I’m always surprised at how many adults admit to drinking mainstream sodas on a regular basis, both diet and otherwise. At my talk about hidden inflammation last week, I mentioned the potential inflammatory role that artificial sweeteners like Aspartame, saccarine, and high fructose corn syrup may play in sparking the inflammatory response in sensitive people, and the benefits of avoiding them all together. The majority of the audience (mostly middle-aged women) confessed that this was new information for them!
“The authors found that the highest consumption group consumed around 290 calories per day of soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages, which is the equivalent of about two cans of non-diet soda.”
The first thing I wanted to know was if the soft drinks in Germany were formulated with high fructose corn syrup like they are here in the US. In yet another sad example of how big companies formulate unhealthier and artificially sweeter products for the US market than the European market, it appears at least Coca Cola uses sugar (most likely from sugar beets) in European Cokes.
Of course, they still add food dye and preservatives like phosphoric acid to European Cokes, just like they do in America, and the study did not take these artificial ingredients into account as potentially influencing factors, which I believe they are, and more so than the sugar itself.
Regardless, if you are looking to avoid and reduce inflammation in your body, whether you have MS, another autoimmune disorder, or are just dealing with rampant inflammation, the results of this study should influence you to cut out all mainstream soda, both diet and regular versions.
If you like carbonated drinks, the safest bets are to stick with bubbly spring waters or make your own with a Soda Stream and mix it with pure and natural substances like coconut water or organic fruit juice.
Join Denver area MDs, RNs, LPNs, NPs, PAs, PTs, OTs, MSWs & other healthcare professionals for a can’t-miss continuing education event on Friday, March 1st, 2019, featuring relevant topics that you care about presented by nationally recognized healthcare experts in a live, interactive format!
This event begins with Commander Mary Kelly US Navy (ret) speaking about how to Master Your Healthcare World, followed by my presentation on The Inflammation Influence: How Hidden Inflammation Affects the Way we Look, Feel, Think, and Act.
It’s a free event but you must register as space is limited!
My talk, beginning at 3:30 pm, will cover:
Understanding what is Hidden Inflammation and what causes it
Recognizing how Hidden Inflammation affects our thoughts, behaviors, and actions
Becoming familiar with ways to reduce Hidden Inflammation naturally and “de-flate” so that we can look better, feel better, and think more clearly
Who should come?
Physicians (MDs & DOs)
Registered Nurses (RNs)
Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs)
Nurse Practitioners (NPs)
Physician Assistants (PAs)
Physical Therapists (PTs)
Occupational Therapist (OTs)
Therapy Assistants (PTAs & COTAs)
Administrators & Executive Directors
Director of Nursing (DONs)
Social Workers (MSWs)
Medical Billers & Coders
Marketing & Sales Professionals
Other Non-Clinical Role
The evidence is coming in that our diet makes a difference when it comes to MS and other autoimmune diseases.
Food for thought
It’s so gratifying when the research catches up with my theories on Multiple Sclerosis and diet. While I focus on food sensitivities more than food allergies with the dietary therapies I design, the general public and many healthcare providers use the terms interchangeably
Like many other medical conditions, the mechanism of multiple sclerosis remains an enigma–a puzzle composed of complex genetic and environmental factors. A key piece to this puzzle is the immune system, which is also responsible for regulating many other physiological (and pathological) phenomena–including allergies. Although previous studies investigating the association between MS and allergies have yielded mixed results, a research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital sought to uncover the putative link in a new way. Investigating the correlation between allergy and inflammatory disease activity, the team found new evidence connecting food allergies and relapses of multiple sclerosis. The results are published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
“Some multiple sclerosis patients with significant allergies would complain of frequent relapses associated with their allergic episodes,” said Tanuja Chitnis, MD, senior author and a neurologist at the Partners MS Center at the Brigham. “We felt that the most likely mechanism associated with allergy and its influence on MS would be related to inflammatory activity.”
Accordingly, Chitnis and colleagues set out to investigate the association between inflammatory disease activity and allergy history in a subset of patients enrolled in a large study known as the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of Multiple Sclerosis at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (CLIMB). A total of 1,349 study participants completed a self-administered questionnaire outlining food, environmental and/or drug allergies. Disease activity was assessed through evaluating the cumulative number of attacks over disease course, and new gadolinium (Gad)-enhancing lesions, as detected by MRI.
Interestingly, only participants in the food allergy group demonstrated a significantly higher rate of cumulative attacks and increased likelihood of new Gad-lesions compared to participants with no reported food allergies. This effect remained significant even when adjusted for potential confounders such as sex, age at symptom onset, and disease category. No significant effects were observed for the environmental and drug allergy groups after adjusted analyses.
This association between food allergy and MS disease activity highlights an important role for a potential player in immunity and inflammation–the gut. “It is interesting that this association was only found with food allergies and not other types of allergies, which might have been expected had this solely been an immune deviation issue,” said Chitnis. “The presence of food allergies and mechanisms related to food allergies may increase relapse rate and inflammatory activity in MS patients. There may be a common mechanism here, or other mechanisms which may induce MS relapses in a predisposed host.”
Currently, Chitnis and colleagues are working to further uncover these mechanisms of immune dysregulation in allergy and delineate how such dysregulation impacts MS inflammatory activity. Given the correlative nature of this study, the researchers are careful to highlight the limited clinical actionability of their findings. However, Chitnis is optimistic about the potential translational significance of the work and highlights the importance of addressing food allergies in MS patient care.
“There has long been a hypothesis of the gut being related to the immune system, and this really points to a stronger association than previously understood,” Chitnis said. “This research opens up a new way of thinking about the immune mechanisms in MS.”
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Funding for this work was provided by Merck Serono and the National MS Society Nancy Davis Center Without Walls.
Paper cited: Fakih, R et al. “Food allergies are associated with increased disease activity in multiple sclerosis,” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2018- 319301
Listen in on this fun conversation about helping women age stronger between myself and Registered Dietician Tracee Gluhaich on her “High Energy Girl” podcast!
Tracee and I talk a lot about the benefits of eating whole food-based diets as well as how food sensitivities can cause inflammation, which can be the hidden cause of many symptoms.
Reader question: (note: this is a multi-part conversation)
Hi Elizabeth. I just wanted to say thank you so much for your time and wisdom last we talked. I really appreciate you and your consciousness around healing and food.
I’m wondering if you could share information with me. I am in conversation with my son’s father about nutrition . He has up to this point honored my requests for my son to be gluten and dairy free and also my request around him eating organic food options. Now his dad is really beginning to resist this and we are meeting to have a conversation this Sunday.
I am seeking information about the benefits of eating gluten free, dairy free and organic. Do you have any resources you can share that I can use in my discussion? I would love to come to the conversation with good information. I have a good grasp and am reaching out to others who use good to heal to gain additional source support. Any articles you can share would be deeply appreciated. Blessings ~Rachel T., Denver, CO
Actually I am not sure I believe that all people should be gluten-free and dairy-free (only those who are sensitive to them, and as long as they are organic sources) so can’t really give you much in terms of those. I do think that organic is the most important of the things you mention.
Thank you ! Can you tell me why you feel gluten and dairy are beneficial to those not sensitive ?
I want to do what is best for him .
He’s always eaten gf and dairy free because I am. We have never had any issues with digestion, spitting up as a baby or rashes. He seems pretty balanced. Would it make sense to get him tested?
Rachel, I am personally wheat-free and dairy-free (among other things) because my body can’t tolerate them, but my husband and kids eat wheat and dairy and I keep them in the house for them. If they had to abstain from everything I have to avoid eating, they would really hate me. They are exposed to a lot of alternatives to gluten and dairy, which they sometimes choose, but it is their choice.
While I use my influence as The Mom to provide organic foods, homemade meals, and fruits and vegetables, the only things I think everyone across the board should avoid are:
Additives, preservatives, and other chemicals in our food supply.
Artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors, and scents.
Beyond that, it comes down to the individual as to what their body can tolerate. I’m not a fan in general of removing entire food groups willy-nilly. Most people do fine with organic wheat (70-90% of the population), and wheat has sustained human beings for more than 5,000 years. It’s difficult to go through life without eating wheat in our world, and just because something is “gluten-free” doesn’t mean it’s necessarily healthier. Often gluten-free items have many more ingredients and are more heavily processed than their wheat counterparts. Homemade bread, for example, only has a few ingredients.
Same for dairy. If he tries it and has issues, then he should avoid it. But otherwise, organic dairy products aren’t necessarily “bad” for everyone. I don’t think kids need to be drinking milk, though whole milk is always preferable if they want to.
How old is he? Does he have any ailments or struggles, digestive or otherwise?
I usually only recommend testing for people who are trying to resolve symptoms. Healthy people can certainly do the test, too, but not 100% of the population needs to or even should.
As for getting the MRT food sensitivity testing for a healthy kid with no current physical issues? I would say it is not needed. I’d rather not test a child who isn’t suffering and put him on a restricted diet unnecessarily and possibly create an unhealthy attitude toward food or an eating disorder as a result.
If his normal state is healthy, then you can likely identify the culprit of any new negative symptom if it arises in him. Just remember that food sensitivity reactions are dose-dependent and can manifest as long as four days after exposure. Then do the detective work to remember what new he could have eaten within the time frame.
Of course, if at any time he or anyone else experiences anaphylaxis, call 911 and give him an appropriate-sized dose of Benedryl or use an Epi-Pen as directed.
A new study out of Germany examined the link between sugary drink intake and the inflammation associated with multiple sclerosis and found “In an analysis of 135 people with MS, those ranked in the highest quartile for sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake had five-fold higher odds for severe disability versus mild-to-moderate disability.”
Join Denver area MDs, RNs, LPNs, NPs, PAs, PTs, OTs, MSWs & other healthcare professionals for a can’t-miss continuing education event on 
