After my food coma blog post and survey in January, I was asked by the MS Trust to talk about food coma at their annual conference in Hinckley. It is always great to speak at this meeting. The audience is always very enthusiastic and I have had a lot of questions after my presentation. I used my talk to discuss some of the science and issues around excess sugar consumption.
I suspect that my food coma observation and our audit will lead to a reassessment and a change in the dietary advice we give pwMS. As I have said before there is no MS diet and I would sum up my dietary advice as follows.
Eat real food, avoid processed and particularly ultra-processed foods. Eat local and seasonal produce. As eat socially; a lot of eating is about rituals around social interactions. Finally, eat mindfully; be aware of the impact your diet is having on others.
You can download my presentation from my SlideShare site.
CoI: nothing to declare for this lecture
Eating Mindfully is the last comment. Really it’s the first thing we need to be aware of. If everyone became mindful around eating obesity levels would drop. No eating on the hoof, only eat when you can enjoy and appreciate the food. Think about what we’ve previously consumed that day. When I developed some minor swallowing issues, I say minor, choking on certain foods, both heathy and unhealthy, I became food mindful. I dropped a dress size over about 6 months, back to me size.
Is MS coma the same as dumping syndrome?
No dumping syndrome is due to rapid gastric emptying and the effects of gut hormones on the body. Food coma is the somnolence or tiredness that occurs as a result of mainly insulin release.