Best Bet Diet for MS

When you live with multiple sclerosis, your body's immune system begins to attack the protective coating around nerve fibers within your brain and spinal cord. The damage is progressive and degenerative. Over time, you begin to lose fine motor control, experience numbness and tingling in your extremities, and may have visual and other sensory disturbances.

Inflammation in your system makes MS worse. By carefully choosing the foods you eat, you can counter inflammation, support and regulate your immune system, slow the progression of MS, and improve your overall function and quality of life.

The Best Proteins

• Protein forms the building blocks of many of your body's tissues and can contain high levels of inflammatory fats.

  Choose proteins that are high quality and have undergone minimal processing, such as skinless white meat chicken, white nonoily fish, egg whites and game meats. Choose cuts that are lean and trim as much of the fat as you can before cooking. Limit your meat intake to 3 ounces per meal.

  Choose low- or nonfat dairy products because they are lower in saturated fats and, therefore, less likely to cause an inflammatory response. Limit your intake of dairy to two 1-cup servings each day.

Carbohydrates

• Select carbohydrates that are in their most natural state. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes are excellent carbohydrate sources for the MS diet. Potatoes and rice are also good. Eat as many of these foods as you like.

  Grains, such as wheat, barley, rye, and oats, work well for some. Others find they have a sensitivity to these foods and do better without them. If you choose to include grains, whole grains are always better than refined.

  Many of the snack foods in the typical Western diet are highly processed, refined grains with a high amount of sugar and chemically altered fats. Avoid these foods because they are highly inflammatory.

The Best Fats

• Your body needs fats to produce the hormones you require to stay healthy. However, much of the fat in a standard American diet is saturated or hydrogenated. Both tend to increase the levels of inflammation in the body. Some saturated fat is necessary for optimum health, but you should limit your intake to 15 grams a day. If you limit your protein choices to lean cuts and cut out processed snack foods, this limit is easier to maintain.

  Your body also needs unsaturated fats and essential fatty acids. Nuts, seeds, olives, avocados, olive oil, peanut oil and flax seed oil are the healthiest and most balanced sources. Limit your intake of unsaturated fats to 50 grams a day.

Get Enough Fiber

• Flush out toxins and unwanted substances by eating enough fiber. Fiber helps to regulate your immune system and reduce inflammation. Beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and whole grains are the best sources of fiber. These foods should also make up the bulk of your diet if you are living with MS.

  Try to consume at least 30 grams of fiber daily. If you fall short, add a fiber supplement.

Allergens

• Food sensitivities result in inflammation. Everyone is different, so plan to have an allergy screening done with your doctor.

  Celiac disease may mimic the symptoms of MS. Celiac disease is a severe allergy to gluten---a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. It damages the digestive system and can release nerve-damaging toxins into the body. If you're diagnosed with MS and have a vitamin B12 deficiency, have your doctor screen you for celiac disease.

  If you have celiac disease, follow these dietary guidelines to improve your symptoms, but eliminate all gluten. Work with a dietitian for the best results