gentle, kind way you express yourself, Maria. I’ve just subscribed to your posts and I look forward to hearing more of what you have to say. Keep up the good work!
Chuck in Bellevue, WA (raised near Spokane so not that far from knowing about your country)
Thank you, Chuck, for your kind words about my writing, and for subscribing to the blog. So great to have a “neighbor” along who knows about my country! Thank you, too, for telling me about your daughter with MS. I will hold a good thought for her.
A P.S. to my previous post, Maria.
I forgot to mention that I’ve been eating a strict plants-only, oil-free diet for the last three years, after having been vegetarian for 18 years before that. Hearing about and reading The China Study showed me there was this better way.
For me, the result of this diet was a drop in cholesterol from 208 to 128 in a matter of months, and being able to get off all blood pressure meds I’d been on for years. I just turned 78 years old, by the way. So I think I can help prove that age is not a factor in seeing incredible results from a plant-based diet.
Thanks again for your incredible, encouraging blog.
~ Chuck
Thanks for sharing a bit of your own journey, here, Chuck. I’m sure it will inspire anyone who reads it. The China Study is an amazing book. Reading it was so profound an experience for me I had to keep putting it down and just letting what I was reading sink in all the way. It definitely helped cinch the deal for me as well.
great to hear about your story.. you should also look for “macrobiotic” and get to know it.. nothing worked like macrobiotic for me. it sees plants and food as energy. it is all about listening to the body ..
Hi Salma, thanks! Yes, I am familiar with the macrobiotic approach and have incorporated that style into my own approach to good effect. And listening to the body is deeply helpful
I was just wondering where Elk Creek Falls was located. It looks like an area in NC where we live not too far from. We are on the TN side and the falls we went to is just on the other side of the mountain.
Hi Holly, thanks for reading! Elk Creek Falls is in northern Idaho. Sounds like we both live in beautiful country!
I accidentally bumped into your great website – and I’m very glad I did. I was diagnosed with MS in 2006 and immediately started to examine my diet. I’d been ovo-lacto vegetarian for most of my life, but the MS was the thing that eventually made me go the whole way. I also adopted a gluten free diet. I live in England (which is about 20 years in the past) and people have said to me, “Why cut out gluten? You’re already vegan – how will you get your protein?” That old chestnut! I was worried recently, however, to find out my B12 blood level was low – so now I get injections. I’m also on Copaxone – but it’s my diet that has stopped the relapses. People say I look really well these days; I use a stick, but one day I’ll throw it away.
Hi Rainshadow–what a happy accident indeed that you found me here! Thank you for reading, and for sharing some of your own process with diet and MS, which makes me also very happy to know. Sounds like you know what’s what. I wrote about my walking stick and my dog in the post Interdependence Days which you might appreciate, if you haven’t already seen it. I am so glad people say you are looking well; here’s to the continued slow motion miracle a healthy vegan diet brings to us!
Maria
Hi Rainshadow!! What a happy accident indeed! Thank you for reading, and sharing some of your own process with diet and MS here. I have a post about my walking stick and my dog called Interdependence Days, which you might appreciate, if you haven’t already seen it. I am so glad to hear people say you look really well these days. Here’s to the continued slow motion miracle a healthy vegan diet can bring!
Maria
Hi,
Thank-you so much.
Love your recipes so much.
I was diagnosed with MS in 2000, but had my first exacerbation in 1993. I eat organic-vegetarian, not quiet vegan yet.
I’m curious to know if you use any disease modifying drugs for your MS? I used Copaxone for 10 years, and just recently stopped.
You certainly are an inspiration to many people
Hi Wanita! Thanks for reading my blog, and for sharing some of your own journey with MS here. I have never taken any disease modifying drugs, for MS, or anything else. Glad to have you along!
Maria
Enjoyed finding your blog today–very inspiring! My son has mild C.P., and we lived with his wonderful service dog for eleven years, until she passed away from old age.
Have been on my own journey to whole plant food eating. I have found a lot of recipes on http://www.happyherbivore.com. Blessings to you!
Welcome, Susan! Thanks so much for your lovely comment–I enjoyed hearing about your son and his service dog. How lucky we are when they grace our lives. Blessings back to you on your journey to whole plant food eating, and to your son, too!!
Maria
Hi! Discovered you via a great link from Fat Free Vegan, and I’m so glad I did. I’m looking forward to catching up on all your delightful-looking posts.
I don’t have MS, but I have systemic lupus (SLE), which is also an autoimmune issue, and a lot of other serious health problems, including a childhood cancer history and late effects, type 2 diabetes, etc.. Thank you for inspiring me. My husband and I have been inching in a more low-fat, plant-based direction due to health issues, and so far we’re seeing lots of benefits.
Just want to say I really appreciate your wonderful blog and look forward to enjoying your posts and the inspiration within! Best wishes for health and happiness to you, fellow traveller.
Cheers,
“Aislin”
Thanks for this lovely comment, Aislin, and for sharing some of your own experience. I am so glad you will be joining me here. Best wishes for health and happiness to you, too, fellow traveller!