As a 44 year old active male [with 13 acres of fruit trees,
berry bushes, etc. to tend, 12 bee hives to work, not to
mention a 13 year old "select" soccer player I try to keep up
with], I am very interested in staying abreast of the latest
information relating to our common enemy - PD. That was
the prime reason that I signed up on this info exchange forum
- to learn things that might help me in my personal battle
with PD. I also hoped that something that I knew might be
useful to "you all" as we say here in the deep south. Along
that line, I offer the following.
In a recent post, someone asked about the possibility of
med/food relationships, and if diet had an influence on the
effectiveness of any of the drugs we use to combat the
monster PD. Since this is an area that intrigues me
[something that we can do to help our condition that really
doesn't cost us anything], I thought that I'd respond as best
as I could.
Please know from the start that I'm not an MD, Registered
Dietician, etc. - I am a scientist with NASA. So what I'm
about to relate has been gleaned from reading, talking with
various health care professionals, etc. Check with your
doctor for specifics.
From what I have been able to gather, there is a definite
relationship between what we eat and the effectiveness of our
medication, both in terms of the delay in their effect after we
take them [time until an "on" state is reached], as well as
the longevity of their effect once into our system [how long
we are "on"].
Most everyone I know with PD is on l-dopamine [l-dopa]
replacement/augmentation medication [e.g. Sinemet], and so
I'll pass along what I have learned about diet and l-dopa.
l-dopa facts that you should know:
1. l-dopa is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine,
not through the stomach. In order for l-dopa to be effective, it
has to get out of your stomach and into your small
intestine as quickly as possible. Thus, anything you do to
delay the emptying of the stomach after taking l-dopa will
delay its getting into your system, prolonging the delay in
getting an "on" reaction.
2. The stomach produces an enzyme that can begin to
metabolize l-dopa before it reaches your small intestine, thus
reducing the amount of l-dopa reaching the blood [i.e.
artificially reducing the dosage that you benefit from]. This
being the case, it seems even more important to avoid eating
anything that would delay emptying the stomach.
3. l-dopa is what is referred to as a Large Neutral Amino Acid
[LNAA]. For it to get through the wall of the small intestine
and into your blood stream, it must attach itself to a "carrier
molecule". The same situation exists in the brain, where
l-dopa must move from the blood plasma into the brain
tissue.
The rub here is that the number of carrier molecules available
at any given time is limited, and any other LNAA in your
system directly competes with l-dopa for one of them. Thus,
anything that you eat containing a significant number of
LNAAs could possibly reduce the rate at which l-dopa is
absorbed in your intestine, as well as the rate at which it is
ultimately released in your brain.
4. Basic l-dopa is one of the drugs with what is referred to as
a "short blood plasma half life" [half life]. Roughly speaking,
half life indicates the time it takes for half of the medication
entering the blood stream to disappear from the blood. In the
case of l-dopa, it's about 90 minutes or so. And so anything
that you do that delays the medication from entering the
blood plasma will ultimately effect its availability to the brain.
What all of this boils down to is that some diets [like those
high in proteins and fats] may adversely effect the
effectiveness of l-dopa, and thus you should carefully
evaluate your diet as it relates to your medication. But it
should be god news to you that there are things that you can
do to make the most of the medication that you are taking,
particularly as it relates to what you eat.
Specific diet recommendations and much more information
about the relationships between food and medications can be
found in the 26 page booklet "Good Nutrition In Parkinson's
Disease", available for a nominal $1.50 from:
The American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc.
60 Bay Street
Suite 401
Staten Island, N. Y. 10301
1-800-223-2732
Hope this info helps.
Jim
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