Multiple Sclerosis
(this page last updated 7/26/16)

How might a plant-based diet help prevent and treat multiple sclerosis?
Nice video and article that tells you about the best treatment for MS ever published in a peer reviewed journal.

Dr. McDougall: Type 1 Diabetes Caused by Milk (VIDEO) - this video also applies to MS

Treating MS with diet - Fact or Fiction - From the very trusted source of Physicians Commitee on Responsible Medicine.

Some info that might contribute to "LEAKY GUT SYNDROME" which may be a contributing factor in MS

Gluten - Wheat, Barley & Rye contain types of gluten that can be inflammatory to the lining of our intestines even in people not diagnosed with Celiac or gluten sensitivity. Most people (especially whites from European descent) have gluten intolerance and thus have an inflamed intestinal lining due to gluten and don't even realize it. The lining if the intestines is a filter only one cell thick (epithelial cells) that separates digesting food from our blood. When that lining is damaged by gluten's inflammation and other irritants listed below, we get leakage of foods and pathogens into our blood where the immune system will send out an attack, once again wasting it valuable energy and causing allergy issues. Wheat is also high in the herbicide Glyphosate (Roundup) which has been shown to disrupt the good bacteria in our gut. Gluten is also 40% glutamate by weight. Processing with heat or fermentation frees up the glutamate which activates it as a flavor enhancer but also an excitotoxin which is damaging to your brain as mentioned above as the number one toxin causing degenerative brain diseases, nervous system damage and and eye damage. See the videos on www.unblindmymind.org to learn more about the gluten-glutamate connection. For either of these two reasons whether your are gluten "intolerant" or not it should be avoided completely. Even if you decide to include some glten free grains in your diet make them only organic to avoid the toxic effects of Glyphostaes.

Carrageenan (extracted from red edible seaweeds) is commonly found as a thickener in non dairy milks, yogurt and ice cream has been shown to disrupt the bond between epithelial cells in the intestines and can cause gastrointestinal inflammation and contribute to leaky gut syndrome. Read more about it here.


Multiple Sclerosis and Dairy 1/27/12 From NotMilk Newsletter

I really dislike Novartis commercials. They never admit when one of their experimental trials goes wrong. They then toot their own horn when one of their drugs helps people without revealing that half of the experimental human subjects are given placebos and in good faith, volunteer to participate in a study which cannot possibly help them.

When somebody dies in a Novartis drug trial, the information is hushed up.

Not this time.
On Saturday (January 21, 2012), Notmilk learned that a new experimental Novartis drug used to treat people with multiple sclerosis has killed 11 people. The drug is named Gilenya.

With illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, pharmaceutical companies invest hundreds of millions of dollars seeking approval for something which only relieves symptoms. How many people are aware of the dairy consumption link?

Multiple sclerosis affects approximately 300,000 Americans. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with MS are women. Most researchers believe that MS is an autoimmune disease. Auto means "self."

It is interesting to note that Eskimos and Bantus (50 million individuals living in East Africa) rarely get MS. Neither do those native North and South American Indian or Asian populations that consume no cow's milk or dairy products.

The British medical journal Lancet reported that dairy-rich diets filled have been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974;2:1061)

A study published in the journal Neuroepidemiology revealed an association between eating dairy foods (cow's milk, butter, and cream) and an increased prevalence of MS. (Neuroepidemiology 1992;11:30412.)

MS researcher, Luther Lindner, M.D., a pathologist at Texas A & M University College of Medicine, wrote: "It might be prudent to limit the intake of milk and milk products."

The body's reaction to a foreign protein is to destroy that antigen-like invader with an antibody. For those individuals possessing a genetic pre-disposition to such an event, the antibody then turns upon one's own cells. That is an auto-immune response. In the case of MS, the body's response is to attack the outer membrane protecting nerve cells, or the myelin sheath. Symptoms of MS include tingling or numbness of the limbs, paralysis, and vision problems. Sometimes MS patients experience slurred speech accompanied by chronic pain. It has long been established that early exposure to bovine proteins is a trigger for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.
Researchers have made that same milk consumption connection to MS. The July 30, 1992 issue of the New England Journal
of Medicine first reported the diabetes autoimmune response milk connection:

"Patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction... Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the auto immune response."

In October of 1996, The Lancet reported: "Antibodies to bovine beta-casein are present in over a third of IDDM patients and relatively non-existent in healthy individuals." Two months later (December 14, 1996), The Lancet revealed:
"Cow's milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune response...this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD."

The April 1, 2001 issue of the Journal of Immunology contained a study linking MS to milk consumption.
Michael Dosch, M.D., and his team of researchers determined that multiple sclerosis and type I (juvenile) diabetes mellitus are far more closely linked than previously thought. Dosch attributes exposure to cow milk protein as a risk factor in the development of both diseases for people who are genetically susceptible. According to Dosch: "We found that immunologically, type I diabetes and
multiple sclerosis are almost the same - in a test tube you can barely tell the two diseases apart. We found that the autoimmunity was not specific to the organ system affected by the disease. Previously it was thought that in MS autoimmunity would develop in the central nervous system, and in diabetes it would only be found in the pancreas. We found that both tissues are targeted
in each disease."

Women are targeted by dairy industry scare tactics that misinform about osteoporosis. Two-thirds of MS victims are women. As milk and cheese consumption increase along population lines, so too do an epidemic number of MS cases. The numbers add up. The clues add up. The science supports epidemiological studies. Got MS? The milk connection has been established. That connection
was confirmed by researchers in the March, 2011 issue of the journal Neurology who concluded after reviewing data from the Harvard Nurse Study (over 80,000 participants) that women who drink whole cow's milk experience an "increased risk for multiple sclerosis".

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.Twitter.com/TheRealNotmilk

Below is a collection of information on MS complied by Robert Cohen 7/13/11.

Dairy Consumption and Autoimmune Responses

"I think eventually they're going to find out that MS is like 10 different things. I have a neurological disease something like MS, and it's MS, so let's take medicine for it." - Teri Garr

You ascribe your disease to bad fortune or lethargy or aging or genetics, while more and more, scientific evidence suggests that it is what you eat.

A recent study intended to demonstrate how effecitively milk protected consumers against multiple sclerosis (MS). The authors received an unpleasent surprise, just the opposite of what they were lookng for and reported:

"..Intake of whole milk, an important source of dietary vitamin D, was associated with an increased risk. The possibility of opposite effects of vitamin D and milk intake on MS risk should be considered in future studies."
- J Neurol. 2011 Mar;258(3):479-85.

Ten years ago, I would receive one or two queries regarding dairy consumption and MS These days, I recieve two or three such questions every day. It's epidemic!
The dairy industry's latest claim is that Vitamin D added to milk can prevent multiple sclerosis. Dairy marketing geniuses have been sending press kits to newspapers and magazines with this outlandish claim, and the August 24, 2010 issue of U.S. News and World Reports bought their prepared copy hook, line, and stinker.

Multiple Sclerosis is a common neurological disease, affecting approximately 300,000 Americans. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with MS are women. Women are the targets of dairy marketing. Women are told that their bones will break if they do not get the calcium from cheese and milk.
The January issue of the Journal of Immunology (2004 Jan 1;172(1):661-668) contains an important clue to understanding the itiology of MS. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany (Guggenmos,et. al.) have determined that milk proteins produce a reaction in the myelin sheath of nerve fibers that can result in MS.

Most researchers believe that MS is an auto immune disease. Auto means "self." The body's reaction to a foreign protein is to destroy that antigen-like invader with an antibody. The antibody then turn upon one's own cells. That is an auto-immune response. In the case of MS, the body's response is to attack the outer membrane-protecting nerve cells, or the myelin sheath. Symptoms of MS include tingling or numbness of the limbs, paralyses, and vision problems. Sometimes MS patients experience slurred speech accompanied by chronic pain.

MS costs approximately $2.5 billion each year in America. MS is found in milk-drinking populations. It is interesting to note that Eskimos and Bantus (50 million living in East Africa) rarely get MS. Neither do those native North and South American Indian or Asian populations that consume no dairy products.

John McDougall, M.D., cites the British medical journal Lancet in pointing out that a diet filled with dairy products has been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974;2:1061)

A worldwide study published in the journal Neuroepidemiology revealed an association between eating dairy foods (cow's milk, butter, and cream) and an increased prevalence of MS. (Neuroepidemiology 1992;11:304?12.)

The April 1, 2001 issue of the Journal of Immunology included a study linking MS to milk consumption. It has long been established that early exposure to bovine proteins is a trigger for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Researchers have made that same milk consumption connection to MS.

The July 30, 1992 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine first reported the diabetes auto immune response milk connection:

"Patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction... Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the auto immune response."

In October of 1996, The Lancet reported:
"Antibodies to bovine beta-casein are present in over a third of IDDM patients and relatively non-existent in healthy individuals."

Two months later (December 14, 1996), The Lancet revealed: "Cow's milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune
response...this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD."

Michael Dosch, M.D., and his team of researchers have determined that multiple sclerosis and type I (juvenile) diabetes mellitus are far more closely linked than previously thought. Dosch attributes exposure to cow milk protein as a risk factor in the development of both diseases for people who are genetically susceptible. According to Dosch: "We found that immunologically, type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis are almost the same - in a test tube you can barely tell the two diseases apart. We found that the autoimmunity was not specific to the organ system affected by the disease. Previously it was thought that in MS autoimmunity would develop in the central nervous system, and in diabetes it would only be found in the pancreas. We found that both tissues are targeted in each disease." (Journal of Immunology, April, 2001)

"I started this foundation when I was diagnosed. It was established for one reason, and that was to try to find a cure for MS. Every penny, 100% of the public donations that come into this are given back out in the form of grants to colleges and researchers around the world." - Montel Williams

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
http://www.Twitter.com/TheRealNotmilk

Genesis 1:29
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
because thou has rejected knowledge…

1 Cor 6:19
Our bodies are the temple of God. Gods spirit dwells within.