The Best Bet Diet

Information is also available here.

Research scientist Ashton F. Embry originally designed the Best Bet diet for his son Mathew, who was diagnosed with MS in 1995. Fortunately for other MS patients, he has shared his nutritional strategies with the public through the federally registered charity Direct-MS. Today Mathew is thriving symptom-free, and many other followers of the diet have had “great success in halting or greatly slowing MS”1.

The following recommendations for nutritional changes are based on links between food factors, reactions such as leaky gut, and MS onset and progression. Foods to favor are those that either do not elicit an errant immune reaction or that improve function, and those to avoid are any likely to cause autoimmunity and/or disrupt the gut’s optimal flora composition.

Foods to Favor

• Olive oil
• Lean game meats, skinless white poultry, and fatty fish (for omega-3 fatty acids)
• Vegetables and fruits for carbohydrates and fiber, with an emphasis on berries
• Nuts
• Coffee and green tea

Foods for Moderation

• Foods with saturated fat
• Red livestock meat (only lean cuts and only once per week)
• Foods high in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (found mainly in readymade foods, margarine, and “salad oils” or “vegetable oils”)
• Gluten-free grains, such as corn and rice
• Alcohol (restricted mainly to red wine)
• Eggs

Foods to Forgo

• Foods that contain allergenic proteins and/or with the potential to cause autoimmune reactions and/or increase intestinal permeability
• Any food that causes an allergic reaction as determined by a body reaction or a blood test (see an immunologist, allergist, or naturopath for such a test)
• All dairy products
• Foods containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, and their products), and some readymade products (be sure to read labels)
• Legumes (including soy, peanuts, and peas)
• Foods with a high sugar content (especially candy and soft drinks; avoid foods with sugar or corn syrup listed as an of the first three ingredients on a food label)
• Beer

Supplements

The following is the daily supplement regimen recommended as part of the Best Bet nutritional strategy for MS, “to bolster immune regulation, increase antioxidant capacity, and avoid deficiencies”:

“Critically Important”

• Vitamin D3: 6,000-8,000 IU (recommended here to be from pills not including vitamin A)
• Calcium: 500-700 mg
• Magnesium: 400-600 mg
• Probiotics: 6 to 9 capsules (2-3 capsules 2-3 times per day, ideally with each meal)
• Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids: 5-8 g of EPA+DHA (best gotten from fish oil such as salmon oil; 1-2 tablespoons of cod liver oil is also an option, but ensure that vitamin A content does not exceed 5,000 IU; the addition of 1 tablespoon of flax oil can be of value because it contains alpha linolenic acid, a precursor to EPA and DHA)

Additional Vitamins

• Vitamin A: 5,000 IU (do not exceed this amount, as high doses can counter the beneficial effects of vitamin D)
• Vitamin B complex: 100 mg
• Vitamin B12: 1-2 mg (1,000-2,000 mcg)
• Vitamin C: 1 g
• Vitamin E (natural): 200-400 IU

Additional Minerals

• Zinc: 20-30 mg
• Copper: 1-2 mg
• Selenium: 100 mcg
• Manganese: 10-20 mg
• Iodine: 200-300 mcg

Antioxidants (only two are necessary with a high intake of berries)

• Grape Seed Extract: At least 200 mg
• Ginkgo biloba: 120 mg
• Alpha Lipoic Acid: 1200 mg
• Coenzyme Q10: 60-100 mg
• Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG): 1,400 mg
• Quercetin: 400 mg
• Bromelain: 400 mg

Reference

1. Embry A. Direct MS. Accessed September 4, 2022,