ice cream – The Science of Parkinson's

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Dairy-based products make up a significant portion of the world’s diet and represent a fundamental component of most western cuisine.

Previous research has, however, pointed towards an association between consumption of dairy and risk of Parkinson’s.

New research provides further support for this connection.

In today’s post, we will look at the mysterious bond between dairy intake and Parkinson’s.

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Me and Brie. Source: Wikipedia

When I turned 25, I realised that my body no longer accepted cheese.

This represented a very serious problem for me.

You see, I still really loved cheese. A bottle of red wine, a baguette and a chunk of brie – is there any better combination in life?

Heaven. Source: Healthylivingpc

My body and I had a really bad falling out about this. And yes, it got ugly. I wanted things to keep going the way they had always been, so I tried to spice things up by introducing new and exotic kinds of cheeses, which my body didn’t want to know about it. It rejected all of my efforts. And after a while, I gradually started resenting my body for not letting me be who I was.

We sought help. We tried some interventions. But sadly, nothing worked.

And then things got really bad: My body decided that it didn’t have room in my life for yogurt, milk or even ice cream anymore (not even ice cream!!!).

Basically no dairy what so ever.

There’s something’s missing in my life. Source: Morellisices

OMG! How did you survive without ice cream?

Well, I’ll tell ye – it’s been rough.

All silliness aside though, here is what I know: It is actually very common to develop a lactase deficiency as we age – lactase being the enzyme responsible for the digestion of whole milk. In fact, about 65% of the global population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy (Source: NIH – more on this in a moment).

I am not lactose intolerant (one of the few tests that I actually aced in my life), but I do have trouble digesting a particular component of dairy products – which can result in discomfort… and let’s just say socially embarrassing situations (one day over a drink I’ll tell you the ‘summer afternoon cheese fondue story’).

If one is forced to drop a particular food group, dairy is not too bad (but if I am ever forced to give up wine, I swear I’ll go postal).

And some new Parkinson’s-related research has indicated that more of us should possibly be avoiding dairy.

What is the new research?

Continue reading “Oh dear: Dairy?” →

They say that “we are what we eat”, and food can certainly have a major impact on health and wellbeing.

Recently, a research report has been published that looks into the topic of food in the context of Parkinson’s disease.

And the results are interesting.

In today’s post we will outline the new research, discuss the results, and what they mean for people living with Parkinson’s disease.

Seattle. Source: Wikipedia

Established in 1978, Bastyr University is an alternative medicines institute.

The original campus (Bastyr now has a second campus in San Diego, California) is tucked into the idyllic forested area of Saint Edward State Park on the edge of Lake Washington, just north-east of downtown Seattle (Washington).

Source: Bastyr

Hang on a moment – ‘alternative medicines’?

While I can understand that some readers may immediately question why ‘alternative medicines’ are being mentioned on the “Science” of Parkinson’s disease website, here at the SoPD HQ we entertain any and all ideas with regards to Parkinson’s disease. And we are certainly open to any data that may be of interest to the Parkinson’s community.

Particularly, when that data comes from this individual:

Source: Bastyr

This is Dr Laurie Mischley. She’s awesome.

She is an Associate Clinical Investigator at Bastyr University, a guru when it comes to nutrition, and our first port of call when we field questions regarding Parkinson’s disease and diet. You can see her in action in this video (recommended viewing for those with Parkinson’s disease and interested in the topic of diet/nutrition):

Importantly, Dr Mischley is also responsible for most of the clinical study data that we have on Acetylcysteine (also known as N-acetylcysteine or simply NAC) in Parkinson’s disease (Click here to read more about this).

And she is currently co-ordinating the “Complementary & Alternative Medicine Care in Parkinson’s Disease” (CAM Care in PD) study, which is attempting to ‘collect as much data as possible over a five-year period with the hope of finding dietary and lifestyle factors associated with a slower disease progression’. The study is still recruiting and I would encourage readers to take time to enrol in the study and fill in the survey (Click here to learn more).

This ongoing CAM study (and Dr Mischley’s efforts) has recently borne fruit that will be of real interest to the Parkinson’s community. It is a research report that reviews dietary and nutritional supplemental factors that can impact Parkinson’s disease progression.

This is the study here:

Continue reading “Food for thought!” →