12 year old w/ON...diet question.

[jlenox98]

our 12 year old daughter was DXD with optic neuritis in August. we saw an MS specialist, a ped neurologist specializing in demylenating diseases and a neuro opth who all agree her MRI coupled with the NO looks a lot like MS. we will follow up in Dec with a spinal tap and another mri including her spine, this time. so, we're in a bit of a grey area right now. considering that, what sort of dietary things should we be doing. this is all new to us and the diets mentioned vary. any suggestions? we are supplementing with vit d and a multi at the moment.

[Sequoia]

I'm very sorry to hear your daughter has ON.

Since we're talking about a 12-year-old here and not an adult, I'm reluctant to make suggestions about nutrition &/or supplements. Hopefully Tara, who is qualified to give advice in these areas, will be along soon and will be able to help you.

My very best wishes to your daughter, and to you.

Sequoia

[Sir-Voor]

Hi,

Sorry to hear she and you are going though this.

The main thing you want from the diet is to be anti-inflammatory, and different MS diets go about this in different ways the goal is the same.
I prefer using “The Inflammation Free Diet Plan” method, it flexible and allow a person to create a diet that fixes the needs and taste. You can learn more about at NutritionData.com http://nutritiondata.self.com/help/inflammation

One aspect of a good healthy and tasty diet is spices, not only will the boost the healthiness of a diet they make a diet enjoyable and fun.

Along with creating a anti-inflammatory diet, create a diet that is both anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants.
And again spices can really boost it.

Now you want good quality spices, and although fresh is best. Some spices can’t be gotten fresh and for them I highly recommend Penzeys.com.
To me for quality and low cost it’s the place to shop.

One diet that is recommended is a gluten free diet, it is not one I personally do but for some people it work wonders.
That is because if some immune system reacts to gluten it can be highly inflammatory.
Take into account how bad her symptoms or and how strong her will power is before starting.

So have her create her own diet based on her health needs and taste, when ever she has a new health issue just have her Google "“Health Issue" diet” and have her modify accordingly.

Some of my favorite diet things are:
Rice milk
Almond (Specially the Dark Chocolate Almond Milk)
Ceylon Cinnamon
China Cinnamon
Garlic power and minced Garlic
Carrot juice
Sweet patios (& sweet patios fries)

[Sequoia]

If you're interested in following an anti-inflammatory diet with your daughter (which is nutritionally sound for anyone), here's a simple graphic presentation from Andrew Weil, MD:

http://www.drweil.com/drw/ecs/pyrami...odpyramid.html

[nutritiontara]

So sorry about your daughter.

Nutrition is going to be very important for her.
Not only is she going through the stress of this possible diagnosis, she is also growing, replacing cells and starting puberty.

Please do not make the mistake of restricting fats.
She needs lots of quality fats, and adequate amounts of protein.

Quality food fat choices would be; grass-fed butter, eggs, flax oil, tree nuts and seeds, avocados, fatty/oily fish, whole-fat- hormone free yogurt, things like that.

Fat is necessary ---it just has to be sourced from quality.

Many of those things I mentioned also contain protein.

I would never recommend a vegan diet for a child.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

[jlenox98]

Thank you Tara and everyone else for your replies. In terms of proteins, how you feel about chicken - it is the only "meat" we occasioanlly eat. And when I do buy it, it's organic, free range, etc. Legumes? She loves beans.

[Sequoia]

Thank you Tara and everyone else for your replies. In terms of proteins, how you feel about chicken - it is the only "meat" we occasioanlly eat. And when I do buy it, it's organic, free range, etc. Legumes? She loves beans.

Chicken should be fine as a protein source.

Legumes may be a problem, though. You can use the "Search This Forum" feature to learn more on the subject, but briefly, Tara recommends that beans be eaten only in sprouted form, or fermented (cultured) products such as miso, natto and tempeh.

[jlenox98]

ugh, first of all, constantly having to re-log in here is annoying - am i missing something?

secondly...ugh on the beans. she LOVES them, always has. and my husband is vegetarian so you can imagine they're a mainstay in our diet. family of 5 with a vegetarian...3 kids...tough to make everyone happy.

thanks sequoia (did i butcher that?) for the quick response.

[Sequoia]

We've been having problems with the login process; they're in the process of being fixed (fingers crossed!).

As for the beans, not all people who are making dietary changes because of MS avoid them; it's a judgment call. Generally speaking, eliminating gluten is considered more important, followed by dairy products...but even there there's no consensus among the various MS diets.

I'm a vegetarian myself...vegan, actually, although I used to eat dairy products and eggs. With all due respect to Tara, I do eat beans regularly, albeit in modest amounts. I mostly stick to adzuki beans and lentils, with occasional forays into the larger beans. I also eat tofu and tempeh, and use miso regularly for soups.

BUT! That's just me, and I'm an adult who's had many years to figure out what works for her. I'm in no way advising you about your daughter's diet...just sharing my own experience.