The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has published some powerful information in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, & Psychiatry. According to the research, fatty diets increase the chance of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses in children. The Mayo Clinic describes MS as, “…a potentially disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).”
Symptoms of MS include numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, partial or complete loss of vision, fatigue, slurred speech, and in some cases, a shortened life expectancy. There is currently no cure for MS but people can recover from attacks. Needless to say, this is a disease we don’t want any child relapsing to.
Poor Diet Linked to Multiple Sclerosis Relapse in Children https://t.co/qBurFOY8aQ #BreakingMedicalNews pic.twitter.com/o2ZCweGsKI
— Physicians Committee (@PCRM) October 10, 2017
The research by PCRM tracked the diets and relapse rates of 219 participants with “pediatric relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS)” at 11 MS centers all over the United States. The data show that higher fat intakes increased the risk of relapse by 56 percent. Additionally, the data show that for every 10 percent increase in saturated fat, the risk of relapse tripled.
While this research implies a lot of danger, it also demonstrated one way to significantly help prevent relapses from occurring. PCRM discovered that an increased vegetable intake seemed to protect some from relapse. In fact, the risk was decreased by 50 percent for every one cup of vegetable consumed. While animal products, like meat, eggs, and dairy rank high in saturated fats — according to Harvard’s School of Public Health — vegetables rank very low, making them a safer, healthier choice.
The authors of the publication suggest that vegetable intake be promoted to decrease changes of inflammation and, by extension, MS relapses. This is just another piece of evidence in a growing case against the dangers of meat and animal products.
More and more these days, we’re seeing that you can’t eat meat and animal products and be healthy (or as healthy as you could be)… at least not in the long term.
