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| Kate feeling good (but probably a bit peckish) about being skinny. |
Imagine then my horror when I first started researching the
diets which are recommended for people suffering from MS and the words
“vegetarian”, “wholefood” and “low fat” kept cropping up. It is a reflection of how scared I was by my
last MS relapse that I was suddenly considering giving up cheese and butter.
But the reality was I was scared stiff.
One minute I was fine, the next I found myself at my mother-in-law’s
birthday party sitting in a wheelchair, unable to go to the toilet by
myself. I felt unattractive and
invisible. I was the subject of people’s pity. I hated it. Two high doses of
steroids helped me back on the path to recovery but the whole experience left
me shell-shocked. I realise now that
prior to that last relapse I had largely been in denial about my MS. It had been years since my last major attack
and being a “glass half full person” I had begun to assume that I was going to
be one of the lucky ones who have very few relapses and little long term
disability. The relapse last summer
shattered the foundations of that assumption and the peace of mind that went
with it.
I spent the next couple of months looking at all the
evidence gathered by experts such as Dr Swank www.swankmsdiet.org .The research
suggested that a balanced diet low in saturated fat could halt, and in some
cases reverse, the progression of the disease. Ironically, I did most of this
research whilst eating my way through the Christmas tin of Miniature Heroes (you
see - I was a lost cause). Nonetheless fear is a great motivator and in the New
Year I finally got my act together.
I started the diet full of determination – the novelty of
keeping a food diary and logging every gram of saturated fat kept me motivated.
I became a bit of a food nazi – audibly tutting if my husband helped himself to
a kitkat. I was in danger becoming a food bore with the zealous rectitude of a
reformed ex-binger. Thankfully this
period of my life lasted approximately two weeks. I buckled under the pressure of my Dad’s
roast rib of beef with all the trimmings. It quickly became apparent that I
needed to find a way of incorporating the main principles of this diet into
meals which the whole family would want to eat.
The aforementioned spag bol was the first dish to get an MS makeover. I
bought one of those choppers, which as the name suggests, chop vegetables into
microscopic, undetectable pieces. This
was an essential piece of kit if I was going to con my children into eating
less meat and more vegetables. My theory goes that by adding bulk with veg I
need less meat which in turn makes the whole thing both cheaper and healthier. I
served the new improved version of this family classic and the kids didn’t even
notice the veg- they lapped it up. I
even “made over” the accompanying garlic bread replacing butter with a drizzle
of olive oil. Again they loved it. I felt like I was eating a meal that we
could all enjoy guilt-free.
Before this all gets a bit smug and self-righteous, I need
to make a confession. For all my healthy
spag bols, vegan stir fries and chocolate abstinence there have been plenty of
lapses especially at weekends. There is
something about a weekend that makes you want to eat bad things – Chinese
takeaways (salt and pepper chips mmmmmm), the odd Cadbury’s binge, a McDonalds
double cheeseburger!!! What has changed is that these lapses are now the
exception rather than the rule. My
appetite and tastes have changed over the past few months. It feels like the diet isn’t a diet at all –
it’s just the way I eat now. If I want a bag of chips or a portion of sticky
toffee pudding I won’t deprive myself. I
have adopted the “a little of what you fancy does you good” approach. As long
as I eat healthily for the majority of the time keeping my daily levels of
saturated fat to less than 15g , then I am allowed the luxury of the odd weekend
binge every now and then.
The net result of this approach is that I have lost weight
but most importantly I feel much better – my MS symptoms have almost completely
disappeared. Time will tell if this approach has any long term effect on the
progression of my disease. I know deep
down I should be super-healthy all of the time but I also have come to realise
that as a person who lives to eat rather than eats to live there is a balance
to be struck between eating for health and eating for pure hedonistic pleasure.
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| Spag Bol |
My healthier Spag Bol, garlic bread and green salad
(Serves 6)
2 x cloves of garlic crushed, 1 x onion, 1 x carrot, 1 red
pepper, 1 small courgette, ½ small aubergine all chopped finely
300 g lean steak mince (or quorn if I am being really good)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes and 2 big splodges (heaped tbsps)
of tomato puree
Small glass of red wine
Beef stock cube
Salt, pepper, dried mixed herbs
Fry all the chopped veggies along with the crushed garlic in
a little olive oil till softened. Add
the mince or quorn and cook until brown.
Add the wine, tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, pepper, herbs and stock
cube. Bring to boil and simmer gently
for as long as you have got. Add a
little water if it gets too dry. If you want to be a bit Jamie Oliver about it
you can add some freshly torn basil. I
serve with some extra mature grated cheddar (not much for me – as I need to
watch the saturated fat).
Serve with the pasta of your choice
Garlic bread
Baguette or ciabatta sliced lengthways and cut into 3 inch
pieces. Mix a crushed clove of garlic with a couple of glugs of olive oil and a
pinch of sea salt in a bowl and briefly dip the bread into the mixture. Bake for 6 mins at 190c
Fresh green salad leaves (we get ours from the garden –
smug, smug, smug). Little drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice and a
pinch of sea salt.
