Research led by Mount Sinai has uncovered—for the first time—that eating healthy foods is associated with greater brain integrity, as detected by MRI imaging in people diagnosed with MS within the previous five years.
“We don’t have enough evidence yet to say definitively which dietary factors are best for people with MS, but our study is a big step in moving dietary research in a more rigorous direction so we can determine whether diet may actually serve as a disease modifier,” says lead author Ilana B. Katz Sand, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Associate Director of Mount Sinai’s Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis.
“MRI enables us to establish a link between the dietary habits of people with MS and their brain structure, and we’ve planned longitudinal follow-up with study participants to evaluate relationships between diet and MRI and clinical disability over time as well,” adds Dr. Katz Sand.