For patients with multiple sclerosisa balanced diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and whole grains may be associated with less disability and fewer disease symptoms, according to results of a study published in the medical journal the American Academy of Neurology.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore in the United States conducted a study with 6,989 people with SEP who completed questionnaires about their diet as part of the North American Research Committee (NARCOMS) registry. The definition of a healthy diet was to eat more fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and less sugars, sugary drinks, red meat and processed meat. Participants were divided into five groups based on the health of their diets.
The researchers also assessed whether the participants had an overall healthy lifestyle, defined as having a healthy weight, engaging in regular physical activity, eating a balanced diet, and not smoking.
Researchers also asked participants if they had had a relapse of symptoms of their disease or a gradual worsening of symptoms over the past six months such as fatigue, mobility, pain and depression.
Diet to reduce MS symptoms
The results of the study showed that people in the group with the healthiest diet were 20% less likely to have a more severe physical disability than people in the group with the least healthy diet.
The most effective diet consisted of 1.7 servings of whole grains per day, compared to 0.3 servings for the least healthy diet. For fruits, vegetables and legumes (excluding french fries), the highest group consumed 3.3 servings per day, compared to 1.7 servings per day.
People with a healthy lifestyle were almost 50% less likely to suffer from depression30% less prone to intense fatigue and more than 40% less likely to have pain than people who did not have a healthy lifestyle.
“People with MS often wonder if there is anything they can do to delay or avoid disability, and many people want to know if their diet may play a role, but few studies have been done on this topic,” says Kathryn C. Fitzgerald of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “Although this study does not determine whether a healthy lifestyle reduces the symptoms of SEP or if the severe symptoms make it more difficult to adopt a healthy lifestyle, this demonstrates a link between the two.”
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