TABLE 1.

Demographic variables at baseline based on group^1,2

Variable	Treatment group	Control group
n	12	9
Age, y	51.6 ± 10.0	52.8 ± 8.1
Sex, n female, n male	10, 2	9, 0
Race/ethnicity, %
Caucasian	100	77.8
African American	0	11.1
Latino/a	0	11.1
Highest level of education, %
High school	8.3	0
Some college	50	11.1
College graduate	33.3	44.4
After college	8.3	44.4
Years with diagnosed MS	10.3 ± 6.2	14 ± 9.04
BMI, kg/m2	29.9 ± 7.1	32.30 ± 9.00
Expanded Disabilities Scale	3.5 ± 2.4	2.78 ± 2.44
Dietary L + Z intake, mg3	2.47 ± 2.22	2.46 ± 2.11
Macular pigment optical density	0.32 ± 0.26	0.46 ± 0.27
Skin carotenoids, VM units	240 ± 57	292 ± 84
Serum lutein, μmol/L4	0.13 ± 0.06	0.19 ± 0.11

L + Z, lutein and zeaxanthin; MS, multiple sclerosis; VM, Veggie Meter.

¹Continuous data expressed as mean ± SD.

²Baseline group equivalence was assessed at baseline using independent t tests. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups at baseline.

³Treatment group n = 5, control group n = 7.

⁴Control group n = 8.