It is hard to know what prevented further exacerbation. I believed my diet/diets were key and I did continue low fat and limited red meat. Since my worst symptoms were right around conception (two out of five pregnancies), estrogen was clearly a factor. I had two symptom free pregnancies after I started following the diet ( no longer supplementing). I came upon Peat after experiencing symptoms post menopause and doing a Paleo challenge. At the time, four years ago, I blamed it on my pork consumption (I had avoided pork for many years) and increased pufa while doing the Paleo diet since Peat mentions pork and ms in one of his articles. Since you posted his reply about iron, it makes even more sense because I was also eating a lot of red meat. I had not been restricting red meat prior to Paleo but I wasn't a big meat eater either. I was not particularly low fat. I had started using coconut oil in cooking a few years prior after reading "Nourishing Traditions". I do not consume very much red meat now, a few ounces of ground beef a week at the most. I have become lower fat this past year because of weight gain but I prefer full fat dairy. I don't care for fatty meats and never have.
I have been wanting to ask Ray Peat his thoughts on Swank because I recently found my diet book that I had used and wanted to know his thoughts. Thanks for posting his reply! I won't be adding clo but definitely will continue a low iron diet and supplement vitamin A more consistently. I get vitamin D from the sun regularly which I have done for years since vitamin D deficiency is reported in ms.
