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how does a lowfat, dairy & meat free diet help my ms?

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    how does a lowfat, dairy & meat free diet help my ms?

    i have been reading alot about the swank diet and low fat dairy free gluten free meat free diets and how it can help ms. how does it help?
    i have been a vegetarian for 10 yrs, i eat mostly organic foods and a ton of fuits and veggies. i have always worked out, taken vitamins and practice yoga. so i think i am just wondering how will this diet help me being that it is not much different from how i already live?

    thanks

    #2
    "Direct MS" is a good site to explain the theory.
    Don't be afraid of the waves- Focus on the MASTER walking on the water - you won't even SEE the waves

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      #3
      Originally posted by Twenty Miles View Post
      "Direct MS" is a good site to explain the theory.
      That's a good site; so is the MS Recovery Diet site.

      Also, although Tara is a proponent of eliminating gluten, she doesn't counsel removing all dairy products and lowering all fats. She encourages the use of "predigested" dairy products such as yogurt, kefir and cheese, and generous use of "good" fats such as extra virgin olive oil & coconut oil, and especially flaxseed oil.

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        #4
        Coconut oil is awesome!

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          #5
          inflammatory

          I know that when I stopped meat, dairy, fried foods and pastry, my weight and blood pressure dropped and daily headaches were gone. I read somewhere (Swank?) that those foods are inflammatory, inflammations cause lesions, and lesions = MS, for some.

          Most elders have lesions that naturally occur over time, possibly because of the American diet: meat, milk, pastry. Their lesions accumulate over time, as do their impairments. Not unlike MS.

          I'm not a nutritionist, but I am now a vegetarian of sorts - eat lots of fresh fruit, whole wheat bread, brown rice, vegetables, broiled or baked fish, potatoes (without the add ons) and have not had a relapse since four months after diagnosis and beginning injections.

          I do still eat dark chocolate ... it is my weakness.
          First symptoms: 1970s Dx 6/07 Copaxone 7/07 DMD Free 10/11
          Ignorance was bliss ... I regret knowing.

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            #6
            I too was on a low fat diet for years prior to my MS diagnosis, so I am not convinced that low fat will help. In fact, I'm not sure if it didn't contribute to my MS. Because Vitamin D is fat soluable, I don't believe I was absorbing that or any other fat soluable vitamins.

            I thought I was being healthy by eliminating as much fat from my diet as possible. Limiting saturated fat is great of course, but, I should at least have had Omega 3s.

            I personally am doing fine eating meat. I make sure to take my vitamin D and multi vit. with a meal now (remember not before a meal...won't absorb the vitamins that way). I guess I've just wondered if much of my problems came from poor vitamin absorbtion.

            Rebif, vit.D, exercise, and limiting sugar are keeping me active. I want to go gluten free too, but, I am really struggling. I am just limiting it for now.

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              #7
              Originally posted by getoutside View Post
              I too was on a low fat diet for years prior to my MS diagnosis, so I am not convinced that low fat will help.....
              DITTO. I have been on a low fat "diet", virtually my entire life. So, unless I am an anomaly to this theory, I simply don't "buy" it.
              Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

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                #8
                not a diet

                The word diet, even when it's life-long, sounds temporary, and invites vacations or cheating. I prefer "new menu" ... and "low fat" isn't as effective as little to no fat, which means no prepared (packaged) foods, plenty of fresh veggies and fruits, a cup of low fat yogurt every other day, no condiments that contain real or fake dairy products, no pastries, cookies, etc. which have hidden fat in "low amounts" that still add up.

                I'm amazed at the number of aisles in the grocery store in which I now buy nothing ... the number of choices of foods that are just not healthy is astonishing ... I remember the corner grocery store in the 1950s, a small place with a brand or two of each popular item, not the scads of competitive brands and the confusion of comparative pricing ...

                I wish you luck in pursuing a better menu for yourself. Mine is fairly simple and easy to stick to. Cereal, whole what bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, fresh veggies and fruits, raisins, nuts, fish baked or broiled ... I avoid white foods (sugar, white flour goods, salt, white rice) and eat small portions. My vice is dark chocolate, and baked tostito chips and pretzels (doctor's recommendation because sodium was low last year), but I am trying to limit portion size there, too. I drink water, herb tea, and decaf black coffee - and orange or cranberry juice cut with filtered water ... I'm not a lot of fun at a party table, so I snack at home before I go, and look for the fruit.

                I had some resistance initially from friends who thought I was making a mistake eliminating meat and dairy, but as the years have passed and I remain headache free and on my feet they have quieted down. I don't ask them to eat what I eat, and I don't criticize what they eat. My blood labs this past week were all within the normal range, cholesterol, lipids, glucose, iron, the works included.

                Food, packaging, commercials, advertisements for food, pictures of food ... it has all lost its attraction for me. Now it is just fuel, and I am content. I enjoy life, not food.
                First symptoms: 1970s Dx 6/07 Copaxone 7/07 DMD Free 10/11
                Ignorance was bliss ... I regret knowing.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by chalknpens View Post
                  The word diet, even when it's life-long, sounds temporary, and invites vacations or cheating. I prefer "new menu" ... and "low fat" isn't as effective as little to no fat, which means no prepared (packaged) foods, plenty of fresh veggies and fruits, a cup of low fat yogurt every other day, no condiments that contain real or fake dairy products, no pastries, cookies, etc. which have hidden fat in "low amounts" that still add up.

                  I'm amazed at the number of aisles in the grocery store in which I now buy nothing ... the number of choices of foods that are just not healthy is astonishing ... I remember the corner grocery store in the 1950s, a small place with a brand or two of each popular item, not the scads of competitive brands and the confusion of comparative pricing ...

                  I wish you luck in pursuing a better menu for yourself. Mine is fairly simple and easy to stick to. Cereal, whole what bread, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, fresh veggies and fruits, raisins, nuts, fish baked or broiled ... I avoid white foods (sugar, white flour goods, salt, white rice) and eat small portions. My vice is dark chocolate, and baked tostito chips and pretzels (doctor's recommendation because sodium was low last year), but I am trying to limit portion size there, too. I drink water, herb tea, and decaf black coffee - and orange or cranberry juice cut with filtered water ... I'm not a lot of fun at a party table, so I snack at home before I go, and look for the fruit.

                  I had some resistance initially from friends who thought I was making a mistake eliminating meat and dairy, but as the years have passed and I remain headache free and on my feet they have quieted down. I don't ask them to eat what I eat, and I don't criticize what they eat. My blood labs this past week were all within the normal range, cholesterol, lipids, glucose, iron, the works included.

                  Food, packaging, commercials, advertisements for food, pictures of food ... it has all lost its attraction for me. Now it is just fuel, and I am content. I enjoy life, not food.
                  This is such a good post! Thank you.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm really glad to see people talking about diet here. Because (most) Doctors won't talk about it, there is room for weird diets.

                    I follow the recommendations of Dr. Jelenek, which is basically a no meat (chicken is meat), no dairy, no saturated fat diet, with Omega 3 supplementation. Fish is OK. I do add chicken.

                    It's all based on the work of Roy Swank, who invented the MS diet in the 40s. Over the generations, he put patients on it and counseled a lifestyle that would help to preserve their health, with very good results. Its' called "The MS diet book" and you should be able to get it in your library. Some of it is outdated, but his research is the basis of all the other diets. He published the results in the Lancet and was promptly ignored.

                    It's worth reading, perhaps not word for word, but you will learn a lot from a man that knew more about this disease than 10 modern Neuros.

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                      #11
                      I'd like to add that Swank's book is not only a cook book, but it's a guide to how to live with MS which was developed over 50 years. He explains fatigue and how to cope with it, what to expect, etc.

                      Some of his notions are no loner in favor - he recommends against exercise, for example. But he got so many things right, even from his own research that smoking made people worse.

                      I ordered an old copy on Amazon, but if you can get it at your library, it's a great read. Keep in mind that any MS diet is based on this, so you might as well go back to the source.

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                        #12
                        Swank

                        I was on the Swank for about a month. Fell off it last weekend due to a trip out of state. Last night couldn't sleep due to leg jumps, leg twitches, etc, today eye floaters, headaches, fatigue.

                        I feel better on the diet. I look better when I am on the diet....but even with all of this I struggle to stay with it. Just keep plugging away!

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                          #13
                          Also, although Tara is a proponent of eliminating gluten, she doesn't counsel removing all dairy products and lowering all fats. She encourages the use of "predigested" dairy products such as yogurt, kefir and cheese, and generous use of "good" fats such as extra virgin olive oil & coconut oil, and especially flaxseed oil.[/QUOTE]

                          Thank you Sequioa,
                          I have to remind everyone the Swank diet was published in 1948. Before the assualt on us with hydrogenated oils.

                          Here are the facts about saturated fat and cholesterol:

                          From 1910 to 1990 the consumption of saturated fat has declined from 83% to 62% and dietary cholesterol has increased by only 1%. During this same period the consumption of vegetable oils (omega-6) in the form of margarine, shortening and refined oils increased by 400% and the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased 600% (1).
                          (1) Enig, Mary G, PhD, Trans Fatty Acids in the Food Supply: A Comprehensive Report Covering 60 Years of Research, 2nd Edition, Enig Associates, Inc., silver Spring, MD, 1995, 4-8.


                          Consuming vegetable oils and hydrogenated oils combined with excess refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and white flour is a recipe for illness. These rancid, oxidized polyunsaturates create free-radicals which damage strands of DNA/RNA that trigger mutations in tissue, blood vessels and skin. Free-radical damage to the skin causes wrinkles, skin cancer and premature aging, free-radical damage to tissue and organs sets the stage for cancer, and free-radical damage to blood vessels initiates the buildup of plaque.
                          NutritionTara
                          Eat better, feel better and be richer for it.

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                            #14
                            Tara,

                            I do agree that we've been "assualted" with processed fats and foods, but I dont' think you're being quite fair to Swank. The 1987 version advocates against hydrogenated fats. No one need read the 1948 version. The book is also a good resourse because he talks about the disease itself from the point of view of living with it, not just diet.

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                              #15
                              This may explain better:

                              http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...Types-of-Fats/

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