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There are some among us who are highly educated in medicine, others who are highly educated in life and have a natural curiosity on how to make it better for themselves and sharing that knowledge with others. In the laboratory of life, sometimes we suceed and sometimes we fail, but we are not to be faulted for trying. Those who earn a good living writing prescriptions to cure the ails of the world, have a way of "chilling" any efforts to improve quality of life through diet or exercise or wanting you to know what is wrong with you and knowing what treatments, other than what they are recommending, are available. Patient knowledge, for that matter, the patients right to actively participate in their treatment plan, threatens them and their lifestyle. Many states require continuing education to keep a medical license in effect. This can be as bothersome as reading the journals of their specialty. Folks with X chromasome defects who consume large portions (300 mg) vaba beans over a period of time (years perhaps?) definitely have residual reaction to them in their diet. By the same token, if they did not eat faba beans and were levodopa responsive as is the case with Parkinson's disease, the result would be the the same by taking the pills. The following citation cuts to the chase. Authors Territo MC. Peters RW. Tanaka KR. Title Autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to levodopa therapy. Source JAMA. 226(11):1347-8, 1973 Dec 10. A 67 year-old white man developed Coombs test-positive hemolytic anemia secondary to levodopa therapy for Parkinson disease. The initial episode of anemia occurred after 11 months and 660 gm of drug exposure. A warm autoantibody directed against the Rh locus was found in the patients serum and on his erythrocytes. On discontinuance of levodopa therapy, the autoimmune hemolytic anemia abated. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS PATIENT WAS STARTED ON THE EQUIVALENT OF 20 10/100 STANDARD RELEASE SINEMETS A DAY AND INCREASED TO 30 10/100s. Another study followed the etiology of a case of a boy in Scandinavia who developed favism (hemolytic anemia) after eating 300 g of Vicia faba beans. This was the effect of taking 3 25/250 standard release Sinemets at one time. PARKINSON'S PATIENTS WHO ARE LEVODOPA RESPONSIVE SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM CONSUMING AN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF FABA BEANS TITRATED AS A SUBSTITUTE TO THEIR NORMAL LEVODOPA DOSAGE. NON-PARKINSON'S PATIENTS WHO CONSUME THE FABA BEAN RECIPES PROVIDED HERE SHOULD NOT EXPERIENCE ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS BUT A NEW EXPERIENCE IN FOOD. The equivalents reported by Kempster and Wahlqvist were: 100 g faba beans = 1 25/250 standard release carbidopa/levodopa 100 g faba beans = 3.527 ounces/weight Examples: If you want to try the faba beans and your normal dose of Sinemet standard release or Madopar is 100 mg, about 1 3/4 ounces of faba beans would be equivalent. If you normal dose is Sinemet CR, the equivalent dose is 70% of what ever size dose you take. Hints on faba bean dishes. If the faba beans are weighed out, and bagged in cheese cloth, they can be dropped in the pot and cooked with the other ingredients. After every thing is done, remove the bags and use one bag per serving mixed with the other ingredients. The functional effects of faba beans last about 5 hours where as the functional life of the standard release tablet is 2 hours or less. After a meal of faba beans wait until your next "off" period before resuming your medication. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I am looking forward to hearing the responses of those who aren't afraid to take charge of their own destinys and aren't frightened by the naysayers to either prove or disprove the efficancy of faba beans in ocasionally enjoying something new. John Cottingham "KNOWLEDGE is of two kinds: we know [log in to unmask] a subject, or we know where we can OR find information upon it." [log in to unmask] Dr. Samuel Johnson