Fig. 1: The association between the Mediterranean diet score or nutrient intake and odds of MS.

aMED alternate Mediterranean diet score, OR odds ratio, CIs confidence intervals. The associations between the aMED score, whole-grains (oz equiv./d), fiber (g/d), and iron (mg/d) intakes and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk are represented as odds ratios adjusted for total energy intake (kcal/d), age (in years) at food frequency questionnaire completion, and sex, their 95% CIs, and P-values. A total of n = 44 MS cases and n = 51 controls were assessed. Results were similar when reassessed for the subgroup of participants with only a stool sample (n = 27 MS cases and n = 32 controls), albeit associations with iron did not reach significance (P > 0.05). The x-axes units are in log 10 scale. An OR < 1 is a “protective” association, meaning that an increase in the dietary intake is associated with a lower odds of MS, and an OR > 1 is a ‘detrimental’ association, meaning that an increase in the dietary intake is associated with a higher odds of MS. For example, an OR of 0.66 for aMED means that a 1-point increase in the aMED score for an individual is associated with a 34% lower odds of MS. Source data are provided as a Source Data File.