22 3.4 Diet Selection for Reduction of MS Symptoms

In order to assess the outcomes of dietary modulation on MS symptoms, researchers looked at 20 participants diagnosed with RRMS. Among those participants, 10 were assigned a high vegetable, low protein (HV/LP) diet while 10 were assigned a classical Western diet (WD).

The HV/LP diet is characterized by a traditionally healthy selection of foods. An in-depth view of the inclusions and exclusions of the diet can be seen in Figure 4. It is thought that HV/LP diets can promote an anti-inflammatory milieu in the gut and improve clinical outcomes for MS patients (Sarasella et al., 2017).

The classical WD involves regular consumption of foods that are traditionally thought to be unhealthy due to their increased inflammatory potential. As such, it is hypothesized that the consumption of foods in the WD will lead to the exacerbation of MS symptoms. An in-depth view of this diet can be observed in Figure 5.

Before moving onto the next section try these activities to see how much you learned about both types of diets.