Joint pain is common among people diagnosed with MS. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric can be a natural way to help with pain management. You can find many recipes using turmeric in southern Asian cuisine, especially Indian dishes. The spice is easily added to rice dishes and curries.
Over-the-counter pain relievers such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like Aleve (naproxen) and Advil (ibuprofen), can treat musculoskeletal pain and headaches common with MS. These medications can relieve pain and lower inflammation in the body, which can also help with the pain associated with MS.
While typically thought of as an anti-inflammatory to help with pain and inflammation, curcumin is starting to show significant potential for improving aspects of brain health. Recent clinical trials suggest that curcumin may be helpful for depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia.
People with multiple sclerosis can incorporate natural therapies into their health protocol in order to reduce inflammatory chemicals and reduce blood-brain-barrier disruption. Some of the most potent natural therapies to achieve these goals include resveratrol, vitamin D, fish oil, and a healthy diet.
To make a turmeric drink, mix ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and dilute with ½ to 1 cup warm water. Sweeten with a little honey or sugar, as desired. You might also consider adding a pinch or two of turmeric powder to rice, coleslaw, or scrambled eggs or omelets before cooking.
Turmeric is available as a capsule, tablet, or as an extract, the latter of which is more likely to be free of contaminants. The typical dose used to relieve pain due to inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis is between 400 and 600 mg, three times a day.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) triggers that worsen symptoms or cause a relapse can include stress, heart disease and smoking. While some are easier to avoid than others, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall health and wellness can have outsized benefits for MS patients.
Unfortunately, turmeric doesn't offer a quick fix, so you'll need to take it daily to notice results. If you were wondering how long it takes turmeric to work, this can vary from person to person. However, you should usually expect to start noticing improvements in around 4-8 weeks when taken daily.
Another chemical in turmeric that has been studied in the lab is turmerone. In animal studies, turmerone has been shown to stimulate stem cells to make new brain cells, something that could in theory help with neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's disease.
In short, good hand-washing combined with exercise, fresh air, stress reduction, and a good night's sleep will go further in protecting you from illness than taking supplements that boost your immune system and, in so doing, also have the potential to trigger an MS flare-up.
According to Harvard Health Publishing, an anti-inflammatory diet should include foods like tomatoes, leafy greens such as spinach and kale, and fruits like strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges. There's some evidence that consuming these foods could be beneficial for MS.
The Overcoming MS diet
The OMS diet recommendations are similar to the Swank diet. It advises cutting out dairy and meat, and eating less fat – particularly saturated fat. It also recommends flaxseed oil as an omega 3 supplement and vitamin D supplements if you don't get out in the sun much.
Along with whole grains, fresh fruit and veggies, ginger, turmeric, fatty fish, and foods rich in vitamin D, avocados are one of the best things you can shove in your chew hole if you're an MS patient. So, go grab a sackful and make some guacamole and tuna salad.
Multiple sclerosis is caused by your immune system mistakenly attacking the brain and nerves. It's not clear why this happens but it may be a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Now, a study led by Stanford Medicine researchers has proved that the Epstein-Barr virus, a common type of herpes virus, triggers multiple sclerosis by priming the immune system to attack the body's own nervous system.
High doses of other vitamins can antagonize your immune-modulating, immunosuppressive therapies used to manage MS. Supplements that stimulate the immune system should be avoided in high doses. Those include selenium, zinc, B1, B2, folic acid, B6, vitamin A, biotin, magnesium, copper, and manganese.
High doses of turmeric could have a blood-thinning effect; if taken on top of prescribed anticoagulants, this could increase the risk of dangerous bleeding. People with liver or bile duct problems should not take turmeric supplements, as they can increase bile production.
Taking a turmeric supplement for four to eight weeks could help to improve the effects of inflammation such as ease the pain of stiff joints or help to improve our general health.
Magnesium decreases nerve pain. Clinical experience, as well as research in nerve pain conditions such as pancreatic cancer, has shown that magnesium can be an effective treatment for pain.