Dear Susan, Mary Ann, Kathy and others,
The possible connection between PD and
ADD/ADHD is an interesting one which I have thought about for quite awhile. What
intrigues me is the studies that have been done in relation to ADD/ADHD and
everyday foods showed a link.
Ben Feingold years ago discovered a connection between
ingestion of foodcolorings and hyperactivity. Further studies carried out at the
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney Australia showed MSG, amines and
salicylates (natural chemicals that occur in varying quantities in some everyday
foods) affected many of their testsubjects. Foods low in these natural chemicals
were almost never a problem.
It is only "susceptible" people that have
problems. This makes me wonder if this is a genetic susceptibility.
A book published a few years ago called "One Man's Food
......Another Man's Poison" written by McGrath (i think), described her
ceaseless efforts to get to the reason for her children's hyperactivity, which
she found was also caused by food intolerances. She spent much time at chemists
and chemistry laboratories looking for answers and I recall that she found that
the final item on the list of foods that caused her family hyperactivity
problems was MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, not straight cornstarch. Only the modified
form appeared to find it's way into the brain and wreak havoc.
I wrote to Anne Swain, one of the dieticians involved in the
Royal Prince Alfred- Allergy Clinic Studies and co-author of the book
"Friendly Food" and asked if any studies had been done in relation to
food intolerances as a possible cause for Parkinson's disease. She replied that
neither she nor Dr Loblay or Dr. Soutter know of any published work nor had they
seen any patients with Parkinson's disease at the clinic.
It is a pity that there is no money to be made by eliminating
foods from the diet, yet there is a lot of money to be made from medication.
Studies in the field of food intolerances obviously attract little if any
funding.
It is a subject that keeps "nagging at me" because
we are all prepared to add drugs to our daily intake, although often
reluctantly, but we do not know how the particles of everyday food that we
ingest mostly without second thought, affect our brain, and how eliminating them
may alter the chemistry.
I wonder if the Hallelujah Diet, mentioned on this list
before, is so beneficial because it cuts out the processed foods hence also
foodadditives, modified starches etc.
Did you manage to go back on the diet
Susan?
Sorry being so longwinded. Just had to get this off my
chest.
Has anyone on
the list with ADD/ADHD been involved in foodintolerance
studies?
Peace and love to you all
from Erika.