Print

Print


Just out of curiousity, I thought I'd see what people's opinions were on any
sort of link between sugar and PD.  I had read in a book in the bookstore
(some natural health book), that said that for some reason, people with PD
seemed to crave sugar.  I know if there's one thing I possibly overdo, it's
sugar.  I'm not bad with candy, etc., but I do eat sweet things for breakfast,
cookies at lunch, and sometime dessert for dinner ( if I were home with
parents it'd be worse, it would be dessert every night!).  I also read in a
macrobiotic book that PD symptoms (rigidity especially) would be caused by too
much "yin".  Yin is the feminine/expansive/open type of energy and is
characterized by foods such as sugar, fruits, some veggies, and even drugs.
Yang is the opposite, more masculine/contracted/closed, and is characterized
by whole grains, meat, etc.  Supposedly, according to their theory, if you
take in too much of either type, your body will react by going to the other
type.  In the case of PD and rigidity, too much yin (sugar?) would cause an
opposite effect in the body (yang), by making it more contracted (i.e. stiff
and rigid).  Thus the solution would be to eat more yang, and cause the body
to loosen up (become yin).  There's alot about macrobiotics I don't
necessarily agree with (it's very strict for my taste and I don't do well with
restrictions), but I brought it up to see whether anyone has any other ideas
with regards to sugar and PD.  Sugar is a simple carbohyrdrate, and while
complex carbos (whole grains, etc) are much better for you, carbos are what's
used by the brain for energy for its processes.  Sugar isn't good, being a
simple carbo, because it gives your brain quick energy (sugar "high"), which
doesn't stick around long, while complex carbos provide more lasting brain
energy (and I've also read that PD patient tremors often improve temporarily
after eating complex carbos such as pasta).  Any thoughts?  Maybe sugar is an
excitotoxin like MSG?
Wendy Tebay