Supplements
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This way of healthy eating is designed
to contain all vitamins, minerals and EFA's you need, if followed closely. Supplements can
prove expensive and, at worst, dangerous. Evening Primrose Oil may be
taken if desired, but is generally unnecessary because the EFA content is small. Adequate
linoleic acid is provided by the polyunsaturated oils in your diet.
Cod Liver Oil is a valuable source of EFA's but has a high vitamin A
content and should be avoided if you are eating the recommended 1/41b. of liver a week or
taking other supplements which contain vitamin A. Fish oil supplements not containing
vitamin A, such as Maxepa, Pulse or Omega 3 fish oils, may be taken if you cannot eat oily
fish.
Linseed e.g. Linusit Gold is rich in EFA's and high in fibre and can be a
useful addition to the diet. Check with your dietician.
Vitamin Supplements and single nutrient supplements are best avoided unless
you definitely have a deficiency or are advised by your G.P. or dietician. Multivitamins
may be considered if you are really unable to eat liver or suspect your diet is
inadequate. Avoid those which are high dosage. However, if you wish to take a
multivitamin, choose one which provides the recommended daily amount (RDA) for a wide
range of nutrients. |
| Other
diets There are several other diets which have been widely
publicised as being helpful to people with MS. Some are more extreme than others.
For instance the Paleolithic diet is restricted to foods which were eaten in
the early Stone Age, arguing that the human digestive system evolved to deal only
with these and cannot cope with "modern" introductions such as dairy
products, meat from domesticated animals, refined sugar, and farmed cereals. Part of the
regime advises cutting out those foods which contain gluten, a component of many cereal
crops used for bread and pasta, as an intolerance to this causes some MS-like symptoms.
Most nutritionists do not accept that these extreme measures are necessary, but they may
help some people.
The most sensible approach to diet, for people with MS as for everyone else, is to
find out all you can on general nutrition and make sure that, on the one hand you are
eating enough of all the essentials, and on the other you are NOT eating all those foods
(many of them delicious and enticing) which make you obese, or any which have been proved
to affect you adversely.
There are standard medical tests which will establish food allergies and
sensitivities, and your GP can either test you or direct you elsewhere. But bear in mind
that a firm which also hopes to make profits by selling you expensive specialised
foodstuffs could be a little bit biased in diagnosing whether or not you need them.
Certainly, eating the right foods can help everyone to live longer. See the report
of the American Medical association, Healthier Diets
Boost Longevity
|
- HEALTHIER DIETS BOOST LONGEVITY, 12-YEAR STUDY
FINDS
- By Ronald Kotulak Tribune Staff Writer
April 26, 2000
Eat healthy; live longer .
A 12-year study released this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association
found that people who eat lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains live significantly
longer than those who do not.- As part of the study, over 42,000 women were asked how many of the following
recommended foods they ate each week.
|
1. Apples, or pears |
13. Green salad |
|
2. Oranges |
14. Sweet potatoes,. . yams |
|
3. Cantaloupe |
15. Other potatoes |
|
4. Grapefruit |
16. Baked or stewed chicken or turkey |
|
5. Orange or grapefruit juice |
17. Baked/broiled fish |
|
6. Other fruit juices |
18. Dark breads |
|
7. Dried beans |
19. Cornbread, tortillas or grits |
|
8. Tomatoes |
20. High-fiber cereals |
|
9. Broccoli |
21. Cooked cereals |
|
10. Spinach |
22. 2% milk |
|
11 Mustard, turnip or collard greens |
23. 1% or skim milk |
|
12. Carrots |
|
- Eating foods listed in the highly touted Food Pyramid, with extra helpings of
fruits, vegetables and whole grains, dramatically reduces the risk of dying from cancer,
heart disease and stroke, a 12-year study of the eating habits of more than 42,000 women
has found.
Just adding a few more of the recommended foods each week lowers death rates
significantly, but the women who ate the most gained the biggest benefit, a 30 percent
reduction in deaths from all causes.-
- While the results are promising, the researchers said further studies need to be
conducted to verify the extent of the health benefits that can be obtained from eating
reasonable amounts of recommended foods and to help clear up some of the growing confusion
about the role of diet in health.
"Given the caution that we have not yet proven this to be causal, the message would
be that dietary recommendations seem to improve health, and that if you're able to eat
more of the recommended foods, that will lead to improvements in your health and lower
your risk of dying," said Dr. Arthur Schatzkin, chief of the Nutritional Epidemiology
Branch of the National Cancer Institute.
The study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association, assessed the role of diet in a large number of women whose average age was
61. Each woman in the study was followed for an average of 5.6 years.
Unlike other studies, which tend to concentrate on single nutrients such as vitamins,
fats, calories or fiber, the National Cancer Institute study involved all the food people
eat.
Such single-nutrient studies can sometimes lead to confusing results, as was the case less
than two weeks ago after a New England Journal of Medicine study reported that a low-fat,
high-fiber diet did not appear to lower the risk of colon cancer. Schatzkin, who also
participated in the colon cancer study, said the seemingly contradictory results from
different nutrition studies are confusing for scientists as well as consumers.
The current study by the Cancer Institute looked at the effects of 23 types of foods on
health and mortality. The women were divided into four groups, depending on how many of
the 23 healthy foods they ate each week.
Those who ate the fewest number of recommended foods, averaging only seven a week, had the
highest death rate, which was then used as the base line to compare the death rates of
women who ate increasingly more of the 23 foods.
A significant 18 percent decline in mortality was achieved by women who ate 10 of the
recommended foods each week, only three more than the lowest group.
Those who ate an average of 12 of the 23 foods each week had a reduction in their
mortality rate of 29 percent, while those who averaged 15 of the foods reduced their
overall death rate by 31 percent.
Compared with women who ate the least amount of the healthy foods, those who ate an
average of 15 a week saw their risk of cancer decline by 40 percent, their risk of heart
disease decline by 33 percent, and their risk of stroke decline by 42 percent.
"This is really good news," said Johanna Dwyer, professor of nutrition and
medicine at Tufts University, who served on the federal government's dietary guidelines
advisory committee. "From this study it looks as though some of the foods that have
been recommended may in fact be associated with a decreased risk of mortality in
women."
The study by the Cancer Institute included low-fat and high-fiber foods as part of the
recommended healthy foods, but their effect could not be separated from the overall impact
of a broader list of healthy products.
"Instead of having to focus on how much fat is in food, or focusing in great detail
on exactly how much you're eating, this simply says that if you eat more of these foods
then it will be associated with a lower risk of dying," Schatzkin said.
The institute findings also underscore the fact that the role of diet in health and
disease is complicated, that many nutrients work in collaboration with other nutrients to
produce their greatest beneficial effects, and that foods contain many nutrients that have
yet to be discovered.-
"This is an exciting study because it shows that a well-rounded diet, which
concentrates on the healthiest foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, can improve
health and reduce mortality," said Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and
epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. Stampfer, also a member of the
federal government's advisory committee on recommended dietary guidelines, said the
Food Pyramid should be upgraded to reflect the importance of eating more fruits and
vegetables.
-
- In the recently reported colon cancer study, people who stayed on a low-fat,
high-fiber diet for four years did not appear to have a lower rate of developing
intestinal polyps than people not on the diet. Polyps are mushroom-like growths in the
inner lining of the intestine that are associated with an increased risk of colon cancer.
The problem with the colon-cancer study is that it only looked at part of the cancer
process for a short period of time, and did not look at whether a low-fat, high-fiber diet
could prevent polyps from starting in the first place, or if the diet prevented them from
going on to cancer after they have cropped up, Schatzkin said.
Furthermore, numerous population studies have confirmed that a low-fat, high-fiber diet
significantly reduces the risk of heart disease, he said. "We need, as much as
possible, to try and bring these findings together and make consistent and coherent
statements that help people to lead their lives sensibly," he said.
"You shouldn't toss out fiber based on one study," Schatzkin said. "It's
prudent to try and maintain a fiber-rich diet in terms of such foods as vegetables,
legumes and whole grains. Perhaps the evidence for simply adding cereal bran to your
breakfast is less convincing than that for adopting a broader fiber diet."
Dwyer said that the Cancer Institute study should help clear up some of the confusion
about food because it provides strong support for a growing body of evidence showing that
a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat is good for people.
A sensible diet is one that reduces the consumption of red meat and animal and saturated
fats, and increases the intake of fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish and whole grains,
Schatzkin said.
"That is likely to lead to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and also
diabetes, while reducing the overall mortality risk," he said. Other strategies
include at least a moderate level of physical acitivity and cancer screening for people at
high risk.
In the NCI study, factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, age, ethnicity,
weight, illness and physical activity were balanced out to reduce their influence on the
role of diet in health.
The women who ate the healthiest diets were not sticklers for strict diets. They
were slightly older, more educated and physically active, likely to drink alcohol, use
vitamin supplements, and they tended not to be smokers. They also had a lower fat intake.
|
Fish 
Lean red meats, poultry, game and offal.
Low fat dairy foods. Skimmed milk preferably, or semi-skimmed. Low fat
yoghurt/fromage frais, cottage cheese. Cheese made with polyunsaturated fat, in
moderation. Eggs but no more than 3 or 4 a week. 'Healthy Eating' Ice Cream and Sorbets.
Click the
buttons below for some diet links to other websites.
