For those living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), can a special diet potentially help slow the progression of the disease?
This a question that researchers at the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai are studying, and whether a specific diet could reduce substances in the blood linked to inflammation.
“Ultimately, we want to know if we can offer MS patients a program that will empower them to live healthier by permanently changing their eating habits,” says Ilana Katz Sand, MD, a clinician and researcher who is the Center’s associate director and lead study investigator.
The new study is a randomized controlled trial of a special dietary pattern for MS, and is funded by a National MS Society grant.
The Mediterranean-Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) dietary pattern has components “that are of potential benefit in terms of limiting neuroinflammation and promoting neuroprotection,” says Dr. Katz Sand.
Since joining the Center staff in 2013, she has been studying how dietary choices affect MS evolution while seeing patients. She and her research team conducted a pilot study of a modified Mediterranean dietary program a few years ago.
“Preliminary data showed this type of diet is helpful” for MS, says Dr. Katz Sand, who serves as co-director of the Center’s Wellness Program. She is also a Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
The MIND pattern emphasizes eating fish, green leafy vegetables, lentils, nuts, olive oil, berries, and seeds. Processed foods, particularly red meat, and consuming butter, pastries, and baked goods should be limited.
Neurologists depend on individuals volunteering to participate in research projects that potentially may help advance understanding and treating MS. Dr. Katz Sand’s team is seeking 100 Center patients for the new study. Prospective study participants will first complete a questionnaire about their current eating habits. The study database contains a module that will randomly assign people to either the MIND pattern or to maintaining their current diet for one year.
“Participants hoping to be assigned to one group or the other don’t get to choose. The computer will make the group assignment for us,” she says. This enrollment process reduces potential bias and helps ensure proper distribution by age, gender, and ethnicity between the groups. “It’s really important to us that the study population looks like the population of people who are living with MS,” she says.
Dr. Katz Sand recognizes that asking people to commit to their randomization assignment “for a year is a long time,” but that duration is crucial for evaluating the MIND pattern’s impact on individuals through bloodwork and other assessments. The team is also interested in how difficult participants find it to follow this pattern.
“Ultimately, we want to know we have a nutrition program that people can stick with permanently. It’s really more of a lifestyle than a ‘diet’,” she says.
Participants randomly selected to follow the MIND diet will receive a welcome kit that includes a variety of spices, a large bottle of high-quality olive oil, walnuts, and other helpful food items, a MIND cookbook developed by Center dietitian Jessica Gelman, RD, and a one-year Fresh Direct delivery pass.
“We hope those items will make incorporating changes into their diet a little easier,” says Dr. Katz Sand. In addition, the MIND pattern group will come together for monthly educational sessions and online discussions with her and Ms. Gelman about aspects of the diet and sharing with one another what is going well and what is challenging with the program.
For patients randomly assigned to maintain their current eating habits, online educational seminars will cover a number of topics, including emerging disease modifying therapies.
At the end of the year, those who were assigned to maintain their regular eating habits will also receive the MIND welcome kit and grocery membership so they can adapt to following the MIND pattern.
Several Mount Sinai labs will be involved due to the size and scope of this study. The primary endpoint of the study is a blood biomarker called neurofilament light chain (NfL) that is a measure of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration important to assessing MS worsening.
“Everyone has NfL in their blood, with a set of reference values by age. This marker grows with increasing age. The value tends to be higher in people who have MS, and greater in times of more active inflammation,” says Dr. Katz Sand. “We are hoping the dietary intervention will help decrease the NfL levels.”
To more fully understand what happens to the body when making a big dietary change, other labs specializing in metabolomics, gut microbiota, immune phenotyping, and telomeres will examine the MIND dietary pattern’s impact. The team also will assess the diet’s effect on fatigue, mobility, mood, quality of life, and preventing disease progression in MS.
Dr. Katz Sand anticipates the study “will show the MIND dietary pattern makes a positive difference in the lives of people living with MS.” Information garnered will enable MS providers “to advocate for our patients, to get people the support they need to improve their diet and thereby their health.”
Enrollment will continue through October 2026. The deadline for collecting and processing all lab work is October 2027. The final report with analyses of the study’s findings will be delivered by spring 2028.
To apply to participate, contact Claire Wigley, the lead clinical research coordinator, at claire.wigley@mssm.edu.
By Kenneth Bandler, a multiple sclerosis patient, advocate, and member of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis Advisory Board