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Fava bean (Vicia faba). These beans are one of Nature's best plant sources of a compound called L-dopa, the natural precursor of dopamine in the brain. In Parkinson's, an imbalance develops in the brain between two chemicals, dopamine and acetylcholine, usually due to degeneration of the cells that produce dopamine. If your brain makes less dopamine, taking L-dopa can help things along. L-dopa is a standard therapy for Parkinson's.
The trouble with L-dopa is that as a pharmaceutical it's very expensive, and lots of people with Parkinson's can't afford it. But fava beans are cheap. According to my calculations, it takes about a 16-ounce can of fava beans to get enough L-dopa to have a physiological effect on Parkinson's. At my supermarket, a 16-ounce can costs $1.15. Try buying pharmaceutical L-dopa for anywhere near that.
Even more intriguing, the latest news is that fava bean sprouts contain ten times more L-dopa than the unsprouted beans. That reduces the cost of a physiological dose to just over 10 cents--the cost of a handul of sprouts. Even though I've discussed the potential of fava beans with dozens of people over the last five years, I know of no one with Parkinson's disease who has taken the food approach seriously.
If you'd like to add fava beans to your diet, it's vitally important that you let your doctor know that you are doing so, and why. (It might help to take along a copy of this book.) Most cases of Parkinson's get off to a slow, mild start, and doctors don't usually prescribe L-dopa until the disease is more
advanced. I suspect that eating more fava beans at this early stage would be really helpful. If you are already taking L-dopa, however, do not start eating these beans unless you discuss it with your doctor.
In addition to L-dopa, fava beans (and other legumes) also contain choline and lecithin. Some research suggests that these compounds might have positive effects in preventing Parkinson's or might help relieve some of its symptoms.
Fava beans are also high in fiber, which helps prevent constipation, a common problem in Parkinson's. But as I mentioned, to get a physiologically meaningful dose of L-dopa from fava beans, you have to eat a pound of them (or about two ounces of sprouts).
The trouble with L-dopa is that as a pharmaceutical it's very expensive, and lots of people with Parkinson's can't afford it. But fava beans are cheap. According to my calculations, it takes about a 16-ounce can of fava beans to get enough L-dopa to have a physiological effect on Parkinson's. At my supermarket, a 16-ounce can costs $1.15. Try buying pharmaceutical L-dopa for anywhere near that.
Even more intriguing, the latest news is that fava bean sprouts contain ten times more L-dopa than the unsprouted beans. That reduces the cost of a physiological dose to just over 10 cents--the cost of a handul of sprouts. Even though I've discussed the potential of fava beans with dozens of people over the last five years, I know of no one with Parkinson's disease who has taken the food approach seriously.
If you'd like to add fava beans to your diet, it's vitally important that you let your doctor know that you are doing so, and why. (It might help to take along a copy of this book.) Most cases of Parkinson's get off to a slow, mild start, and doctors don't usually prescribe L-dopa until the disease is more
advanced. I suspect that eating more fava beans at this early stage would be really helpful. If you are already taking L-dopa, however, do not start eating these beans unless you discuss it with your doctor.
In addition to L-dopa, fava beans (and other legumes) also contain choline and lecithin. Some research suggests that these compounds might have positive effects in preventing Parkinson's or might help relieve some of its symptoms.
Fava beans are also high in fiber, which helps prevent constipation, a common problem in Parkinson's. But as I mentioned, to get a physiologically meaningful dose of L-dopa from fava beans, you have to eat a pound of them (or about two ounces of sprouts).
