Low-Sodium Diets Seem To Best For MS

While the evidence for reducing dietary for reducing the frequency and severity of symptoms of MS is not overwhelming, it is strong. Scientists at the  Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia in Buenos Aires counted lesions in brain scans of 52 MS patients, and then asked them for diet journals to determine the amount of salt they consumed. The Argentinian scientists found that for each additional gram of salt in the daily diet, MS patients had on average 3-1/2 times as many lesions in the brain. MS patients who consumed more that 4.8 grams of salt per day were found to suffer relapses 4 times more often than MS patients who followed a low-salt diet, 2 grams per day.

If you have MS, you probably never want to eat:

• Hot sauce packets. Just 2/3 of a packet usually contains a full day's allowance of salt.
• Beef bouillion cubes. Just two cubes contain an entire day's allowance of salt.
• Chicken bouillon cubes. Just three cubes contain an entire day's allowance of salt.
• Soup from soup mix. Although different brands have different levels of sodium, the most popular brand contains a day's worth of sodium in half of an individual serving packet.
• Tofu. Surprisingly, just 2 oz (56 grams) of firm tofu contains a day's worth of sodium.
• Pork rinds. Just 2 oz (56 grams) contains a day's worth of sodium.
• Bacon (sorry). Just 3 oz/84 grams of fried bacon contains a day's worth of salt.
• Ramen noodle soup mix. One package contains a days' worth of salt.
• Instant grits. Two 1-1/2 oz packets contain a day's worth of salt.
• Pickles. Most 4 oz (112 gram) pickles contain a day's worth of salt.
• Italian dressing and Italian vinaigrettes. A third of a cup (80 ml) of Italian dressing provides a day's worth of sodium.
• Pepperoni, canned pork products, processed cheese, pancakes, pickled peppers, and pretzels are all high in salt. About a 3-1/2 oz (100 gram) serving provides all the sodium that should be consumed in an entire day.

See Also: Twenty-Five Foods That You Probably Didn't Realize Are Too High in Salt

It isn't hard to avoid the foods on this list. It isn't necessary to buy expensive, strange foods to replace them. It's only necessary never, ever to eat any of these high-salt foods to make a major improvement in the average diet of a MS patient.

If you at least avoid these high-salt foods, it may not be necessary to avoid table salt and salt in cooking altogether, all less is always better. Canned foods, chips, dips, and snack foods are best avoided, too, but eliminating these easy to avoid problem foods may make a huge difference in the course of MS.