Cooking Well: Multiple Sclerosis (4 page)

Shellfish
such as shrimp, crabs, lobsters, oysters, snails, mussels, clams, and scallops are not prohibited for those who have no cholesterol problems. They can be easily enjoyed once a week in soups, salads, or entrees.

Preferably organic canned or frozen foods
are permissible when some seasonal products are not available or when you are not up to preparing fresh food. Organic is preferable. If purchasing non-organic, watch for hydrogenated fats or unhealthy fats, flours, sodium, thickeners, colorings, preservatives, additives, and any other ingredients that may cause you problems. Choose foods that are low in fat and prepared with olive oil or canola oil rather than other types of oils or butter.

Eliminate convenience foods
, commercially prepared mixes, prepared packaged meals (including frozen ones) most foods from vending machines, baked goods containing refined white flour and unhealthy fats, most food bars, powders drinks, and commercial meal shakes. If you are not feeling well and cannot cook for yourself, see that your caregiver or helper does not feed you such foods, but rather prepares meals that are suitable for your needs and based on this book’s recommendations. If neither of these possibilities are available to you, order fresh “home-style” meals from a couple of reliable sources. Establish a rapport with local places that offer healthy foods and that you can rely on with just a phone call. Your health is worth the time invested and, who knows, you may have fun doing it!

A word on eggs:
Egg yolks contain cholesterol. If you have no problem with cholesterol, you may enjoy a whole egg. On the other hand, if you have to watch your cholesterol, use egg whites only. One whole egg equals two egg whites. Do not use commercial egg products as they may contain thickeners and can often cause allergic or sensitivity reactions.

A word on cooking chicken and turkey:
Those white meats may be cooked once in awhile with the skin to preserve moisture, but do not eat the skin because it is high in fat.

A word on alcohol:
Because this is a low-fat diet, digestion is much faster which causes alcohol to be absorbed faster through the bloodstream. Consequently, alcohol goes faster to the brain and people have reported lightheadedness, headache, hot sensations, a loss of mental capacities, stomach and body cramps, fatigue, confusion, or even feeling drunk and hung over after just a small amount of alcohol. Many mixed drinks and commercial mixes contain ingredients that can cause health problems. So it is best to totally stay away from alcohol.

A healthy tip on constipation:
You can take 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons maximum of cod fish oil or flaxseed oil daily. Or you can also have up to 1 tablespoon freshly ground flaxseeds daily mixed in your food. A few prunes, pre-soaked in water for 24 hours, after a meal will also be helpful. When traveling, use pills for convenience but do so for short-term periods only. Individual flaxseed sachets might be available at your local health food stores.

Hydration and fiber
also play an important role in preventing constipation. Drink lots of water throughout the day and add fiber to your meals (vegetables and fruits). Natural organic prune juice, no sugar added, is also very helpful with constipation.

As we just explained, nutrition is very important and so is the food we choose. You need to be concerned with colors, shapes, flavors, textures, personal likes and dislikes, allergies and sensitivities, diet, and foods that complement each other. These factors are all important in helping to avoid sickness, boredom, and unpleasant experiences.

Colors and shapes
give a dish an attractive appearance and are pleasing to the eyes. Flavors and textures excite our taste buds, which send signals to our brain and, in turn, send us back sensations. Those sensations can be good or bad. They can come to you within seconds, minutes, hours, or even over-night. During that time allergies, food sensitivities, or food poisoning can occur. Flavors need to be in harmony, not over powering, not too light. For example, acidic and tart foods as accompaniments to fatty foods help balance the taste and promote easier digestion.

Softness and firmness is what is referred to as
texture
. Vegetables taste much better when crunchy rather than mushy, and don’t forget they retain more vitamins and minerals when they are not overcooked. Creating a meal with similar textures is boring and not recommended (eg. leek and potato soup, mashed potato, and meatloaf).

Personal preference
is another important point because none of us will eat something we don’t like. How your body responds to what you eat is equally important. No one wants to eat something that makes you sick. Likes and dislikes are important to consider when selecting foods as long as you don’t forget that nutrients are even more important to your well-being. You might have to tolerate foods you dislike once in awhile for your health’s sake. Find ways with herbs, spices, or sauces to camouflage the flavors of healthy foods
that you don’t particularly like. In other words, trick your taste buds! Here is a quick trick to deal with strong flavors that may bother you. Take, for example, cauliflower. Once cooked, cauliflower can have strong flavors that turn people off. To avoid such a problem, all you need to do is to cook the cauliflower in milk. The strong flavors will be absorbed by the milk and the cauliflower will taste milder and even sweeter. If smell is still a problem, mix the cauliflower with another ingredient such as mashed potatoes with garlic and herbs. The cauliflower flavor will disappear, but not the nutrients! If you think that way about food, you will enjoy your food much more and will have fun creating your own recipe while still enjoying all the benefits of such healthy foods. Be careful to choose combinations that make sense. In this case, it would not be advisable to experiment mixing cauliflower with mint—they don’t complement each other, and taste quite awful together! As you can see, all these factors are important in selecting the right food.

Strive to purchase fresh ingredients and prepare the food yourself. But from time to time, you may have to purchase organic prepared, canned, or frozen foods. If so, you must read the entire label carefully. Most packaged foods will offer important nutritional information. A label will offer nutrition facts which will be broken down into serving size, number of servings, amount per serving, calories, total fat, cholesterol, trans-fat, carbohydrates, protein, sodium, sugar, and vitamins. Be particularly aware of the fats, sodium, carbohydrates, and calcium. Vitamin D is often not shown.

For carbohydrates, you will often see two categories: fiber and sugar. Remember that sugar can come from many sources. The label should specify the origin (such as sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, honey, maple sugar or syrup, sucrose, glucose, corn syrup, dextrin, confectioner’s sugar, high fructose, lactose, dextrose, maltodextrin, molasses, caramel, date sugar, rice syrup, etc.) Sugar can also come from sugar alcohol: sorbitol, xylitol, lactitol, isomalt, maltitol, or mannitol. These sugars have fewer total calories than regular sugar. You will find them often in low-calorie, low-carb, reduced-carb, and even carb-free products. However, they have been found to cause various negative reactions such as nausea, headaches, diarrhea, bloating, and even allergies. You should try to stay away from those products whenever possible. Avoid aspartame and any products containing aspartame as it may cause cancer.

Be aware that manufacturers do not always report the exact numbers because they are allowed to round numbers down. If the number is less than 0.5 g, they don’t have to report it either. So carefully read the list of ingredients to look for unhealthy fats, bad sugars, and other ingredients that may cause health problems.

Familiarize yourself as much as possible with labels and read carefully every time you buy a product. When shopping, take with you the list of foods and ingredients you cannot eat. When in doubt about an ingredient, do not purchase the product. Always compare nutritional ingredients among products until you are familiar with them. Once you find a brand that agrees with you, don’t ever assume it will be around forever. Manufacturers are known to change a few ingredients now and then for various reasons. For example, they may find an ingredient from a cheaper source overseas. So read the label every time you purchase a product.

Here is a label example (walnut pieces):

Nutrition Facts

Below are three lists that can be used for MS patients’ diet guidelines. You will find
“Encouraged Foods,” “Questionable Foods, no more than once a week
,” and
“Prohibited Foods.”
Keep in mind that everyone’s metabolism is different and no one list fits all. Where one person may find relief in not eating a particular food, another person may not. Consequently, it is very important to start to work on your own personal list. The lists below are a good start to help you design your own healthy diet. A personal diet needs to be carefully designed for each individual and possibly include “vitamin and mineral” supplementation to compensate for loss of natural sources (please consult your physician). Keeping a journal is highly recommended, as it may help you determine reasons for when you are not feeling well or when you are feeling great.

Once you have established your own list of foods to avoid, you will be able to make substitutions for your recipes and enjoy your meals without any worries. Finding a balanced diet and lifestyle that makes you feel great will also make a difference in your overall sense of well-being, and you must maintain your new diet and lifestyle for the rest of your life. If you do so, your overall well-being will be enhanced permanently and, consequently, you will be able to live a more pleasurable life. Patience, perseverance, discipline, self-esteem, self-confidence, faith, engaging in relaxation techniques, and eating right are all habits that will contribute to your well-being.