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MS-Diet Support Group
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Quick Start Guide
1. Eat fish 4-5 times a week.
For those not accustomed to eating fish regularly, this may seem like quite a daunting, if not impossible, goal. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is fresh fish delicious, and healthy, it has to be the ultimate convenience food. A piece of fresh fish can be cooked to perfection in the microwave in about a minute. It's also ideal for freezing and defrosts quickly. A tin of salmon, or tuna fish, with salad and a baked potato is another convenient and substantial meal option, but choose the variety in brine, and drain before serving, then add extra virgin olive oil, if required. Peppered mackerel fillets is another option but watch the saturated fat contents.
2. Replace cow's milk with rice milk.
Replace milk with rice milk. The chances are, if you are already eating a healthy diet, you will be used
to either skimmed or semi-skimmed milk. Don't worry, rice milk is even better and it's also very, very healthy. Do not confuse rice milk with soya milk, by the way, which tastes awful and stinks out the fridge. There are three options for rice milk.

Rice Dream which is widely available but is apparently filtered using barley and, therefore, not gluten-free by the strictest definition. However, in truth, it represents less than 0.005% and, as such, it is acceptable for our purpose.
Provamel Organic Rice Drink, which is sold by Tesco, but it contains sunflower oil that some may be avoiding because of an Eliza blood test.
Make your own. Yes, incredible as it sounds, you can actually make your own.Try doing that with cow's milk. Barbara Powell, at Barbara's Kitchen, has supplied us with a recipe for rice milk. If anyone is interested, simply post a request to the list.
3, Replace breakfast cereal with gluten-free variety.
Replace breakfast cereal with gluten-free variety. The simplest way is probably to eat Kellogs Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies, with rice milk of course. Try adding some fruit, like sliced banana for instance, for a tasty start to the day. However, please be aware that both of these products, despite being gluten-free, contain refined sugar and, therefore, are not recommended long-term for those following the diet. Why not try Doves Farm, Kallo or Whole Earth varieties. All produce Organic breakfast cereals which are sugar-free and are well worth checking out.
4. Replace margarine with low-fat, dairy-free spread.
Replace margarine with a low-fat, dairy-free spread. Hydrogenated vegetable oil which is present in most margarines, and many other products besides, must be avoided at all costs. If you must have margarine, then use a low-fat dairy-free alternative. Safeway actually sell two varieties - their own-brand, Dairy-Free and another called Pure. Both products are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soya-free and contain no hydrogenated vegetable oil. They are also, by the way, both delicious but must only be used in moderation as they are still 70% fat.
5. Use extra virgin olive oil for all cooking/dressings.
Use extra virgin olive il for ALL cooking. The need to strictly control the intake of saturated fat, combined with the desire to reduce one's consumption of Omega 6 oils, like sunflower and safflower oils, makes extra virgin olive oil, which is monosaturated, the perfect choice for cooking and salad dressings.
6. Use Fruisana fruit sugar in place of refined sugar.
Use Fruisana fruit sugar, or Stevia drops or powder, or another make of fruit sugar, which are now widely available in most supermarkets, in place of refined sugar.but be careful, it's normally twice as sweet, so only use half the amount.
7. Replace plain flour with cornflour in sauces, stews and soups.
Replace plain flour with cornflour in sauces, stews and soups. A fabulous white sauce can be
made with rice milk and cornflour. For a Parsley Sauce, add two teaspoons of Birds Eye Frozen Chopped Parley for a tasty accompaniment for fresh fish. The same white sauce can be used in soups to replace the cream in, for instance, Cream of Tomato or Cream of Chicken.
8. Replace bread with gluten-free variety.
Replace bread with gluten-free variety. This is probably the hardest of all to achieve. The brands of
gluten-free bread available in the chemists are quite a departure from what could be called "normal" bread. It is probably an acquired taste and some may be quite palatable if toasted. The November issue of Healthy Eating did a taste test on almost every variety of gluten-free bread on the market. The two which scored best were made by Schar but are not dairy-free and, therefore, not suitable for this programme. The highest scorer for us was Ener G White Rice Bread. However, making your own bread is such an easy option why not try it yourself.

Barbara Powell, at Barbara's Kitchen, has supplied us with a recipe for her "Miracle Rolls" that was tested in the November Issue of the magazine Healthy Eating, and received a quite favourable review. Ashton and Joan Embry have supplied recipes for buns and banana muffins that other like-minded souls already swear by.
9. Use rice or corn pasta in place of wheat and egg varieties.
Use rice or corn pasta in place of wheat and egg varieties. These are available from Health Food shops as well as many of the major supermarkets, including Sainsbury's. When served with a tomato-based sauce such as Ragu Original, for instance, it is a quick and easy meal that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
10. Don't give up!
The diet can be refined to suit your own tastes. You have very little to lose and so, so very much to gain.