Lectin reduction/avoidance diet: Thoughts? Anyone doing it?

[Mamabug]

Mamabug-Tomatoes and potatoes are now off my restricted list.

So does that mean one only has to follow restrictions for a certain period and then have regular tests and stay away from only what may be causing grief at a given time?

And where does the IgG test get done? pathologist? allergist/immunologist?

Good questions. Tomatoes and potatoes are also now off of my restricted list. I do eat them now.

Yeah; your suggestion is kind of my strategy. Although my second IgG test added a few additional restrictions, it took more off than it added. Many of my numbers also dropped to indicate a lower sensitivity than before.

I'm hopeful that I will continue to heal and my restrictive list will grow shorter and shorter.

But, I'm speculating, just as you are.

[Carolinemf]

Mamabug-Tomatoes and potatoes are now off my restricted list.

So does that mean one only has to follow restrictions for a certain period and then have regular tests and stay away from only what may be causing grief at a given time?

And where does the IgG test get done? pathologist? allergist/immunologist?

[Mamabug]

They just called it an IgG test (no number). The results of that should be done now so that's a task for next week to find out.

...my attitude like yours is to figure out how I can get a handle on this disease.

The number indicates how many foods they test for.

Let's hope we can all "get a handle on this disease".

[Golgotha]

Sorry for letting this thread lapse, but I wanted to pick it back up.

I'm currently on a fairly restrictive diet recommended by my functional medicine doctor.

I'm jealous. I need one of those. :-) The thing that concerns me is the cost.

IgG 184 Food Sensitivities Panel test done.

To save myself the $300 to do one (and the possibility of my DNA info being sold on the "information market") I finagled the VA into doing one. They just called it an IgG test (no number). The results of that should be done now so that's a task for next week to find out.

The first time (in June) showed sensitivities to all of the 6 high lectin foods that one article identified: red kidney beans, soy, wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes.

Very interesting! At various times, MS has impacted all 5 of my senses. In particular my sense of taste, smell and even hunger.

I used to think of that as a big negative, but like with many things with MS one can spin it into a positive too. Since I view food/diet as something important to deal with MS and since today I'm in a position that I can easily modify my diet however I want, I might as well do something "extreme" like the lectin avoidance diet. The only thing I'll have to do is to get into new habits of what to cook -- taste and the routine "joy" of eating are secondary, in large part "thanks" to MS.

my MS has not become worse and a few symptoms seem to be improving.

I'll take that. I'm toying with the idea of diet combined with doing a "reverse snowbird" and spending summers in the far northeast (as close to the Canadian border as I can get ).

Since I have a strong contrarian attitude, am on disability and have plenty of time on my hands, my attitude like yours is to figure out how I can get a handle on this disease.

[Mamabug]

I just wish there was a straight forward answer of what diet is best. So many of them say different things.

Yeah; I wish that too.

For salt, I use the healthy mineral salt (not Norton's, but the pink salt or grey salt from health food stores). In addition to it not being unhealthy, it actually provides health benefits.

In addition to wheat, dairy and sugar, I am sensitive to a great many additional foods. Foods that are healthy, except that, I am currently sensitive to them, so they are not healthy for me. And, those change over time, so I recently had a second IgG test done.

[Daisycat]

A lot of that sounds how I eat already now. I’m no dairy, then as low as possible with sodium, saturated fat, sugar, wheat.

I eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and chicken/turkey/fish.

I just wish there was a straight forward answer of what diet is best. So many of them say different things.

[Mamabug]

How do you get that test done? I’m kinda worried it would come Back with me having nothing to eat. But it would still be Interesting

Yeah; it really does restrict my diet significantly. It's not hard to stick to at home but it makes eating in restaurants a challenge. An even bigger challenge is eating places where I don't have a choice what to order, like at church meals, etc. Thankfully, my church is getting much better at offering dietary options for those with restrictions.

I don't think "regular" doctors do it. My functional medicine doctor (Dr. G) sends me to a lab to have it done. It's a big part of what he does; his field is clinical nutrition and he believes that "food is medicine". I find it interesting that, even before the first test was done, he recommends no wheat, no dairy, no sugar for all of his patients -- and even eats a lot that way himself. And, my IgG test results show that my sensitivities to wheat, gluten and dairy are very high. (It doesn't test for sugar.)

I think that other functional medicine doctors might do it too. It is expensive -- costs about $300 and insurance doesn't cover it.

[Daisycat]

i've also become a firm believer in the links between MS and our diet. I wish I would have known, years ago, what I know now. I would have made different decisions.

I'm currently on a fairly restrictive diet recommended by my functional medicine doctor. No wheat, no dairy, no cane sugar. I've also had an IgG 184 Food Sensitivities Panel test done. The first time (in June) showed sensitivities to all of the 6 high lectin foods that one article identified: red kidney beans, soy, wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes. After avoiding wheat and dairy, and eating sugar and all of my sensitive foods very sparingly for 8 months, I had a second test done in February and just had my results mailed to me this week. Tomatoes and potatoes are now off my restricted list.

In these months since summer, my MS has not become worse and a few symptoms seem to be improving.

For more information, check out my thread here: https://www.msworld.org/forum/showth...edicine-Part-2

How do you get that test done? I’m kinda worried it would come Back with me having nothing to eat. But it would still be Interesting

[Mamabug]

I'm a firm believer in the idea that there are ties/links between MS and our diet.
...

What I'm curious to get is feedback about this lectin theory, and especially from anyone who might have tried this type of diet. Anyone?

i've also become a firm believer in the links between MS and our diet. I wish I would have known, years ago, what I know now. I would have made different decisions.

I'm currently on a fairly restrictive diet recommended by my functional medicine doctor. No wheat, no dairy, no cane sugar. I've also had an IgG 184 Food Sensitivities Panel test done. The first time (in June) showed sensitivities to all of the 6 high lectin foods that one article identified: red kidney beans, soy, wheat, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes. After avoiding wheat and dairy, and eating sugar and all of my sensitive foods very sparingly for 8 months, I had a second test done in February and just had my results mailed to me this week. Tomatoes and potatoes are now off my restricted list.

In these months since summer, my MS has not become worse and a few symptoms seem to be improving.

For more information, check out my thread here: https://www.msworld.org/forum/showth...edicine-Part-2

[KoKo]

Forgot to add that I don't drink the wine that is included in the Mind Diet.

I do eat a good amount of blueberries and strawberries, though.

Take Care

[KoKo]

My "vice" is tortilla chips, which I use for eating guacamole.

Mine too! Tortilla chips and salsa, with mashed avocados, is my special occasion treat. It's not really all that bad, considering the variety of junk foods available.

My diet was created as sort of a practical "best of" ideas of all of the various MS diets I've tried; taking common themes from various ones. (I credit Dr. Wahls' diet and greens for improving my eyesight to better than 20/20 for distance vision.)

You're doing a terrific job with your diet plan, Golgotha.

Take Care

[Golgotha]

I do eat tomatoes, peppers, and beans/legumes.

At this point, so do I -- except I eat minimal legumes.

Basically I follow the Mind Diet, a variation of the Mediterranean Diet

I had no idea what the Mind Diet was so I looked it up.

So we're similar, though I probably eat more meat than you do. I basically eat tons of veggies, some organic but most not, lots and lots and lots of greens, very little-to-no dairy or legumes and I'm 99.78% gluten free (only a rare slip-up). My meat consists of anti-biotic free/decent chicken breasts and wild caught fish primarily, but I'll occasionally have some beef or chorizo when I eat "junk food." My "vice" is tortilla chips, which I use for eating guacamole. (I never liked guac until I discovered that spicy guac works as a laxative for me. )

My diet was created as sort of a practical "best of" ideas of all of the various MS diets I've tried; taking common themes from various ones. (I credit Dr. Wahls' diet and greens for improving my eyesight to better than 20/20 for distance vision.)

[KoKo]

I just realized that I veered off from your original topic on lectins, Golgotha.

Sorry about that! (Can I blame it on the time change?)

Take Care

[KoKo]

You make good points, Golgotha.

I guess the only thing one can do is try eliminating questionable foods, and see if it makes a difference in symptoms, or how the person feels, as you did with gluten.

I do eat tomatoes, peppers, and beans/legumes. I very rarely eat meat (if a family member brings a meal over that includes meat, I do eat it, though.)

Basically I follow the Mind Diet, a variation of the Mediterranean Diet, which I feel pretty good on. Everybody is different.

Take Care

[Golgotha]

When I read about lectins, don´t remember where, I gave up red kidney beans.

In one MS diet book I read legumes were listed as one of the foods that people with MS could be sensitive/allergic to. I similarly eliminated legumes from my diet for about a year. (FWIW, the diet was no cure-all but may have made a minor improvement -- or was that just fluctuations in MS? I don't know.)

With this lectin idea, however, that wouldn't have made much of a difference since if this theory is correct (note the "if") I would've been getting lectins from other sources.

By carefully cooking, you can lower the lectin content of legumes.

It's funny, I view cooking as a chore and not a joy. (Call it a guy thing if you want. ) A while ago I bought an InstaPot and wanted to use it just to save time/effort and as part of an effort to eat healthier. But I've barely used it since it seemed to be more trouble than what it was worth.

If I adopt this low/no-lectin diet, I'll have a renewed effort to use that pressure cooker. My guess is I'll give up legumes, but since I have a fondness for quinoa I'll pressure cook that and some other things to break up lectins.