I’ve never been someone who eats healthy meals. I didn’t as a child and I’m not much better as a 76-year-old man. Research, over the years, has shown that there could be a connection between my meals and my multiple sclerosis (MS). Now, a recent study, by researchers at the Yale School of Medicine, adds more weight to that possibility.
The study, published in the January 16, 2025 edition of Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, is one of many that have looked at the gut microbiome, the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that live in our digestive tracts. This one has found that the total number of bacteria differed significantly in the guts of people with MS (PwMS), compared with people who are healthy. For example, the researchers observed that species of Faecalibacterium were less abundant in the PwMS, and that’s in line with some previous research. They also discovered that a species of Monoglobus that was more abundant in MS patients.
Finally, the study reported that PwMS had a smaller number of bacteria coated with the the antibody host immunoglobulin A (IgA), compared with the healthy controls. “The fact that fewer bacteria were coated with IgA in patients with MS suggests that there is perhaps a fundamental disconnect going on with the host-microbe interactions,” principal investigator Erin Longbrake, MD, PhD said in a news release. “The microbiome interfaces with the environment as well as the immune system. Theoretically, the environmental risk factors [such as poor diet and smoking] could predispose people to MS because they change the bugs that are in the gut.”
About six months into the study about half of the 43 people with MS began receiving B-cell depletion therapy, a treatment that destroys immune cells that contribute to autoimmune diseases such as MS. Following that treatment the study reports those patient’s gut microbiomes more closely resembled those of the study controls.
Will changing diet affect MS progression?
Not covered in this study, but something I would have found interesting, is looking at whether changing a study subject’s diet to one of those commonly thought to be beneficial to people with MS would impact their gut microbiomes.
Quite a few PwMS say they’ve been helped by either the Wahls elimination diet or the Swank diet. The Wahls diet concentrates on plant-based foods, as well as beef, lamb, pork, and some fish. If you’re following Walls, forget about eggs, tomatoes, and potatoes. The Swank diet focuses on reducing saturated and unsaturated fats. Red meat and pork are off-limits for the first year, and the diet encourages fruits, veggies, some poultry, and white fish, among other foods.
Reducing or eliminating sweets is another dietary change believed to be beneficial to PwMS. In 2019, researchers in the U.S. and Germany linked sugar-sweetened beverages to an increased MS disability level. I think you’ll find a lot of agreement that sweets are sour for our health.
Then there’s the Keto diet. Its menu is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. The idea is that, by drastically limiting carbs, the body is forced to switch from using glucose for its energy to burning its stored fat. My wife used this diet to lose weight, and the Keto website claims it’s also useful for people living with progressive MS. The rational: If glucose hypo-metabolism is possibly be linked to MS progression, then boosting the body’s energy supply through an alternative to glucose, such as ketone bodies, might work as an MS therapy. But actual research about Keto and MS is very limited.
Maybe I’m asking for too much to be done in one study. And I’m certainly not the best person to suggest dieting as an MS therapy. Just the same, I should probably care more about my meals and my MS.
(A version of this post first appeared on the Rare Disease Advisor website.)
(Image by -Rita-👩🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay)
