Dairy/Dairy Alternatives

Hi everyone,

I am in the USA, have been on the OMS diet for three weeks now. Just diagnosed with MS last May. I have one question: I know that chocolate is verboten because of cocoa butter. But here in DC there is a local chocolate factory, Undone, that makes organic bars with just three ingredients: cacao, sugar, and salt. No cocoa butter (as there usually is in the most commercially-available chocolate). Would this be OMS-compliant?

Also, for anyone in the US/Canada/UK who is not doing the gluten-free thing, I just wanted to let you know that Whole Foods' 365 house brand makes a Triscuit-type cracker that contains no oil. Most Triscuits and store brand lookalikes contain some sort of vegetable oil, but for some reason Whole Foods' is just wheat and salt. I don't know why they made that choice, and they don't advertise that they're oil free, but it works out better for me

Glad to be here reading everyone's success stories. I haven't seen any improvements yet myself, but I'm willing to give it some time.

Thanks for the info on the crackers! I live in the US and have been looking for an OMS friendly cracker. I think the chocolate you found would be ok but I am new to OMS as well so don't go by me.

That chocolate is OMS compliant because it is saturated fat free without the cocoa butter, plus it is minimally processed.

Thanks for the cracker rec. I also love all of Mary's Gone Crackers which get their minimal saturated fat content from seeds. They are on Dr. McDougall's "OK" list because they are low fat and have minimal ingredients. I can't see how they would be non-OMS.

This is from the newest edition of OMS:

"There is some debate about chocolate’s role in good health, as cocoa (from which it is made) is full of good antioxidants; however, most chocolate is also loaded with saturated and altered fat, so it should be avoided. In most countries, the cocoa butter used to make chocolate can contain up to 15 per cent altered fat, making chocolate a relatively concentrated source of altered fats. Cocoa, however, is a natural vegetable product (a legume) with only a little saturated fat, and can be used liberally in baking and desserts. Cocoa is a very healthy vegetable product turned into junk food when used to make chocolate. Chocolate is to be completely avoided by PwMS; however, making foods containing cocoa provides the same flavour in a healthy way."

Thanks, Astrid! I like Mary's Gone Crackers, too.

I should be clear that the chocolate does still contain saturated fat (I see Dr. Jelinek says some occurs naturally in the cacao, even without the addition of cocoa butter). All the more reason for me to just have a little now and then. That's probably for the best, because it's expensive!