What is the Swank Diet?

The Swank Diet is a diet plan designed to meet the needs of those living with a debilitating condition called multiple sclerosis. This condition affects the central nervous system and is caused by the abnormal action of one’s own immune system. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis at this time, but there are treatments that can lead to symptom relief, delay its progress, or even cause the disease to go into remission. Following a healthy diet seems to help to improve the symptoms of this condition, and the Swank Diet provides one way to eat well.

A person who follows the Swank Diet makes a commitment to reducing the amount of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, and red meat he eats. The basic idea of this diet is to go back to the way people ate many years ago when it was harder to secure a meat dish for every meal. This means eating more plant-based foods and avoiding those that have been highly processed. It also means giving up oils and fats that may harm a person’s health.

Among the foods a person on the Swank Diet avoids are margarine, butter, lard, shortening, and hydrogenated oils. An individual on this diet also avoids egg yolks and dairy product substitutes. Refined grains, processed foods, red meats, and fatty meats and fish are excluded from this diet. In fact, a person who decides to follow this diet does not eat any red meat for the first year he is on this diet plan.

Since reducing saturated fact to zero can be difficult, a person who follows the Swank Diet strives to stay below a maximum intake instead of avoiding it altogether. With this diet plan, people are not supposed to eat more than 15 grams (.52 ounces) of saturated fat daily. Unsaturated fat consumption is not supposed to reach more than 20 to 50 grams (.70 to 1.76 ounces) daily. An individual on this diet can consume dairy products, but is supposed to opt for nonfat selections or choose those that are very low in fat.

People who decide to follow the Swank Diet exclude commercially prepared foods from their diets and replace them with fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. For meat and fish selections, they eat lean white meats, white fish, and shellfish. They may also take vitamin supplements to ensure they get all of the nutrients they need each day.