Parkinson’s & a
plant based diet
Danielle Selden Alicia Armeli
Proof in plants
Higher Quality of life
• A concerning underlying problem
with our current method of
treatment- its not working long
term.
• Two recent studies have shown that
a plant-based dietary pattern may
protect against PD.
• This peer-reviewed article looks at
the effectiveness of a plant-food diet
in the management of PD.
Why we chose this
article....
Quick Facts about Parkinson’s Disease (PD):
• PD is a chronic progressive movement disorder in which the neurons that
produce dopamine are impaired.
• PD is characterized by slow and decreased movement, muscular rigidly,
resting tremor, postural instability, and decreased dopamine transmission to
the basal ganglia. Since Dopamine is not available movements can not be
controlled.
• Etiology is unclear but is thought to arise from both genetic and
environmental factors.
• Treatment includes medication, surgery, and other modalities to manage
symptoms.
Currently there is no cure....
• Preventing a high protein based diet is critical for treatment.
• Levodopa, a prodrug of dopamine (derived from the A.A tyrosine),
remains the most effective treatment to alleviate motor dysfunction in
PD.
• “The Protein Redistribution Diet” was formulated to avoid the risk of
nutritional deficiencies linked to extreme restriction in total protein
intake.
• This intervention consists of a normoproteic diet- a pt’s main protein
intake occurs in the evening meal in order to limit the negative
interaction of LNAA on L-Dopa’s response at daytime, while the
negative effects act up during sleep at night.
Introduction
• A plant-food vegan diet (PFD) is expected to raise L-Dopa availability
and bring some advantage in the management of disease.
• This pilot study was designed to establish whether a PFD
normoproteic protein redistribution diet can be just as effective as a
protein-redistributed OD in improving motor performance in LDopa treated PD patients in the short term.
Why a plant-food diet?
Subjects
All 25 participants in the study were PD patients
• 12 were in the intervention group (PDi) and 13 in the control group
(PDc), respectively.
• Pt’s have had a good response to levodopa in the past, with a daily
dose over 350mg, under 850mg, and over 50 years of age, BMI over
18.5 and under 30.
• Pt’s were already following advices to limit total animal protein and
to concentrate them in an evening meal in the context of an OD.
• Pt’s were given the choice to consume the PFD or the usual OD for
a 4-week period.
• A quasi-experimental non-equivalent group design (NEGD) was
utilized.
• The PD intervention (PDi) diet/vegan diet- includes plant-protein
rich sources only for dinner (2/3 of total daily intake of PRO)
• The control group (PDc)/omnivorous diet- limited total animal food
and concentrated them in the evening meal
• Neurological assessments were made by an experienced neurologist
using the comprehensive PD measurement tool United Parkinson’s
Disease rating system
• Mann-Whitney
• Sun Score
• Hoehn and Yahr
Methods and Measures
• After 4 weeks the PDi group showed a significant reduction
with respect to the PDc group in...
PDi
PDc
(Mann-Whitney
47.67
Test) UPDRS Total
Score [P=0.008]
74.46
Sub-score IIIMotor
Performance
[P=0.001]
46.46
25.42
Modified HY Scale 1.96
[P=0.005]
3.15
• Metabolic changes in the PDi group- total cholesterol, HDL
cholesterol, apo-A1, and apo-B showed significant differences
after 4 weeks.
Results
• Lack of random assignment of subjects to intervention
or control groups.
• Both groups have small sample sizes.
• Short study time- 4 weeks.
• Lack of blood measurements of levodopa and dietary
LNAA at the enrolment and after 4 weeks.
Limitations
• This study showed after 4 weeks of a PFD in the PDi had a
value 27 points (47.67 vs. 74.46) lower than the PDc group, a
result that is clinically relevant.
• Due to its high fiber content, a PFD can potentially raise
levodopa bioavailability by reducing the phenomenon of
constipation.
• Consumption of a PFD is may be more effective than an OD
for improving motor performances in PD pts.
• Additional studies need to be performed, especially
longitudinal randomized trails of larger groups
Conclusions
• Increase Antioxidants/ phytochemicals and mitochondrial
stabilizers:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
CoQ10 and Vitamin E
Vitamin D and Omega 3’s
Magnesium
Alpha lipoic acid
Fava Beans- 3oz. Contain levodopa
Vegan diet
Acupuncture- shows reduced sxs
Massage- anecdotal evidence of reduced sxs
A comprehensive plan for
PD Patients
References
Baroni L, Bonetto C, Tessan F, Goldin D, Cenci L, Magnanini P, Zuliani. Pilot dietary
study with normoproteic protein-redistributed plant-food diet and motor performance
in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Nutritional Neuroscience. 2011;14:1:1-9.
Mahan K L, Escott-Stump S, Raymond J L. Krause’s Food and the Nutrition Care. St. Louis,
MO: Elsevier Saunders; 2012: 675-708.
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Available at: http://www.pdf.org. Accessed May 30,
2012.
The Parkinson’s Foundation. Available at http://www.parkinson.org. Accessed May 31,
2012.
The Natural Standard. Parkinson’s Disease. Available at
http://www.naturalstandard.com. Accessed May 30, 2012.