Are there any foods we should avoid?

Hi , while there are many people out there that want to sell diet books and plans, there are no specific foods that have been scientifically proven to be detrimental. The best advice is to simply life as healthy as you can, eat a well rounded diet, and get exercise. Gluten should only be avoided if you have Celiac disease. Anyone claiming otherwise, is speaking anecdotally.

Life is full of anecdotes. When I was first diagnosed with MS, I would not have even thought about what food to eat or not eat, other than to get "heart healthy" food. But people tend to disagree as to what is healthy food nowadays. I do not buy into the idea that there is any one perfect way to eat for everybody with MS.

Last summer (just over a year ago), I made a dramatic change in the food I ate and cut out sugar, starches, and grains. I wouldn't say that it was easy, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be.

Eliminating sugar led to weight loss. Weight loss led to feeling better. Feeling better led to more physical activity. More physical activity led to feeling better about myself, which in turn helped to stick to eating no sugar (as much as possible).

I wouldn't say that any of this helped my MS, but it helped me feel better in many ways.

Last weekend I was out of town at a conference. I broke my "no sugar" rule and indulged. Wow!! My mouth was tingly, my head hurt, my hands/knuckles swelled up, and I retained water -- none of this made me feel very good. My MS didn't really flare, but I definitely seemed to notice the nerve pain more.

Like Devin suggests, aiming to live healthy is a very good idea no matter what.

--Lisa

Avoid processes foods and anything that is canned and try to eat good foods we all have our weaknesses every once in awhile