Favas are looking great right now, but in another week or so , it will get down into the 20's (which is getting a little cold for them) I hope to collect tops and beans for a couple more weeks. The pod tincture is doing good for me, except that I cannot take it and go to bed (makes me wide awake...which is great during the day) So, I take pod tincture daytime and tops tincture before bed so that I can sleep. Just harvested the last of my egg plant and peppers...which seem to extend my l-dopa quite well. Making humus from chickpeas / peppers and egg plant and eating more of it during the day and less peanut butter. I also put peppers and eggplant in my breeakfast omlets (sauteed with onions and garlic) Still using fermented papaya with my breakfast supplements also. Feeling really good. Still dancing/ playing music and singing...which all help too. Love ya all ....God Bless you. Aunt Bean

Aunt Bean:

Hi, I'm probably about to be diagnosed with PD. Very interested in all you write. Are you off of all meds too? You seem to have so much energy - good for you. Are your gardens organic? I think getting off of processed food is beneficial. I enjoy reading your thread.
Ellis Mae

Dear Ellis..I decided way back never to take pharmaceuticals for PD. My brother and other relatives had PD also and upon researching meds....knew I had to find another way. When the natural L-dopa in Favas worked for me....then started experimenting different ways to use it...from the plant, the bean and the pod covering the bean. All have L-dopa, some little (the pod seemed to have the most). So far , I am doing very well... still playing music (Now learning to play the bass) as long as my dopamine levels are good- it is very easy for me and my new husband just shakes his head and says that he has never seen anyone pick it up so fast. But, let my levels drop (usually from neglecting to notice myself slowing down, and I can't dance, sing , harmonize or play an instrument for a few minutes til my L-dopa tincture kicks in. I have never had side effects from the natural foods I use. Yes, I garden organically and am researching most of the time about foods. Now onto a rabbit trail about more methods and foods to ferment. The cure is out there and if we all just work and pray...we will find our way thru this jungle of PD and get the monkeys off our backs, that pull us over and make it hard to function. I have just started using Hemp protein powder from Swansons. It has had a very good effect on my bowels being able to move (a trial on me since age 14, when my foot drag started after a diving accident ) I am finally "going" just using 1 TBS a day in my other supplements. Hoping to restart turpentine experiments very soon...see past posts. God bless you all. I pray you will have a healthy , joyous New Year...I will keep you posted on experiments as I document how things are going here.

Hi Aunt Bean,

I would like to experiment with some Fava Beans. Do you have a good source for purchasing beans both for consumption now and growing my own as well?

Are the bud (tops) still the best for a tincture?

Have you ever tested your tinctures for the dopamine content?

Thanks

Hi OlliePOP.... I just go to my local health food store and / or natural foods market and have them order me organic sproutable fava beans. Usually get at least 20 lbs, but if you are not sure if they will work for you...I'd recommend a 5 lb bag . The tops of the plants are not as strong as making tincture from cut up fresh harvested fava bean outer pods. They are holding my dopamine level for a longer period of time , also require less tincture for a dose. Tops tincture is the only thing that has been tested...have trouble finding a chemist that will volunteer time to do testing. Tops tested out as a tincture L-dopa content of 2 drops equal 1 mg. not much , but very significant for treating my symptoms. I started out in October of 2009 taking 2 drops 3 times a day. Now with that same fava tops tincture, I require 2 droppers full (about 20 drops each) approximately 4 to 5 times a day, depending on stressful situations/ playing music out somewhere/ or just having a normal quiet day at home. Also depends on foods available. Peppers/ egg plant/ green tomatoes/ papaya /and watermelons all help me function better and I require less L-dopa. Also good exercise helps my symptoms (digging in garden/ dancing...and now we have a rescued chocolate Labrador retriever 2 yrs old that weighs 60 pounds that is increasing my activity level (just washing floors morning and night from foot prints and "slobber's" that he leaves everywhere. Like having a baby around...I may be too old for this. But, warm weather will come eventually and he will be outside 24/7 . And, that will be wonderful! A Blessed Christmas to you all from BEAN ACRES.

Here is a list of my supplements that I put together for a handout at support group. I know it seems like a lot but has been very do-able for me and I feel great.
Fava Pod and FAva top bud tinctures 4 to 6 times a day for l- dopa supplementation
Fermented Papaya (homemade ferment that I dry and powder) Use 1 1/2 teas in the morning in bowl
Essiac Tea (burdock root, slippery elm inner bark, turkey rhubarb root, sheep sorrel)
3 to 4 Cranberry capsules for urinary function
B 100 Complex
Hawthorne Berry Capsule 565 for heart
Swanson's Brain Essentials (combo of goto kola, ginko, DHA, l-glutamine, alpha-lipoic acid, etc)
D3 5,000 IU
COQ 10 200mg
chewable glutathione 50 mg ( 2 times a day)
Turmeric 729 mg (plus use alot of this spice in cooking)
l-carnosine 500mg
MORNING DRINK:
large glass of water with 1 1/2 teas of Natural Calm Magnesium supplement
1/4 teas of magnesium ascorbate (C powder buffered)
1 drop of rodiola rosea liquid extract
2 times a week I add : 1 drop of lugols iodine supplement
In a small bowl I mix : fermented papaya powder
1 TBS Hemp protein powder
1 1/2 TBS Barleen's High Lignan Flax Oil
1 TBS Whey Protein Powder
1/4 teas creatine powder
have just started: 5HTP capsule
tyrosine
complex aminos
*my body cell jury has not decided how it feels about these new additions as yet.
Going thru old seeds and catalogues and planning garden now (a little later than usual, but I am still on my "honeymoon" and priorities have changed a bit around here. It has been so cold I had no interest in being outside preparing beds either. A couple more days of cold and we should have at least one day this week I can work outside. I am really getting out of shape!! Do have a Rowing Machine that I try to use daily. Still mostly playing music...very aerobic exercise....oh, well. God Bless you all...hope you are getting more exercise than I am right now. (Bad girl) Aunt Bean
PS THE BIG dog went to a trainer for a month....hopefully we will be able to manage him when he gets back here....went to visit , he didn't jump all over me and did heel!!!

Haven't been on site for a long time. Think of you all often. Have a big garden out again this year. My sweet husband helps so much. Fava beans coming in now. Tried something new this week. Picked beans...about 3 plus gallons. Washed them, shelled out the beans , steamed about 3 minutes the pretty pods. Chopped them fine in the food processor. Then, spread it all on dehydrator trays and dry fed them overnight. Then, powdered it in coffee grinder. Now instead of 3 gallons of bean pods, there is about 1 1/2 cups of powder. Decided to try one teaspoon in with my morning supplements and skip taking tincture. It held me til about 4 pm. Looks like I need to take it about 3 pm again. Hope this helps someone who is looking to supplement their ldopa. God Bless you all.

Dear Aunt Bean ,

I always have this question in my mind ,

Did you shelf out every Beans from its small skin too ?
I mean like the attached picture.

Thx and Best Wishes

Attached Thumbnails

 

Yes, ENSEC....I do shell the beans from the inner skins also, unless it is a very immature bean. The skins on them are not so chewy. I have eaten the large ones without skinning them too, but not often. The inner skins are slightly bitter to me. I am still doing very well on fava beans and the extracts I make from beans and plants. My fall crop was a total failure, but I still have plenty of tincture made to carry me through to June crop. God is so good. We do not have internet at the house now, and we have been so busy that trips to the library just to get on Neurotalk was not priority. Now that gardening time is nearly over, I may be able to come use library more. I still make fermented papaya and use it daily also. Married 17 months now and it still only seems like a week. Each day is such a joy. God is good. I think of you all often. God Bless You and give you wisdom and direction in your lives. Love and prayers, Aunt Bean

Hi everyone....been a long time since I had time to come to Neurotalk. Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and this will be the best year ever. Starting to plant fava beans in the green house where the hot peppers were until about Dec 1. They were very interesting this year. I had a cucumber planted between 2 rows of hot peppers that was trained up deer fencing. For 2 months the peppers were not hot. When I pulled the spent cucumber plant, suddenly the peppers became hot. Any one have any insight on this one?? puzzle to me.
I am doing very well on same regimen. Been reading more about natural cancer cures ....today's search has been on purchasing a couple apricot trees and learning how to grow them from seed also. Anyone interested in fighting cancer should check out apricots and eating the seeds after they have been soaked...it is amazing. Anyone heard any news about the group studying natural turpentine for fighting PD??? It was out of Syberia and I haven't been able to find out if they are making progress with human trials. My bowels are finally moving fairly regular and I am going to start trying it again....I make a good Guinea Pig . Still trying out a lot of gluten free recipes and finding more that have been delicious with a little more revising. Making my own unsweetened coconut flake milk was the last experiment. Soaking in filtered water with a couple dried dates and Blending . Straining out the solids and using it as coconut flour in my tart recipe. YUMMMMMM