There’s a lot of misinformation about nutrition. It’s confusing and overwhelming as you try to create your MS diet or protocol.

How are you supposed to discern what is real, valid information versus what’s someone’s personal opinion? 

I mean, are you restricting more foods than you need to?

Or on the flipside, are you unknowingly eating foods that are the very triggers to the symptoms that are holding you back in life? 

The answer is different for each of us.

You may be saying, “Alene, I just wish someone would tell me exactly what to eat and what not to eat to get results and I would do it. I feel like I’m constantly guessing, constantly struggling to figure out what to eat, and forever wondering if any of this is making a difference anyway.” 

What You Need to Know

Here’s what is important to know.

Food does impact our health. 

We can’t dispute that. 

But it doesn’t help that the messaging around nutrition has been complicated for decades…

• Eggs are good, eggs are bad. 
• Eat bacon, don’t eat bacon. 
• Butter is bad, eat margarine, no wait, margarine is plastically like eating plastic, bring butter back. 

And that can be confusing and frustrating when you want to be healthy, but when you’re trying to manage a chronic illness like MS, it can feel scary.

If there’s something that can help you to feel better and stabilize your health, you want to do it. 

But somebody please just make it clear and make it realistic. 

My Five Core Nutrition Principles

Personally, I always go back to these five principles.

1. Eat less processed foods
2. Eat more vegetables and fruits
3. Have balanced meals & snacks (include protein and healthy fats)
4. Eliminate or reduce inflammatory foods (i.e. gluten, dairy and sugar)
5. Avoid foods that trigger your symptoms. 

Those are my core nutrition principles. 

Simple and not overly complicated. 

It doesn’t force you into a tiny box that makes it impossible to maintain in the real world. 

And then this next step is key… pay attention to the results. 

Pay Attention to the Results

Let me ask you a question, how often do we listen to our body?

Do you pay attention to how you feel after you eat?

Immediately after you eat?

Two hours later?

Later in the day?

And even the next day? 

Do you get quiet or still enough to pay attention to how your body responds to certain foods? 

We live in a fast paced world, so it’s easy to just try to follow someone else’s diet and keep the day moving, without asking ourselves if it works for us. 

What is your body saying? 

How Your Body Speaks to You

How does your body speak to you? 

For years, my body spoke to me through migraine headaches. 

If I was too stressed, taking on too much or eating poorly, my body would respond with a migraine headache. 

Now it’s more likely to respond through my digestive system or fatigue. 

How does your body let you know that something is “off.” 

The best guide for your diet is your body. 

People’s opinions may change over the years – research may even change over the years.

That’s why it’s always important to let your body be the guide.  

Don’t be so focused on following someone else’s diet that you lose focus of what your body needs.

I follow MY body. 

And that’s what I want to invite you to start doing more often. 

Where to Start

Now you might be asking yourself, it makes sense, I’ll start letting my body be the guide, but where do I start?

You need a starting point, so you don’t get lost with the endless “do’s” and “don’ts” around nutrition. 

I can’t go on social media any more without seeing yet another nutrition rule to follow. 

So, I agree with the message that we don’t need to fear food – food is a great pleasure in life that is meant to be enjoyed and brings us together around a table. 

I am 100% for that message. 

Embrace – Don’t Fear – Food

Don’t develop a fear around food. 

Too many rules and restrictions create fear… paralyzing fear. 

Paralyzing in the sense that you start to fear food. 

You’re afraid that you’ll eat the wrong foods and it will trigger a flare.

Or you don’t have enough of the “right” foods in the house to feed you for the week. 

Food becomes stressful, I get it. 

I see it all the time with our community, and I’ve even experienced it myself.

I want to invite you to embrace it as a tool to support your healing – a tool that can help you to develop the health that you want to live a more active and meaningful life. 

Food matters. 

But don’t just follow food or diet rules because someone else said so. 

Learn the recommendations, and then filter them through what your body is telling you. 

Does this recommendation make sense for you? 

If you feel better after eliminating a specific food, then that’s great information. 

Then discover how you can expand your meal and snack options without having this food in your diet. 

Expand Your Food Options

That’s a big mindset shift isn’t it? 

How can you EXPAND your meal and snack options without having this food in your diet?

Let’s make eating healthy… and home cooking fun! 

So, if you’re looking for a starting point, I would encourage you to consider the five principles that I shared: 

1. Eat less processed foods
2. Eat more vegetables and fruits
3. Have balanced meals & snacks (include protein and healthy fats)
4. Eliminate or reduce inflammatory foods (i.e. gluten, dairy and sugar)
5. Avoid foods that trigger your symptoms. 

Pay Attention to the Results

Take one step at a time and pay attention to the results. 

If can be helpful to track your progress too. 

That’s what my MS wellness tracker is great for. 

It helps you to track your food and lifestyle habits, along with your energy and it’s a super simple checklist. 

The main message of today, is don’t believe everything that you hear on social media or in the news. 

Let your body be the guide. 

Eat real food and pay attention to the results. 

You can also listen to the podcast version of this blog post on My MS Podcast.

Now It’s Your Turn!

How can you tell if a food works for you? Do you experience better energy, less pain, less bloating? Share below.