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Nancy Burnham wrote:

> As I mentioned earlier, Don has been losing weight.  In addition he is
> always hungry.  Eats all day, enough to put pounds on anyone else.  Does
> anyone else have the problem of being hungry.  I think the cause is, in
> addition to the tremors, is he works all day on our ranch.  Our family
> doctor, at a social event, noticed and suggested he make an appointment.
>

Nancy,
Unplanned weight loss is very common in PWP, and may be a cause for concern.
There are many theories as to why weight loss occurs -- excess calories burned
due to tremors, rigidity; slowness at meals (does not finish meal), etc. I have
several clients who eat an astounding amount of food, yet lose weight.
Unfortunately, unplanned weight loss often means loss of muscle mass, bone
density, and many vitamins and minerals. It would be best if he does not lose
any more weight.

I would encourage your husband to eat as much as he can, including nutritious
snacks between meals, and a snack before bedtime. If  he uses levodopa, this can
be a problem, as protein may interfere with the absorption of levodopa; in this
case, high-carbohydrate snacks may help. Example:  1 TB peanut butter, plus 4
saltines, plus 8 oz fruit juice (if he can eat more than this, you can double or
triple the amounts of each food).  This provices a ratio of 6:1 carb to protein,
and often does not interfere with Sinemet absorption.

My very best regards,
Kathrynne

--
Kathrynne Holden, MS, RD
"Nutrition you can live with!"
Medical nutrition therapy
http://www.nutritionucanlivewith.com/
Tel: 970-493-6532 // Fax: 970-493-6538