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  • You know the feeling you get when you learn something new

  • about a health problem you've been trying to reverse?

  • Maybe high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.

  • Well, there's nothing I like better than bringing you the information

  • that will help you do just that.

  • Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast.

  • I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

  • Today we begin a fascinating new series

  • on treating Parkinson's with diet.

  • And we begin with a question:

  • since Parkinson's is caused by a dopamine deficiency in the brain,

  • what if you ate foods rich in the dopamine precursorlevodopa?

  • Two centuries have passed since James Parkinson's Essay

  • on the Shaking Palsy described a disease characterized

  • by tremor and problems with movement.

  • Today, treatment options include surgically

  • implanting electrodes into the brain.

  • There has to be a better way.

  • We've known since the 1950's that Parkinson's disease

  • is manifested by a dopamine deficiency in the brain.

  • Well then why not eat a dopamine diet?

  • A variety of fruits and vegetables contain

  • the same dopamine made by our brain.

  • Unfortunately, dopamine can't cross the blood-brain barrier

  • and hence is ineffective as therapy, however the dopamine precursor,

  • known as l-dopa or levodopa can get from the blood up into the brain

  • where it can then be converted to dopamine within the brain

  • by an enzyme called decarboxylase.

  • We don't want the levodopa to be converted to dopamine

  • outside the brain because then it can't get in,

  • so we give people a decarboxylase inhibitor which itself

  • can't get into the brain, so that keeps levodopa from prematurely

  • turning into dopamine before it gets into the brain where we need it.

  • So eating dopamine- rich foods doesn't help,

  • but what if we ate levodopa-rich foods?

  • More than 1500 years before Dr. Parkinson came on the scene,

  • an Indian physician seems to have nailed it

  • and even suggested a treatment, velvet beans,

  • the plant with the highest amount of L-DOPA.

  • Hmm, so might there be a way to

  • forestall the epidemic of Parkinson's Disease

  • through plant-based remedies after all?

  • Levodopa is the gold standard therapy for Parkinson's patients,

  • but most Parkinson's patients in low-income areas

  • cannot afford long-term daily Levodopa therapy.

  • In rural Africa, for example, it is estimated that

  • only 15% of patients are treated with levodopa,

  • because the daily cost of Levodopa treatment is about a dollar day,

  • which may be half of what people make in a day.

  • Same with other regions in the Global South.

  • L-DOPA is mostly unavailable or unaffordable.

  • So patients frequently use powdered velvet beans

  • as a replacement or supplement to the drug.

  • But does it work? You never know...

  • until you put it to the test.

  • Velvet beans in Parkinson's Disease a randomized,

  • double blind, clinical study, and, a dose of 30g,

  • which is about three tablespoons led to a reliable and sustained

  • antiparkinsonian effect in all patients,

  • working significantly quicker than the drug,

  • working significantly longer than the drug,

  • and working significantly better than the drug,

  • in another double-blind, randomized, head-to-head crossover study.

  • The levodopa in velvet beans appears to be 2–3 times

  • more potent as compared to the same dose of pill-form Levodopa,

  • suspected to be because there may be some intrinsic

  • decarboxylase inhibitor compound in the plant as well.

  • OK, but those were single dose studies.

  • What about the chronic use of velvet beans for Parkinson's.

  • Fourteen patients with advanced Parkinson's received

  • roasted velvet bean powder or the standard drug,

  • switching back and forth for months, looking at changes

  • in quality of life, activities of daily living,

  • movement and non-movement symptoms,

  • and time with good mobility

  • without troublesome involuntary writhing movements

  • and the velvet beans seemed to work as well as the drug

  • in all measures of efcacy, including quality of life.

  • Despite the efficacy, the chances of this cheap herbal remedy

  • ever being licensed seems unlikelyand for good reason.

  • First of all, the stuff evidently tastes nasty.

  • And we don't really have good data

  • going out more than a few months.

  • While velvet beans may potentially be part of the answer

  • to Parkinson's disease management

  • in low-income countries, in high-income countries,

  • one may be tempted to prefer them to drugs

  • just because it's a "more natural therapy,"

  • but researchers discourage patients and physicians

  • to consider its use when the drugs are available.

  • So levodopa in pill form should remain

  • the first-line treatment for Parkinson's.

  • However, velvet bean powder may be better tolerated

  • in certain patients.

  • Psychologically, some patients just have a thing against

  • taking pills and so if they refuse,

  • then certainly the beans can step in.

  • But otherwise, velvet bean supplements suffer from

  • the issues common to all supplements, specifically lack

  • of sufficient regulation and quality control.

  • There's all sorts of brands out there, but there's no

  • head-to-head comparisons as to which is best,

  • and the quality of the products likely vary,

  • but you don't know...

  • until you put it to the test.

  • Six brands of velvet bean product

  • were ordered through the internet and most of them

  • four out of six showed a large discrepancy between

  • the claim on their label and the actual L-Dopa content,

  • and only two even came close.

  • The remaining products contained considerably less,

  • less than 10% in two cases.

  • Too bad there isn't a food source of L-dopa that you could just eat

  • instead of taking in a supplement.

  • Well, wait a second.

  • L-dopa was originally discovered, more than a century ago,

  • in faba beans.

  • Might eating faba beans help with Parkinson's?

  • I'll explore just that question, next.

  • Increased risk of Parkinson's disease has been associated

  • with exposure to pesticides, consumption of dairy products,

  • a history of melanoma, and traumatic brain injury.

  • Why is the risk of Parkinson's disease increased among

  • individuals with high milk and dairy consumption?

  • It could be the animal fat. Maybe the animal protein.

  • So why not a plant-food diet for the risk

  • and management of Parkinson's Disease?

  • There are phytochemicals that may target the underlying cause,

  • but in terms of treatment, ancient sacred texts from

  • thousands of years ago refer to trembling individuals who were

  • prescribed a plant from the bean family to treat the condition.

  • In my last video I talked about the use of velvet beans,

  • but in 1913 the miracle drug L-dopa was discovered for the first time,

  • in faba beans, also known as fava beans or broad beans,

  • as a natural source of L-dopa to consider.

  • The amount varies considerably based on a number of factors,

  • but typically it looks like they have about 10 times less

  • than velvet beans, but that's okay since you can eat larger quantities

  • since fava beans are an actual food instead of a powdered supplement.

  • The important thing is that amount of L-dopa in fava beans

  • is enough to be pharmacologically active in Parkinson's disease.

  • In fact, there are some reports indicating that Parkinson's patients

  • might respond better to the beans

  • than to standard L-dopa preparations in pill form.

  • But anecdotal reports that patients may gain benefit

  • from a broad bean rich diet don't cut it.

  • What you have to do...

  • is put it to the test.

  • Parkinson's patients were fed about one and a third cups

  • of cooked fava beans, and during the next four hours

  • a substantial clinical improvement was noted.

  • In fact similar to the improvement seen after receiving

  • the standard pharmacological combination of L-dopa plus carbidopa,

  • the decarboxylase inhibitor drug I talked about in the last video

  • that boosts L-dopa levels in the brain.

  • No surprise that there was a similar effect

  • since they had very similar L-dopa levels in the blood.

  • In fact, half the time you could hardly tell the beans from the drugs.

  • How could there be the same levels

  • if the bean L-dopa lacked the carbidopa booster drug.

  • Because fava beans may not only be a natural source of L-dopa,

  • but a natural source of the carbidopa booster too.

  • So the consumption of fava beans has the potential

  • to increase the levels of L-dopa and carbidopa in the blood,

  • with a marked improvement in the muscle movement performance

  • of the patients with Parkinson disease, without any side effects.

  • In fact they work so well you have to be careful

  • about abruptly stopping them.

  • There's a condition called neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome

  • characterized by fever, rigidity, all sorts of neurological problems,

  • muscle breakdown, altered levels of consciousness,

  • which is usually precipitated by an abrupt withdrawal

  • of the L-dopa drug, caused by an acute dopamine-decient state.

  • Well, you can see the same thing if you're treating

  • your Parkinson's with fava beans

  • and then all of a sudden you stop them.

  • Alternative therapies carry similar risks to traditional agents,

  • because in this case they really are the ultimate traditional agent.

  • There are some downsides you don't see with the drug, though.

  • Like fava-induced flatulence.

  • You also have to be careful with fava consumption if you're on

  • MAO inhibitor drugs often used as anti-depressants,

  • since there can be drug interactions.

  • And then there's the risk of a condition known as favism.

  • There's a genetic mutation that occurs in about 1 in 20 people,

  • and at even higher rates in those of African,

  • Asian, and Mediterranean descent,

  • in which people lack an enzyme that's necessary to detoxify

  • certain compounds found in fava beans,

  • and without the enzyme fava bean consumption

  • can cause your red blood cells to rupture.

  • Thankfully, genetic testing for this mutation is widely available

  • and affordable, and so it seems prudent to screen patients

  • with Parkinson's for this favism,

  • what's called G6PD deciency mutation,

  • prior to putting them on daily fava bean consumption.

  • If you want to give fava beans a try.

  • fresh green fava beans have significantly more L-dopa than dried,

  • so much so that dried fava beans

  • may not provide any clinical benefits.

  • Roasting and boiling removes some or even all of the L-dopa,

  • though other studies have found that about a half cup

  • of cooked favas contain approximately 250 mg.

  • Sprouted favas may have the most, increasing up until day 9,

  • by which time the indigestible flatulence sugars may be eliminated,

  • offering another advantage of fava bean sprouting.

  • But you don't know if fava bean sprouts help...

  • until you put them to the test.

  • Researchers fed Parkinson's patients a salad with about

  • a half cup of freshly chopped fava sprouts

  • and observed substantial clinical improvement.

  • Other beans, just like regular beans also naturally

  • have L-DOPA, though at lower amounts.

  • Soybeans have a bonus compound that may act as

  • an L-dopa boosting carbidopa compound.

  • What if you fed people soybeans

  • on top of their regular Parkinson's meds?

  • Given people just one and a half spoonful's worth of roasted soybeans

  • led to a significant improvement over the drugs alone

  • with significantly fewer involuntary movements hours later.

  • Until more information is available, Parkinson's combo drugs

  • like Sinemet should remain the first-line therapy,

  • but adding beans to one's diet may only help.

  • We would love it if you could share with us your stories

  • about reinventing your health through evidence-based nutrition.

  • Go to nutritionfacts.org/testimonials.

  • We may share it on our social media to help inspire others.

  • To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, or studies mentioned here,

  • please go to the Nutrition Facts Podcast landing page.

  • There you'll find all the detailed information you need

  • plus, links to all of the sources we cite for each of these topics.

  • My last two books areHow to Survive a Pandemic

  • and theHow Not to Diet Cookbook”.

  • Stay tuned for December 5, 2023

  • for the launch of my new one, How Not to Age.

  • And, of course, all the proceeds I receive from the sales

  • of all my books goes directly to charity.

  • NutritionFacts.org is a nonprofit, science-based public service,

  • where you can sign up for free daily updates

  • on the latest in nutrition research via bite-sized videos and articles.

  • Everything on the website is free.

  • There's no ads, no corporate sponsorship,

  • no kickbacks.

  • It's strictly non-commercial. I'm not selling anything.

  • I just put it up as a public service, as a labor of love,

  • as a tribute to my grandmother,

  • whose own life was saved with evidence-based nutrition.

You know the feeling you get when you learn something new

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Podcast: Treating Parkinson’s with Diet

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2023 年 07 月 17 日
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