This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

i caved and made myself dessert.

i buttered a small glass bowl then added about 2 tbsp of mixed fruit and nuts (dried cranberries, walnuts and pistachios).

then i added 4 medallions of dark semi-sweet baking chocolate.. and a splash of bailey's.

i nuked it all until the chocolate was softening, mixed everything all together, and then dropped three separate dollops of the mixture onto parchment paper.

put them into the freezer for i think close to an hour? and voila! delicious decadence.

sweet, yes... but a very small volume of food all told - and with some nutritional value at least

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

nailing down optimal serum magnesium status

until now i have always based optimal serum magnesium on the upper half of the normal range of 7.0 - 1.10 mmol/L based on

now have the leisure to dig a bit deeper and am finding higher numbers cited as optimal. interesting reading

Dose evaluation for long term magnesium treatment in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage
http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dis ... 440/c9.pdf
The mean serum magnesium level of 1.47 mmol/l was close to the proposed optimal serum magnesium level of 1.4 mmol/ for achieving maximal neuroprotection as demonstrated by Miles et al. In only a few patients serum magnesium concentrations exceeded the upper level of 2.0 mmol/l. It is suggested that above this level the neuroprotective properties of magnesium start to decline. This would implicate that studies aiming serum magnesium levels above 2.0 mmol/l are at risk to be less effective.

another interesting resource, 'normal' ranges from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) (nb not what you'd expect to represent a healthy population necessarily..)
http://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/elibrary ... Values.pdf
1.8–3.0 mg/dl ; 0.8–1.2 mmol/liter

found another unverifiable cite listing 1.0 - 1.2 mmol/L as optimal, will have to dig to figure out where they got these #s from... http://www.space-age.com/MagnesiumSerum01.pdf

anyway, interesting...

jan 26 update:

found this study, where 0.95 is considered a cutoff for the 'control' group in a diabetes risk study. however, i don't understand the 'lower magnesium categories' described in the abstract as follows:
Serum and Dietary Magnesium and the Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten ... 59/18/2151
Among white participants, a graded inverse relationship between serum magnesium levels and incident type 2 diabetes was observed. From the highest to the lowest serum magnesium levels, there was an approximate 2-fold increase in incidence rate (11.1, 12.2, 13.6, 12.8, 15.8, and 22.8 per 1000 person-years; P=.001). This graded association remained significant after simultaneous adjustment for potential confounders, including diuretic use. Compared with individuals with serum magnesium levels of 0.95 mmol/L (1.90 mEq/L) or greater, the adjusted relative odds of incident type 2 diabetes rose progressively across the following lower magnesium categories: 1.13 (95% CI, 0.79-1.61), 1.20 (95% CI, 0.86-1.68), 1.11 (95% CI, 0.80-1.56), 1.24 (95% CI, 0.86-1.78), and 1.76 (95% CI, 1.18-2.61) (for trend, P=.01)"

continuing to hunt for the elusive 1.1mmol/L source...

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

went to the lab first thing this morning. i do my tests 'fasting' in an apparently ridiculous attempt to avoid corrupting my uric acid results.

i prepared for testing with about a week and a half washout, ie no daily supplemental intakes (except i did not stop the fish oil).

this morning i wanted to refresh my memory re whether i was allowed to have tea before the uric acid test (thought not, but it turns out coffee is more the culprit)

going back almost 3 yrs, recall:
natural-approach-f27/topic18579.html#p55210

the study under discussion suggested that coffee or tea consumption could give a false high result (assuming the lab uses uricase methodology vs HPLC)...

BUT, other reading today indicated that regular consumption of coffee *depletes* uric acid, independent of caffeine content...
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 22762/full
"coffee consumption is associated with lower serum uric acid level..."

which of course led me to speculate whether coffee inhibits zinc absorption, which could in turn impair uric acid status. the answer: yes. it does.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/drug ... l/982.html
"Taking zinc sulfate with black coffee instead of water reduces zinc absorption by half."

the above is taken from an article which cites the following study (among many others):

Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1975 Apr;17(4):469-74.
Effect of foodstuffs on the absorption of zinc sulfate.
Abstract
"Single doses of zinc sulfate were given to healthy young volunteers, either in the fasting state or with various types of meals. ... Coffee ... seems to inhibit zinc absorption".

also interesting: "Dairy products (milk and cheese) and brown bread decreased zinc absorption, as indicated by a significant drop in peak serum zinc levels".

either way, i fasted until i got back from the lab. whereupon i ate egg with milk AND cheese, ON brown bread, AND drank tea FOLLOWED BY coffee... :S ... there goes the neighbourhood... hence my feeling somewhat ridiculous....

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

dinners over the better part of the last month. the pattern is sets of six, two alternating meat/poultry, two fish, two veg, with salad as the bulk of the main meal every other day.

F - green salad topped with salmon filet
P - 'chicken bandol' with green string beans
V - green salad topped with hard-boiled egg

F - sole filet with sweet potato, kale, peas and corn
M - green salad topped with sliced fast-fry steak and mushrooms
V - spinach/chard spinakopita and greek salad

V - green salad, hummous, pita bread (hummous + pita = complete protein)
F - fish filet, potato, peas (don't recall what kind of fish)
P - green salad topped with chicken breast

M - 'bengal beef' (a ground beef and onion curry) with rice, lentil dahl and cucumbers in yogurt
V - vegetarian chili (beans + corn = complete protein)
OUT - chili beef nachos

V - green salad and lentil/barley soup (protein combo again)
P - sliced chicken breast, roast winter veg, brussels sprouts, homemade stuffing
F - green salad, salmon filet and soup

V - stir fried mixed veg (onion pepper mushroom broccoli) with spicy soy-peanut spaghetti (protein combo again)
M - goat curry with rice, dahl and saag (onions garlic ginger spinach)
LAZY - pizza, delivery (vegetarian)
F - green salad and haddock filet

M - beef stroganoff (incl onions, mushrooms, yogurt) over steamed cabbage, with carrots and brussels sprouts (out of poultry)
V - green salad and sushi (nominally a veg night but there was seafood in about 50% of the maki)
F - salmon filet, wild and brown rice, carrots and chard

that's about it for now

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

preliminary bloods are in already. that was fast.

magnesium 0.85 mmol/L.
hmm. would rather be in the 0.9-1.1 range. this level is good enough for my doc, but not for me. i can feel that i'm in the 0.8s due to minor arm spasticity.

urate (uric acid) 230 umol/L
balls. that is an 'ms patient in remission' average, according to research, not a healthy control number at all. will need to get this up to 290-300 umol/L. this bad result probably means my zinc levels are crap too, we'll see. i had been cutting back on zinc supplements over the last while, ie 50mg every other day rather than every day, to test if i would still be okay. guess not :S might be an issue with % absorption per pill - i probably don't actually absorb the full amounts stated on my multi and separate 50mg zinc/2mg copper pill.

b12 679 pmol/L.
AWESOME!! i aim for at least 500. this is one of my highest levels ever. last time i was only in the 400s, so this is fantastic. haven't taken any more than my daily multi and a b-complex (which has the methyl b12 so, yay) in ages.

ferritin 153 ug/L
fine and dandy. i like to be at least 100. my lab's ranges seem to have changed and show normal as 80 to 300 now, rather than 100 to 300. don't know why. i wouldn't want to go over 200 necessarily, but you know how i feel about ranges in general practice...
anyway based on this result (high-ish for me) i think i may be able to quit supplementing extra iron around 'that time of month'. looks like my red meat intake (1-2 servings every 6 days) plus the multi may be sufficient.

hemoglobin 136 g/L
not too shabby! klenner advises at least 13 (which i'm assuming - bad me - would be 130 if i did the units conversion). according to the lab, upper end of the range is 155. i'm assuming (again) you'd get up there with higher ferritin levels, eg approaching that 200 mark. looking for some science to back that thought up. search results pending.

still waiting on zinc, copper, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamind3 and 25-hydroxyvitamind3. ttfn.

*****SEE FEB 9 UPDATE BELOW*****

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

k found a decent study looking at ferritin and hemoglobin. chinese study, n=2849. testing everybody, healthies and otherwise.

mean serum ferritin (g/l)
male 131.9  +/- 90.1
female 71.1  +/- 71.5

mean serum hemoglobin (g/dl)
male 14.3 +/- 1.7
female 12.7 +/- 1.5

so the highest mean ferritin would have been 222 and the highest mean hemoglobin was 16.

because this study was about diabetes, and some of our TIMS readers have diabetes as well as ms, i may as well include that the highest ferritin levels had generally higher risk for diabetes

fourth quartile (highest) numbers:
men 257.4  +/- 77.7
women 170.2  +/- 74.8

full text link (yay!) http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... l.pdf+html
it's worth reading because there are a lot of clarifying details re diffs btw men and women etc.

i'm definitely in that fourth quartile myself, although in the lower end of it. so i'll be happy to let my level fall. however according to this study, to get into the next quartile down i'd have to drop to somewhere in the 80s for serum ferritin. will have to do more research to nail down an optimal ferritin level.

FYI the researchers defined patients with diabetes as those with a fasting plasma glucose of 7.0 mmol/L or higher. i happened to get FPG done on tuesday and my result was 5.2 mmol/L, so all clear on that front. for now anyway.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Nutrition in multiple sclerosis
Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery Volume 112, Issue 7 , Pages 616-620, September 2010
http://www.clineu-journal.com/article/S ... 2/abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disease that causes neurological disability in young adults. Etiology of the disease is still unknown, but it has an immune-mediated basis and occurs in genetically susceptible individuals. Nutritional status and dietary habits in MS patients have not been extensively studied or reported, however individual findings suggest that many patients suffer from various forms of malnutrition. In patients with MS, malnutrition has been associated with impairment of the immune system; it affects mental function, respiratory muscle strength and increases a risk of specific nutrient deficiencies. These findings emphasize the need for nutritional support in MS patients. On the other hand, several nutritional compounds have been investigated as a possible treatment in MS, mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D, however their role in the treatment is yet to be confirmed. The aim of this review is to present data on the role of nutritional assessment and treatment in patients with MS.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Archives of Neurology Vol. 69 No. 1, January 2012
Severe Hypercalcemia Following Vitamin D Supplementation in a Patient With Multiple Sclerosis
A Note of Caution
http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten ... t/69/1/129
Objective To describe a patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) who developed severe hypercalcemia, attributed to the additive effect of 5500 IU of cholecalciferol and 2020 mg of calcium daily.
Patient A 58-year-old woman with MS and osteoporosis presenting with acute-onset tremors and confusion.
Main Outcome Measures Serum calcium and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.
Results The patient's corrected serum calcium level was 15.2 mg/dL (reference range, 8.7-10.1 mg/dL; to convert to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0.25), and her 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was 103 ng/mL (to convert to nanomoles per liter, multiply by 2.496). The results of extensive laboratory tests to rule out hyperparathyroidism, malignant neoplasms, and other causes of hypercalcemia were unrevealing.
Conclusions It is common practice to prescribe high-dose cholecalciferol to MS patients for its possible role in immunomodulation and relapse-rate reduction. Nevertheless, cholecalciferol may increase serum calcium, and there seems to be an additive effect when patients simultaneously use calcium supplements. This case underscores the need for physicians to be attentive to the possibility of hypercalcemia in patients treated with both high-dose cholecalciferol and calcium.

what a great abstract to include units and conversion factors! so anyway her level was a chunk over 250 nmol/L, which we already know is the top end of the safe range. and whoever told her that taking over 2000mg of calcium a day was a good idea was clearly out to lunch...

bloodwork is key - don't fly blind, folks!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Evidence of elevated glutamate in multiple sclerosis using magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3 T
http://neurology.ucsf.edu/ms_neuroimagi ... ingMRS.pdf
"...we compared glutamate levels between normal subjects and multiple sclerosis patients in different brain areas... Glutamate concentrations were found to be elevated in acute lesions (P = 0.02) and normal-appearing white matter (P = 0.03) ... These in vivo results support the hypothesis that altered glutamate metabolism is present in brains of multiple sclerosis patients."

2009 list of links re low zinc, low glutathione, ms, and iron dysregulation
general-discussion-f1/topic10019.html#p90335

Release of glutamate and GABA in the hippocampus under zinc deficiency
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... E35.d01t03
"In the brain of the zinc-deficient rats, moreover, zinc concentration in the hippocampal extracellular fluid was approximately 30% of that of control rats. These results demonstrate that vesicular zinc is responsive to dietary zinc and may decrease easily under zinc deficiency."

High K+-induced Increase in Extracellular Glutamate in Zinc Deficiency and Endogenous Zinc Action
http://jhs.pharm.or.jp/data/55(3%29/55_405.pdf
"...in young rats fed a zinc-deficient diet for 2 weeks. When the ventral hippocampus was perfused by 100mM KCl, the extracellular concentration of glutamate was more increased in zinc-deficient rats than the control rats."

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

doc's office just called with some of those pending lab results. advised d3 was low

25(OH)D3 = 71 nmol/L shocking! bad girl.

1,25(OH)2D3 = 114 pmol/L i have to look that one up

zinc = 14.6 umol/L better than expected but still not good enough. definitely in the 'ms' sector of the 'normal' range.

i already corrected my zinc regimen but have been slacking on the d3.
clearly multivits, fish and mushrooms are not doing the trick...
off i go to take some vit d3! (being aware beforehand that d3 absorption is probably a smidge better given the increased zinc intake recently....)

ttfn. brekkies is sizzling away better not burn it....

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

mmm mmm mmm, multi-veg pesto pasta

made this recipe 'kid-friendly', for a friend of mine:

1) boil then simmer 30 min to reduce:

2 bottles organic tomato puree
1 bottle V8
2 tbsp pesto
4 bay leaves
1 tsp savoury
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
3 tbsp ground flax seeds (providing omega 3s and thickening)

2) saute in a little oil:

2 cloves garlic, minced
4 small onions, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
2 carrots, minced
1/2 c yellow pepper, pureed
1/4 c green pepper, pureed
1/2 c spinach, pureed

3) add sauteed veg to seasoned reduced tomato-V8 base

4) brown:
1 pound extra lean angus ground beef
(good source of zinc - fyi Bioavailability of Zinc in Ground Beef http://jas.fass.org/content/71/1/119.full.pdf ; also http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=115)

5) add browned beef to tomato-V8-veg sauce, add parmesan cheese to taste

6) boil for 10 min:
brown rice pasta spirals (probably about 8 cups dry spirals would have used up the sauce - i did 4 cups with plenty of leftover sauce)
(no wheat gluten to increase zinc demand - fyi NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND MICRONUTRIENT LEVELS OF CHILDREN WITH CELIAC DISEASE BEFORE AND AFTER GLUTEN FREE DIET http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=415401)

7) rinse and drain pasta, toss in a little olive oil, add sauce, toss and serve.

8) optional: place pasta and sauce in baking dish, cover with parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheese, bake until cheese is browned, serve.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

fighting a virus.. should not have gone high dose D3 before getting my zinc levels back in line... can't quickly find a study re high dose d3 impacts on zinc status so if anyone can link me up, thanks.
whatever is trying, it hasn't quite got a hold on me yet so i'm blasting it with zinc selenium vit C and vit E. might go so far as to take an A today, thereby rounding out the ACESZ virus-fighting arsenal...

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

dinners over the past week:

baked marinated chicken, onion-mushroom-spinach brown and wild rice risotto, and steamed kale.

tomato-based sausage-potato-bean soup, salad

perch, 4-veg mash (potato, rutabaga, carrot, sweet potato), boiled green/white swiss chard

lasagne (home made, 10-veg & meat sauce from scratch, whole wheat fresh pasta, cottage cheese, spinach, parm and mozzarella) with salad

stir fried onions, thin sliced beef, mushrooms, broccoli, and red pepper in spicy soy-peanut sauce over brown basmati rice

pink salmon filets with steamed rutabaga, sweet potato, and kale.

tomorrow will be leftover tomato soup as above with home-made mini-pizzas

sunday will be that good old homemade spinach/chard spinakopita, with dolmadakia from the deli, and a greek salad.

all right, starving now, off to deal with tonight's salmon

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

gentlemen: a possible argument for taking your daily zinc in the AM hahaha this explains a few things don't it?

Circadian variations in serum zinc (Zn) concentrations: correlation with blood ionized calcium, serum total calcium and phosphate in humans
http://www.ajcn.org/content/41/4/689.short
Serum zinc (Zn) concentrations were determined in sequentially drawn blood samples from six healthy adult males. Each subject had blood sampling performed every 30 minutes for 24 hours. Mean Zn concentrations at each time point (n = 6, 48 time points) were plotted and fitted by a polynomial regression of the data against time. A "U" shaped curve was derived; we found peak Zn levels at 9:30 AM, a midtrough at 8 PM and a peak-trough difference of 19 micrograms/dl. Correlation with a similarly derived 24-h ionized calcium pattern was strikingly high, r = .923, p less than .001. An intermediate correlation between the Zn and phosphate patterns was observed, r = - .493, p less than .01; and no significant correlation occurred between Zn and total calcium rhythms, r = .167. These data conclusively demonstrate the presence of a circadian rhythm in serum Zn in healthy adult males. Furthermore, the high correlation between the Zn and ionized calcium patterns suggests a common regulator.

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

just having a squint at research on hyperthyroidism and nutrition and ran across this 2008 article. surprised it hasn't already made its way on here somewhere, but at any rate for your reading pleasure (i <3 full text!):

From vitamin D to hormone D: fundamentals of the vitamin D endocrine system essential for good health
http://www.ajcn.org/content/88/2/491S.full

"New knowledge of the biological and clinical importance of the steroid hormone 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1α,25(OH)2D3] and its receptor, the vitamin D receptor (VDR), has resulted in significant contributions to good bone health. However, worldwide reports have highlighted a variety of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency diseases. Despite many publications and scientific meetings reporting advances in vitamin D science, a disturbing realization is growing that the newer scientific and clinical knowledge is not being translated into better human health. Over the past several decades, the biological sphere of influence of vitamin D3, as defined by the tissue distribution of the VDR, has broadened at least 9-fold from the target organs required for calcium homeostasis (intestine, bone, kidney, and parathyroid). Now, research has shown that the pluripotent steroid hormone 1α,25(OH)2D3 initiates the physiologic responses of ≥36 cell types that possess the VDR. In addition to the kidney's endocrine production of circulating 1α,25(OH)2D3, researchers have found a paracrine production of this steroid hormone in ≥10 extrarenal organs. This article identifies the fundamentals of the vitamin D endocrine system, including its potential for contributions to good health in 5 physiologic arenas in which investigators have clearly documented new biological actions of 1α,25(OH)2D3 through the VDR. As a consequence, the nutritional guidelines for vitamin D3 intake (defined by serum hydroxyvitamin D3 concentrations) should be reevaluated, taking into account the contributions to good health that all 36 VDR target organs can provide."

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com