Aunt Bean-
By all means do start a thread on your findings. I would suggest that the title include the name itself to make future searches a little easier. I did a brief search and it does look like it has high potential. Keep us posted. -Rick

I have used Rhodiola for years on a prn basis to clear my thoughts. My research before I started taking it indicated it was useful for people who had schizophrenia and took too much schizophrenia medicine and wound up with a form of parkinsonism which was non-responsive to dopamine to correct the parkinsonism. The rhodiola apparently balanced out the imbalance caused by too many drugs.

I got chores done /wrote my post & it (whatever IT is )Logged me out again during the writing process (this time it let me log back in and proceeded to post what I had written ...which took me a half hr to type again!)
We are having heavy rains and there is a river running between the house and barn...I thought about people who bought land (prime property) in the Florida everglades...right now we are a swamp! But in 3 years, it has only happened 3 times.,,can deal with it.

Getting forgetful... I posted an experiment that I had completed on Robert Rodgers' site
(PD RECOVERY) and forgot to type it here. Anyway here is a simple tincture you can make in your kitchen with fava beans (still need a G6pd blood test to make sure you don't have favism before using favas)
I soaked 1 C fava beans for 24 hours in spring water(drain and rinse well)
Then rinsed and drained them 3 times a day for 4 days
Peel the outer coat off the beans and cut off any bad spots/ rinse off/ let drain
Mash the beans well and put in a glass jar with a tight closing lid.
LABEL : Fava Bean Sprout tincture / and the date
Add 3/4 C brandy . Close lid tight and shake this a couple times a day for a month
Strain thru a fine tea strainer..into another clean jar
Press mash with a spoon to remove all the precious liquid as possible and tightly close lid
Let this jar stand for 24 hours so all the sediment goes to the bottom
Then, using a turkey baster(new/ not used for meat) or a syringe...extract the clear liquid from the top down to almost the sediment and put this into a dropper bottle (dark if possible). The sediment is usable.. .. I just use it first
(my dose is about 1/4 teas ...1/2 a dropperful) and I just put the sediment in a small bottle marked sediment...you just don't want the sediment in your tincture. It will discolor it and make it not last as long.
I still have not found a chemist around here to test things for me...so I don't know how much l-dopa is in this compared to the fava top tincture that I make from plants in the garden...(fava tops tincture 2 drops = 1mg.) I always recommend starting any new supplement out slow and small dose.... I started with just a few drops. The tinctures work faster if I hold them in my mouth for a minute...kind of works like a sublingual I think. Each person will react differently . It is interesting at my house, dad seems to have an allergic reaction to fava beans as far as eating them with a meal...he will feel itchy, but he doesn't react to the fava tops tincture...it helps his restless legs calm down. Haven't let him try the fava sprout tincture as yet.
GOOD LUCK WITH THIS A FEW OF YOU LAB RATS OUT THERE!
(makes my whiskers wiggle......but it keeps my hand from tremor and my leg still)

Aunt Bean is excited...just ordered a large tiller yesterday. It has been so hard to get ground ready for seeds each year. When the ground is dry, the local farmers are tilling their own land. Now I can just get out there and do it. Me and my mattock and shovel get awfully tired ...now we have this mechanical helper on the farm. Hope it was money well spent. I have been ordering seeds and more fruit trees. Trying to re-do many areas of the garden. Getting ready to move about 100 asparagus roots.Have organic fertilizer now (rabbits). Things are coming together. Perhaps we can have a big picnic this fall for any PD'rs that want to get together in this area.
The tiller is guaranteed for 3 years ...hope I am too!
Now I need to order crocus's to plant to experiment with....see new thread. All these "RABBIT TRAILS" I need to follow.....good thing we have land not being used as yet and plenty of rabbits to make fertilizer for me. Need to plant lots of cabbage this year...they sure do like them (and whole grain bread...need to bake more today)
Blessings, Aunt Bean.

Well, March is just around the corner and it is time to plant fava
beans again here at bean acres in east Tennessee. On Monday , Feb 8th
300 bean seeds were planted and I hope to plant alot more March 11-12,
which is the next above ground planting date for me here. May go ahead
and start more in the greenhouse in section flats also . There are 2
sections of favas in the greenhouse. One that was planted in August is
still producing flowers that I have just started collecting to make
tinctures. They are beautiful, tasty and have l-dopa also (I just do
not know how much) They do not have to be dried, just put into a jar.
Add brandy to just below flower level (because the wet flowers will
compact in the brandy and it will soon cover them) Shake daily for a
month. It makes a lovely rosey colored tincture (which is strange
because the flowers are white with black marking) Hardly any sediment
with this tincture. It is my favorite to make now. I still do not have
a resource person to test tinctures for the amount of l-dopa. But this
one also works for me. God Bless . Aunt Bean

Aunt Bean,
So I used some older fava beans (several years) and culled the ones that didn't sprout but I'm wondering how long the sprout emerging from the bean should be.
Are you planting different varieties this year? Planting season here won't start for a couple of months yet but I just bought 35 lbs of fresh fava pods to begin the arduous task of taking beans out and juicing the pods - this year I'm using ice cube trays to store in the freezer - just take out a couple of cubes in the morning and afternoon. Yesterday I juiced a lemon and added to the fava and had been resting my feet on a takefumi (bamboo refloxology tool) while watching tv - don't know if it was the lemon/fava or the bamboo piece but constipation turned the opposite-sorry if this is too much info folks

It doesn't matter how long the little sprout is...just that it has been soaked and rinsed and drained 3 times a day for 3 to 4 days. This changes the chemical composition of the bean.
I do not think this sprout tincture has even half the l-dopa as the fava tops tincture and you may need a couple dropperfulls to get any results...but it would be portable (unlike carrying bean sprouts or frozen juice if you are out somewhere.)I think the tincture that I made before ...steaming the beans for just a couple minutes is better..the unsteamed beans tend to crumble and it is harder to seperate the sediment (perhaps I mashed the last batch too much, but it seemed they were trying to ferment alittle in the raw state, unlike the one I tried last month steamed lightly. *Anyway, I appreciate knowing that my tincture is in my pocket! As far as varieties....have a couple small test plots with different favas this year...will let you know how they perform. For my main crop ..just bought a 25 lb of generic organic sproutable favas that I order thru the local healthfood store. They have called the supplier and they don't have info on what kind of fava they are.....but they are the cheapest route I can go for planting and consumption.
Sounds like you had an abrupt ending to a peaceful moment...do you think it was the lemon juice???? One of my main problems is still constipation, have to take either cascara sagrada or Aloe. Are you going to plant favas??

"I think the tincture that I made before ...steaming the beans for just a couple minutes is better..the unsteamed beans tend to crumble and it is harder to seperate the sediment (perhaps I mashed the last batch too much, but it seemed they were trying to ferment alittle in the raw state, "

but perhaps fermentation a positive? Fermented foods are fantastic for aiding digestion. I sometimes wonder if the enzymes in the fava pod juice hold the key to its beneficial effects rather than just levadopa content. Today I shall mash my fava sprouts! The tincture does sound handy.


"Sounds like you had an abrupt ending to a peaceful moment...do you think it was the lemon juice???? One of my main problems is still constipation, have to take either cascara sagrada or Aloe. Are you going to plant favas??"


This emptying of the deep end of my gut has really got my attention as I have long (most of my life) struggled with constipation and I know this was not a flu issue (NO other sx). Curiously I lost my michelin tire around my waist too...to think that was all waste aarrggghhhh -sorry the image here but I'm encouraged that my body could respond so dramatically with a detox effect to either/or/or both reflexology and aa juiced lemon w/fava juice. I REALLY like the take-fumi bamboo piece recommended by the "foot whisperer" Randy Eady . I have long been a fan of Janice Walton-Hadlocks work with pd and deeply appreciate Randys' (and Janices)perspective of how our feet are central to not only our CNS but our body electric as well as the whole of it. Something as simple as walking back and forth on bamboo and resting my feet on it could possibly stimulate such detox!! and for $20!! WOW! To be fair I should also add that previous to this for the last couple of weeks I have been taking kale juice with lemon first thing in the morning so maybe it all worked in concert....

Yes I am definitely planting favas again and will attempt your flower tincture - I might try starting them sooner this year than last as they are so hardy.
also will grow soome herbs like rosemary known to be beneficial to my condition and of course tons of flowers! would LOVE to see some forests and gardens in Ireland annd other parts of Europe!

fare thee well dear AB!
sharilyn

AB from the sounds of the size of your garden couldn't you use a small tractor? I bought a small mantis tiller and its about all I can handle - in fact well worth it to hire someone else to run it for me....be good to thyself!!