What is Parkinson’s?
Parkinson’s disease is a very complex disorder. According to a Parkinson’s charity Parkinson’s is:
- Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition. This means that it causes problems in the brain and gets worse over time.
- People with Parkinson’s don’t have enough of the chemical dopamine because some of the nerve cells that make it have died.
- There are 3 main symptoms – tremor (shaking), slowness of movement and rigidity (muscle stiffness) – but there are many other symptoms too.
Currently the best way to treat Parkinson’s is a combination of taking prescribed drugs and physical therapy. Is there an optimal diet for Parkinson’s?
Might we also modify our diet to support this treatment regime and further reduce the symptoms of Parkinson’s?
You can find lists of what are claimed to be the best and worst foods for a Parkinson’s patient; however, these are often based on observational data and therefore may be unreliable. More research is needed to prove the link.
Defective neuron glucose metabolism and defective mitochondria structure are two strands of this complex disease. Research has indicated that the best way to treat these may be via metabolic changes to restore the overall health of the neurons. To improve the health of neurons we can enhance the neuron energy production, growth and repair and protect neurons from stress.
One way that has been suggested to do this is fasting. Fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food and drink for a controlled period of time. Evidence shows that fasting can restore glucose metabolism, restore insulin sensitivity and may restore mitochondria numbers, structure and function. Fasting can optimise neuron bioenergetics, neuroplasticity and resilience.
Another way is to follow a keto diet. This is a high-fat, low- carbohydrate diet where fat is used for energy instead of carbohydrates. This diet mimics the fasting metabolic state so it may produce a similar effect to fasting on the neurons.
Hopefully, by improving the health of the neurons this may help to improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s.
What evidence do we have that there is an optimal diet for Parkinson’s?
- A study was completed in 2005, where a group of Parkinson’s patients were put on a ketogenic diet and 43% of them showed improvement in their symptoms.
- Another study was the ‘Parkinson’s dietary study’. This looked at how a Keto diet affects Parkinson’s. Those on the ketogenic diet had a 20% improvement of motor symptoms and 41% reduction in nonmotor symptoms. The most improved symptoms were urinary problems, pain, fatigue and cognitive impairment. These are often the hardest symptoms to treat with medicine.
Conclusion
To conclude, further research needs to be completed on ketogenic diets and fasting as a supplementary treatment for Parkinson’s. However, the results do look promising. If you do decide to try a keto diet or fasting to help improve your Parkinson’s symptoms it is very important that you speak to your doctor first and introduce any changes gradually.
Link to the study discussed
Title: Low-fat Versus Ketogenic Diet in Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Matthew C L Phillips, Deborah K J Murtagh, Linda J Gilbertson, Fredrik J S Asztely and Christopher D P Lynch.
Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30098269/
