MS and the Swank Diet

Mupette

I managed to get hold of some publications from the MS centre yesterday, and noticed one on diet and nutrition.

Getting a bit sick of well wishers telling me what i should and shouldn't eat based on their own opions (and don't have MS).

I have a slight issue that too much sunlight (vit D) upsets my Uvitis, although currently in remission with this for the past 2 years (fingers crossed), been told that hopefully that is it, but it might come back, no one knows.

So after having my ear bent by people who think they know best, i wanted to find out what official information was available.

And saw the publication number 11 for diet and nutrition and it talks of 2 known diets, one called The Swank Diet, and the other called Best Bet diet.

Now to me these sound americanised and gimmicky, and all i am seeing is american information on it..

the information talks about what spreads to use, in jargon,

Now i am a clover girl and don't like the taste of flora etc...
the only nuts i will happily sit and eat are dry roasted or salted peanuts. not into sunflower seeds and pulses.

Can't stand the taste of olive oil, but like the taste of seasame oil (just a dash)

the swank diet is the only one recognised by the MS Society, talks of breads and potatoes, after being told for years that bread is bad, and too many potatoes are not good either.

This has left me totally confused.

The old me would of gone out and bought the book and it would now be collecting dust on a shelf somewhere with Delia's book.

I'm not a nut roast girl, I'm a sunday roast girl, red meat is a no no apparently, but i could live with that as skinless chicken is allowed.

I love rivita and stuff like that as long as i can spread the clover on.
make me put flora on and i will go off it.

The Swank Diet is low in saturated fat, polyunsaturated oils and red or fatty meats (in fact, no red meat is allowed for the first year), and high in vegetables and grains. The diet recommends patients to use fat-free dairy products; egg whites; whole grain cereals, pastas and rice; fruits; nuts and seeds; vegetables; unsaturated fats, such as olive oil; lean, skinned poultry and white fish. This diet is intended to be followed long-term.

Veggies i will do, cauli, carrots, broccoli but carrot is the only root veggie i like, squash or turnip or parsnip is a yuck to me, but i do, do veggies, preferred steamed to boiled

If i don't like a food then i will gag on the stuff.


But the most frustrating thing for me and MS is my lack of concentration, if i don't understand it, i go off it and don't want to know.

Now the dielema, i am apparently obese, (size 16) although if i follow the goverment guidelines i should be a size 8 / 10 and i would look ill too skinny.

I am getting married in June 2012 and already i am being squished into the oh fat bride then box. If i look down i can see my toes for god sake. Yes i have a little belly, i had a child, the belly never really went away, yes did the exercises, but not everyone can bounce back to the pre pregnancy waife look.


The exercise is hit and miss, those with MS know how it can be, in a day i can have energy for about 20 mins and that's it the rest is fatigue, i potter, i try to keep moving around.

yesterday i had an appointment at Frenchay Hospital for a minor op, parking outside that building was full, so i drove all the way around to where i would normally be at neurosciences and me and my trusty walking stick got me to where i needed to be, i was exhausted by the time i got there, was offered a porter and a wheelchair to get back, but i kindly turned it down (body is screaming !!!!!! i am in pain) and walked back to the car after, got home and promptly fell asleep on the sofa for a few hours.

I think what i need is to loose a bit of weight, but i don't want a fad diet (again) but have always been put off by being told of what foods i am not allowed ever, agaist here have a nut roast.

I like chocolate and sweets but i dont binge on them and do eat these in moderation, i like savery but again don't binge either.


Healthy eating is the way to go... yes but what is healthy eating... I like clover.. i though it was a good spread (plese tell me it is)
I will do fruit, if i can get to it in time (DS loves his fruit too)
I steam veggies.. i was even a good girl this weekend, we had roast pork and i only had a small piece of crackling, ususally i would scoff the lot, i threw away a lot of it. (crackling that is)

What do other M.S. people do with thier diets..

sgriffiths

Hi muppet

i know exactly how you feel, i have progressive ms dx in 1996. Was 9.1/2 stone at time a size 12, am now 13 stone size 18/20.

I am in an electric wheelchair and cant walk at all. I try to diet and have found that the slimming world diet seems to be the easiest to follow, my trouble is that my husband does all the cooking and so most of the time he decides what we are going to eat, i go along with it because its easier. But our youngest daughter (23) has lost over 2 stone on slimming world since xmas, she says she has found it quite easy.

Good luck

Careful_with_that_Axe

I didn't realise you were getting married next year - congratulations!!

I do feel for you. I think anyone who has an illness that is chronic or progressive, constantly looks for ways to help themselves get well and fighting through the fads to find things that may be beneficial is awful.

My feeling is that if the diet was that good, it would be recommended/suggested by every MS Consultant. I really don't know anything about these types of diets, so this is purely my opinion I hasten to add.

Can you show the details to your MS Nurse and see what she thinks? So long as you are sure that there is nothing that will leave you malnourished (in terms of vitamins needed etc) there's no harm in giving it a go?

Are you thinking of it purely for weight loss?

Mupette

http://www.mssociety.org.uk/support_and_services/free_publications/ms_essentials_11.html


Well it's loosing a little bit of weight, but also to see if it really does help you feel a bit better.

years ago i did weight watchers, where they wanted you to buy their food, and i lost 1 stone in 9 months, but when you stop doing it weight creeps back on...

sgriffiths slimming world thanks for that advice, again i fear the miniute you stop using their products then again weight creeps back up.

I haven't had steroids for 2 years now (that helped bump the weight up) so they should be out of my system by now.

Careful_with_that_Axe

Mupette wrote: »

I haven't had steroids for 2 years now (that helped bump the weight up) so they should be out of my system by now.

Tell me about it! I've been on steroids for nearly 8 years now at doses ranging from 5mg to 30mg a day and have put on nearly 4 stone in that time.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you can find something that works well for you.

Just a thought - there's a local place that offers floatation therapy for MS sufferers. Have you any access to anything like that? Just out of curiosity.

Mupette

Careful_with_that_Axe wrote: »

Tell me about it! I've been on steroids for nearly 8 years now at doses ranging from 5mg to 30mg a day and have put on nearly 4 stone in that time.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you can find something that works well for you.

Just a thought - there's a local place that offers floatation therapy for MS sufferers. Have you any access to anything like that? Just out of curiosity.

oh yes i don't live too far away from an MS center, only i really can't afford it.

They do the divers tank and i need to find about £120 - £150 to pay for it, as it needs to be done every day for so many days...

After being moved from Esa Support to WRAG i've lost £15 a week, so unless i win my appeal...

Loosing that money has made things more of a struggle, yet i can't afford the therapy's to see if they help me feel better...

agal

OK, answer you won't like, but anyways...
was prescribed Modafinil (Provigil) by neuro to help with fatigue - doesn't increase energy, but I find it means energy doesn't run out by lunch-time. Has amphetamine-like side-effects, one of which is increased metabolism and weight loss. In my case I've gone from 34 inch waist trousers to 30 inch. I've had Primary Progressive MS for 20 years and of the dozen or so drugs I'm currently taking this is one of the most useful. Caveat - you will be "jumpy" when taking it so watching horror films is definitely out!
Apparently some GPs don't like prescribing it as it's expensive (or so my neuro says).

deeplyblue

Mupette

You say you are a size 16 - who told you that you are obese? This sounds like rubbish to me. Go a sensible web site and check your BMI (body mass index) which will give you a good idea - you may just be "overweight" but I think it highly unlikely that you actually obese. One site is the BBC, which you can activate by going to http:// t i n y . c o m/ 37xaxaj - remove the spaces. Or (if the link is removed, just try going to the BBC site, or google BMI and calculator and have your height and weight details to hand.) That calculates in kilogrammes and metres, I haven't found an imperial scale (feet and inches/ lbs), though google would certainly oblige.

I'm anti-weight loss diets - I think they don't work long-term. As soon as you stop actively dieting the weight goes back on, and usually more than you had before. Like you I distrust American diets with fancy names. If you are seriously concerned about losing weight before your wedding, then you could try a special diet about 6 months before the wedding, but honestly you'll be better off changing a few eating habits.

So, I'd say make a "healthy" diet part of your life plan. If you lose weight so much the better. I'm speaking as someone who badly needs a "healthy" diet, but always seems to keep piling on the pounds. My doctors urge me to use the British Heart Foundation material - though I'm not a "heart" patient.

What to do? If you like a Sunday roast, then have one - but perhaps only every other Sunday. Make lamb (higher in fat) an occasional treat. Try venison - it's much lower in cholesterol (provided you don't smother it in bacon and then eat lots of Cumberland sauce!) Day by day try putting a little less butter on your Ryvita, a little less cereal in your bowl. Red meat - well, we're all supposed to eat less, but I don't see the need to cut it out. Try eating a little more fish - especially the "oily" fish - salmon, mackerel, sardines, kippers.

So, eat a little less of everything except fruit and veg. Portion sizes are the easiest thing to tackle, because it requires no special cookking. Try to cut out late night/mid-afternoon snacks. Keep a supply of smoked almonds ( personal favourite!) if you must snack. Don't obsess over the odd cake with a friend, but don't do it everyday. Doctors go on about the evils of butter, cream and cheese, but in Real Life we in the UK are going to keep on eating some of them, but we can reduce a bit.

Oh yes, and try keeping an eye on the contents of prepared food. If you buy ready made sauces, check the amount of sugar and salt they put in - it's usually horrendous. I found that I actually started to go off some of the Italian sauces - I really didn't want my meat smothered with sugar. If you use breakfast cereals try making sure that you don't use the ones labelled "crunchy" - that a sign of lots of sugar. Or at any rate cut down. I'm eating (at fabulous expense) the Dorset Cereals range, because they're tasty without loads of sugar added.

So, do any audit of what you eat. Identify the things the BHF want you to cut out - and then work out which ones you aren't going to cut out whatever they say! Then reduce portion sizes, find some "healthy" things which you can add as an alternative, and work out what's to be eaten on a "treat" basis.

Then stop worrying over it until a doctor tells you there's an urgent need for it. Worry is bad for you as well.

*miaomiao*

I've been checking out some MS diet info for myself, and I thought this website was quite helpful and also maintains a positive mindset. I hope it can help you!

http://www.overcomingmultiplesclerosis.org/