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In fact, it was the unhealthy typical Western diet that showed a tendency towards being associated with a reduced risk of MS.
It was a vast study, looking at 185,000 women to suss out the ones who did go on to develop MS.

It seems possible that those who were in the preclinical stages of MS might have already taken steps to eat healthier in hopes of feeling better.
The unhealthy diet might impair the immune system, slowing it down, which might be why that tended towards reducing the risk of MS.
A healthy diet should have improved the endothelium, but that was not enough to translate into a reduced risk of MS.
I don't think this is justification to go eat a donut, but if you did happen to eat a donut daily throughout the time you were developing MS, it does not seem that the donuts were to blame.

In my interpretation, to the extent that MS develops after years of blood flow derangement caused by congenital blockages in the jugular and azygous veins, then that congenital blockage was pre-existing, it was not caused by eating poorly nor does it go away if eating well. It goes away when it is ballooned during angioplasty, a long-standing and very accepted way to treat blood vessel blockages. Eating well and exercising is indeed a very good idea as next priority after the first priority of angioplasty is accomplished successfully.

I would not read too much into this abstract, which is not a peer-reviewed paper, and was self-reported information, Cece.

Rotstein noted, too, that the study only addressed overall adherence to certain diet plans without examining intake of specific foods or nutrients, except for vitamin D supplementation. She acknowledged that specific diet components that genuinely influence MS risk might not have been captured in the current analysis.

Like low B12? High saturated fats, transfats vs. omega 3? Lack of essential minerals and nutrients? Lack of antioxidants?

Also--what adjustments were made to the info to qualify results??

Adjustments were taken for age at enrollment, latitude of residence at age 15, body mass index at age 18, pack-years of smoking, overall caloric intake, race/ethnicity, and intake of supplemental vitamin D.

Why did they make these adjustments?
We already know smoking, obesity, northern latitude and low vitamin D are all environmental factors which hasten MS disease progression---as outlined in peer-reviewed and published research. And processed food, transfats, and salt intake and physical inactivity have been linked to MS progression in peer-reviewed and published research. All of these factors are endothelial disrupters. It's difficult, maybe impossible, to double blind and placebo control a complete lifestyle....but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter.

cheer

The 'true' problem is that no one knows for sure what a 'healthy' diet really consists of.

p30 http://www.opus3.com/MSBoston_PressKit/ ... ournal.pdf

thanks for the link to the abstracts, JL.

You're right, a "healthy" diet can be a subjective thing, Elliot. Some swear by Dr. Wahls paleo program, Dr. Swank's low fat diet, etc. It's not the same for everyone. But unhealthy environmental factors that increase MS progression are known.

Unhealthy diets include transfats, more omega 6 than omega 3 oil, processed foods, foods high in simple sugars, not enough antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, low vitamin B12, low vitamin D.

re NHANES FFQ data
http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/archi ... ne0304.pdf
noted with interest that portion size was not recorded.