What are the best dietary guidelines to improve your life with MS?

The dietary guidelines that your neurologist will normally give you when diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) vary quite a bit or are nonexistent.

After living and dealing with MS for more than 14 years now, I strongly recommend that you read the “MS nutritional manual” to discover what things are doing you good and which could be doing you more harm and worsening your MS.

Back in 1997 when I was diagnosed, since nobody talked to me about what food to eat and what food to avoid I remember going on-line and purchasing a wonderful book called “The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book” (did I mentioned that it is an excellent book?).

Dr. Swank’s diet, as it is known today, is a very good starting point to begin reading and learning about MS and nutritional factors but in my opinion, this particular diet is too rigid and demanding to stick with.

I have benefited greatly from a book which has examined the link between what we eat and multiple sclerosis. If you would like to know what foods are attacking your body, what supplements you must take and how to create the energy that you need, then this book is a must read: “Reverse Multiple Sclerosis”

The way I see it is that dietary guidelines, like MS, are to be different from person to person, not in their essence but in their form. By this I mean that I don’t believe there is a magic MS diet or a particular diet that will help you get rid of all your MS symptoms but instead by learning what foods and why they are affecting your MS symptoms , you can start gaining more control over your MS, hence your life.

For example, in my case I am struggling with chronic fatigue which causes me to feel a huge lack of energy on most days and dealing with memory problems. If you are experiencing these problems too, you will discover and find the best foods that will help you fight these MS symptoms.

I am a firm believer that you and me, armed with the right dietary guidelines, can influence and change our lives for the better and deal with most of our MS symptoms , if we follow certain instructions and recommendations regarding our nutrition practices.

THE DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR YOUR MS

Here are the six (6) guidelines briefly explained:

1. Limit your consumption of animal fats (saturated fats): The consumption of foods containing these elements have a direct effect in MSers since foods rich in animal fat or saturated fats increase inflammation which makes MS symptoms worse.

   The best dietary guidelines limit your consumption to 1 or 2 servings per week choosing the healthiest cut of meat, free range chicken and preferably fish.

2. Increase your intake of plant base foods: According to the dietary guidelines, these foods contain fito chemicals which acts as antioxidants in your body which helps by reducing stress which helps to reduce inflammation.

   Under this group you will find fruits and vegetables including avocados and nuts, especially walnuts, cashews and almonds.

3. Spice your meals with the right spices: When cooking try using garlic with all its benefits, fresh ginger, herbs like rosemary and oregano which are excellent anti-inflammatory and cinnamon to sweeten your favorite dessert.

4. Omega 3 and Omega 6: Are types of essential fatty acids – which means that we cannot make them on our own and have to obtain them from our diet. Here all you really need to do is to try to balance the amount of Omega 3s and Omegas 6s by following these guidelines:



• For omega 3 fatty acids, you need to eat lots of fish and fish oils (3 to 4 times per week is best). Fish like salmon (preferably fresh or frozen wild or canned sockeye), sardines packed in water or olive oil, herring, and black cod (sablefish, butterfish) are excellent choices.

  Omega 3 fortified eggs; hemp seeds and flaxseeds (preferably freshly ground) or take a fish oil supplement (look for products that provide both (eicosapentaenoic acid) EPA and (docosahexaenoic acid) DHA, in a convenient daily dosage of two to three grams).

• Flax oils or Flax seeds (1 tbs. of flax oil per day or 3 tbs. of freshly ground flaxseeds per day.

• Eliminating Omega 6s or process vegetable oils like soy bean oil, regular safflower and sunflower oils, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and mixed vegetable oils.

• You do need Omega 6 fats but in their natural forms: Avoid refined and hydrogenated versions of these foods: Flaxseed oil, flaxseeds, flaxseed meal, hempseed oil, hempseeds, grape seed oil, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds (raw), olive oil, olives, borage oil, evening primrose oil, black currant seed oil, chestnut oil, chicken, among others.

Omega 6 fatty acids tend to increase inflammation (an important component of the immune system’s response) while Omega 3 fatty acids decrease those functions

There are different opinions around the exact quantity of each type of Omega 3s and 6s you should be taking every day. The optimal ratio is 2:1 in favor of Omega 3 (two Omega 3 to one Omega 6). Most Western diets range between 10 and 20 to 1 in favor of omega 6!

5. Eat whole carbs: You want carbohydrates in their most natural form for example, you want to eat corn instead of corn flakes, Oat meal instead of a granola bars that is made with oats meal. The golden rule should be: The less processed the better.

6. Eliminate Trans-fats from your diet: Trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.

   Another name for trans fats is “partially hydrogenated oils." You can look for them on the ingredient list on food packages. Trans fats are very pro-inflammatory which in turn will worsen you MS symptoms

By following these dietary guidelines you should start noticing a slow but progressive change in you Multiple Sclerosis (MS) symptoms.

Furthermore, I highly recommend the “MS nutritional manual” if you wish to compliment these basic dietary guidelines with a more thorough explanation of the role that the right nutrition can play in your MS and its nutritional program to better control many of your ms symptoms such as chronic fatigue and memory problems.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Read about starting an anti-inflammatory diet for your MS

Read about adopting a low fat diet for your MS



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