nutrition

My youngest recently left for college. It was hard to say goodbye, but I know it was time to let her go. I am now an empty nester, though I prefer to think of myself as a successful bird launcher. So what happens now? Many people get to know their…

Erin Stevenson’s doctor laughed when she asked him 13 years ago if the vertigo she felt while training for a first 100-mile bike ride could be related to her mother’s multiple sclerosis (MS). MS isn’t a genetic disease, but Stevenson managed to persuade the doctor to schedule a brain…

In this installment of our “Expert Voices” series, Multiple Sclerosis News Today asked registered dietitian Mona Bostick to answer some of your questions related to diet and nutrition for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Bostick, who has MS, works in private practice in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she helps…

Despite the fact that being obese or overweight may worsen multiple sclerosis (MS) prognosis, people with the neurodegenerative disease are not more likely to adopt weight loss diets, a small study suggests. The study, “Obesity, dieting, and multiple sclerosis,” was published in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related…

“Diet is profound. Lifestyle is profound. All patients should be taught how profound these things are.”  — Terry Wahls, MS thriver and founder of the Wahls Protocol  Western medicine has long approached multiple sclerosis (MS) and autoimmune disorders through traditional methods. While there have been…

In my recent conversation with Terry Wahls, MD, creator of the Wahls diet for multiple sclerosis (MS), she said something that resonated with me: “You can’t change your genes, but you can change your gene’s expression.” How true this statement is. However, it was only a few short years ago that Dr. Wahls’ diet protocol, and “food as medicine” philosophy was being met with strong criticism from the medical community. Nowadays, the modified paleolithic diet and lifestyle program she facilitates at the Wahls Institute in Iowa is being touted as the work of a visionary.

I recently came across the article “Review of Two Popular Eating Plans within the Multiple Sclerosis Community: Low Saturated Fat and Modified Paleolithic,” published in the journal Nutrients, which compared the efficacy of the Swank diet and…

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients eat a more limited diet, with a lower average of 31 nutrients, including zinc, thiamin, and iron, when compared with healthy controls, a study shows. Blood tests also showed that MS patients had significantly lower iron levels, a different fatty acid composition in their red blood…

When I first met Stephanie in March, she was like any healthy 28-year-old coming in to see me for a nutrition consult. Her positive attitude and bright smile filled the room as she told me about her job as a grade school teacher and the new apartment she…

Last month, I challenged myself to conquer Whole30: 30 days of no gluten, grain, dairy, sugar, or sulfites. Forty days later, I am proud to say I not only survived, I thrived. I am still thriving. Friends have long been touting the merits of adopting a synonymous eating plan.

Awareness is, at times, barely imperceptible, a quiet conviction that lies within. As with most truths, they are self-evident long before we decide to own them. And when we do, it is as if we have opened our eyes for the first time. My eyes are open. Living with progressive…

The role that diet and lifestyle have on the course of MS is a matter of debate. There is a great deal of conflicting information on the topic, and patients may need to look beyond their neurologist or primary care physician to create a dietary approach to MS.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately around people following special diets. They’re either voluntarily cutting carbs, counting calories, following a diet plan, or fasting, but not because they have a medical condition. Mostly they diet to feel better, lose some weight, or reset their metabolism. I wish them well, even as…

Lack of physical activity and a poor diet may be the most common risk factors for poor health and survival in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study. The research, “Individual And Co-Occurring SNAP Risk Factors,” was published in the International Journal of MS Care. The development…

Elissa Holzman is an MS Health Coach who specializes in nutrition and a healthy lifestyle for supporting those with the disease. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005, which led her to pay closer attention to how she treats her body. In her new column for Multiple Sclerosis News…