Dairy???

[moolk]

What in the world will cutting down on dairy do for my MS?

[pnowsitall]

Dairy

Hey Moolk, well dairy is a known inflammatory. They say milk and stuff is not great for us because of the inflammation it does, so with people with MS, we should be careful about this.

Probiotics are great, like Kefir, which has probiotics in it. Also, milk is fortified with vitamin D, which we need more of actually, so milk isn't the best source of vid D. Hope this answers your question.

[BigA]

Take a look at these articles by professor jelinek. He recommends zero milk products.

http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...lk-Connection/


http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...eases+MS+risk/

[unsureofanything]

interesting but be careful

i found out i am allergic to milk a year ago and now i probably have MS although i don't how how or if they are related, except that allergies also involve the immune system.

note that the technical name for what i have is milk protein intolerance, which has symptoms of allergy (rashes etc) but sub-threshold but above normal IgE RAST test anti-bodies. the protein is CASEIN which is not just found in cow's milk it's in all mammalian milk but is more abundant in cows milk. so i avoid all sources of casein. this is very different from lactose intolerance which more or less causes farty pants because the digestive tract lacks the enzyme to process lactose. I am not lactose intolerant.

currently i am taking phenergan and on a milk free diet as well as taking D3 and multi-B supplements. the phenergan has reduced some inflammation I think and in my case it means i am a little less stiff and red. but it's not reducing my symptoms that are probably MS related, like the wobblies and twitches, funny talking and all that. phenergan is an anti-histamine which means it blocks the chemical that activates inflammatory cells, like the ones that make my skin red and rashy. it doesn't repair nerves or stop flares as far as i know. it's just an allergy medication.

but were i a betting woman because casein comes from milk fat and mylein is a type of fat, it's not impossible that somehow my immune system may have gotten the milk fat and myelin confused. and so that's why i have allergy to milk and what looks very much like demyleination.

but no one knows yet what causes MS so you have got to be really really careful. even when you don't have MS and just want to change your diet or think it's a good idea, you've got to be careful. be very methodological and scientific in your approach and make sure you're getting all the nutrients you need. the relationship between food and our bodies is both complicated and important, so never change your diet unless you've covered all your bases and it is really in your personal interests. i.e. milk is probably bad for me but that doesn't mean it's bad for you, it needs to be tested in your actual case, not assumed.

[Spydre]

Dairy is only inflammatory in certain people - such as those with lactose intolerance. I can drink milk in small amounts, but above those amounts, I have digestive problems. Other forms of dairy I can usually tolerate though.

There is a lot of conflicting information about diet out there. I'm currently following my "normal" diet, although modified a bit (we can't afford to modify too much with 2 teenagers). Yes, some of my diet probably impacts my MS, but I don't believe as much of the hype that is out there. I'm don't have an allergy to gluten, etc.

[meeegun]

moolk,

results from studies are conflicting, but a recent study that was posted about on this board and published in JAMA basically showed that after 10 years of treatment with interferon medication there was no statistical difference in level of disability between the control and experimental group.

we spend thousands of dollars a month (via insurance, hopefully ) on these medications and as it turns out, we should be asking that very question of the meds we take. now, i point this out not to suggest that we shouldn't take our meds--we should. but the bottom line is that NO ONE knows what benefit any of these treatments might have on us. we are essentially hedging our bets with treatment. and in my opinion, even a 10% reduction in flares would go a long way towards improving my quality of life. wouldn't you agree?

i know that since diagnosis, a lot my my time, energy, worry, and money has gone into securing medication, insurance and treatment for my MS. i am willing to bet that many people here have gone through something similar.

some of the MS meds have quite serious side effects, even death. the interferons can cause liver damage. and thats not even getting into the fact that these are all injectable meds. OUCH! all of this time, money, energy, and PAIN for a treatment that we aren't even sure how effective it really is...

now lets talk about diet. the effectiveness of medications seems to be about as contentious as diet. and even if diet is less efficacious, instead of dangerous side effects or death it is actually beneficial to your body. you don't need dairy. it doesn't do anything beneficial that a leafy green can't do.

since going both dairy and gluten free i have to by default make better food choices. i have to eat more greens, fruits and vegetables everyday because if i don't i will go hungry. i have essentially eliminated by default a vast majority of unhealthy food choices.

so, you could say that the side effect of removing dairy from my diet is that i am healthier--i have lower blood pressure, my acne cleared up, i've lost 10+ pounds, the list goes on.

so, you ask what will taking dairy out of your diet do for your MS? my response to that is it could make you a healthier person. after considering all of my options when deciding how to treat my MS, i found that nugget pretty hard to argue with.

what is the risk? nothing.

what is the potential benefit? better health. and perhaps a reduction in disease activity.

there isn't a medication on the market that can offer you odds even close to that. if we are willing to invest all of that time, energy, money, worry, risk of side effects, and pain into something that at BEST can give us 30% less flares, then it seems like a diet change would be easy. yet, it seems like dietary changes are met with such skepticism and even hostility. if you aren't sure how it can help, fire up the google machine and see for yourself what information is out there.