The Benefits of Leafy Greens for Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Leafy greens have numerous health benefits. It would be virtually impossible to list all the health benefits of these greens here. Many illnesses, chronic or acute, can be pathologically hindered in some way by consuming leafy greens. 

The body needs a certain amount of vitamins to function at optimal level, and most people don’t consume these vitamins on a daily basis like they should. Leafy greens pack an enormous amount of vitamins in each leaf, but without the addition of unwanted carbs, sugars, and fats. 

Leafy greens are packed full of vitamins like vitamin K1, vitamin E, lutein, nitrate, folic acid, and kaempferol which have the biggest impact on memory over time.

A study was done by Rush University that measured the memory decline in patients that consumed leafy greens at least once a day, with those that didn't. Scientists followed the patients for five years to determine the impact the leafy greens had on each patient's memory, and the results were startling. The patients who had consumed leafy greens at least once a day for five years had a mental advantage that researchers said was equivalent to 11 years younger than the patients who didn’t consume leafy greens.

The study

Rush University conducted this study on 960 individuals without dementia at an average age of 81. These patients were then subdivided into 5 different categories which they based on how much the patients consumed leafy greens on a daily basis. The patients that consumed 1 or more servings a day in one group, 1 serving in another, nearly a serving in another, half a serving and under in another, and zero servings of daily leafy greens in the last group. The groups were followed for an average of 4.7 years. 

The study concluded that patients who consumed leafy greens and other foods that are high in vitamins had an 11 year advantage based on standardized testing and assessments done on both groups.

Scientists are quick to state that this study doesn’t claim that leafy greens reverse brain aging or prevent it, but it does show that there is a connection between leafy greens, foods high in vitamins, brain health, and our stomach. Finding out how those connections work with one another is for another study, and scientists state that more testing still needs to be done on the younger population. 

Due to the advanced age of the patients in the study, conducting studies solely on a younger group could produce more dramatic results, either in favor or disproving the study, but only time will tell.

People with MS live with mental side effects that cloud their memory and overall cognitive abilities. Read on to learn more about how leafy greens can help.