MS patients increasingly use diet to manage symptoms: Study
Researchers note lack of solid data, specific guidance
More people with multiple sclerosis (MS) are using diet modifications to boost well-being and to manage symptoms, but there’s a lack of data on how these changes influence the course of the disease, a review study found.
There’s also no standardized set of dietary recommendations for patients, the researchers said, and as a result, patients looking for dietary solutions may turn to unreliable sources that promote diets that could be ineffective or unhealthy.
“Given the potential benefits and risks associated with self-selected diet modifications, it is imperative to fully understand the scope of diet modification within this patient population so that people with MS can be provided guidance and support for implementing healthy eating behaviors,” the researchers wrote.
The study, “Prevalence of Diet Modification Among People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” was published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.
People with MS often use alternative and complementary approaches on top of their disease-modifying therapies to help ease MS symptoms and improve overall wellness. North America and Oceania had the highest rates of people making dietary modifications, the review study found.
Patients embrace anti-inflammatory, plant-based diets
Interest in the effect of diet on MS has grown in recent years. But while certain diets have been linked to improved outcomes in MS, there is no standardized set of dietary recommendations for people with MS.
A pair of U.S.-based scientists conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from previously published studies in order to better understand how people with MS are making dietary modifications.
They analyzed 39 studies published between 1994 and 2024, in various geographical locations worldwide. Altogether, they covered more than 48,000 adults with MS.
Across the group of patients, 22% of people had reported that they’d changed their diet at some point in their lives.
Patients reported following dozens of specific diets, with the most common being anti-inflammatory, Overcoming MS (a plant-based diet low in saturated fat), low-fat, and general healthy diets. Among diets specifically promoted for people with MS, the most commonly reported were the MS diet (any diet a person believes is helpful for managing MS), Swank diet (low in saturated fat and processed foods), and Wahls diet (avoids gluten, dairy, and processed food). Some 14% of patients said they had used a dietitian.
Of the more than 25,000 people for whom current diet data was collected, 17% said they were currently modifying their diets.
Reported rates for lifetime and current diet modifications were significantly higher in studies on international groups, North America, and Oceania compared with Europe. The researchers noted that studies involving international samples were primarily composed of people from North America and Oceania, “further supporting the observation that these two global regions have the highest prevalences of diet modification.”
Demographic factors including age, sex, and disease duration also influenced rates of lifetime dietary modifications, and the prevalence of current dietary modifications significantly increased over time.
But overall, data from the studies were variable. Most of the data related to dietary modifications in MS is low quality, “which necessitates caution in interpreting results,” they wrote.
Nevertheless, the data suggest that many people with MS, especially in certain areas, are making dietary changes, so “future studies are urgently needed to understand how diet impacts symptoms and course of the disease,” the researchers wrote.
They called for large MS centers to collect data on the impact of dietary modifications on MS symptoms and disease progression in their patients.
“These efforts would help add clarity to the field and ultimately help provide MS healthcare providers and people with MS the support and resources for changing their diets that they desire,” they wrote.
The team also noted that physicians should be prepared to discuss nutrition so that their patients don’t turn to unreliable sources for information.
“Barring the discovery of a specific MS:nutrition interaction, MS healthcare providers are encouraged to promote general healthy diets … as a foundation for individualized healthy diets,” the team concluded.
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