(A letter from the future. Another different way of exposing what God, life, the wise neuroscientists, my father and the other patients and carers have taught me in 26 years - between 1994 and 2020 - ).

---

"Jesus, you know Dad has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. Don't panic. But don't get too confident. Levodopa is not perfect. I know you don't know what Parkinson's is or what levodopa is yet. You'll have time to find out in 18 years...

Dad is still a good age (54). The body is in good condition. Also, he hasn't taken any medication yet, especially levodopa. He can take protein without limitations: egg yolk, sardines, avocado... Yes, one egg a day.

You know I'm not a doctor and I can't legally give you any advice. So I'll just tell you what I would do in your case, which is redundant. Like two friends or two brothers having coffee. Or yourself, talking to yourself in front of a cup.

First of all, we don't really know if you have Parkinson's, because the Michael J. Fox Foundation - you know, the famous actor who just publicly acknowledged that he has Parkinson's in a television interview - which will be created in 6 years, will recognize a 25% misdiagnosis in the early stages. And I suspect it may be more. In any case, the measures to be taken are practically the same. Something is wrong and prudence demands that all possibilities be covered. This is allowed by certain foods and supplements.

Secondly, a question: what do you think is the main cause of his illness? You don't have to tell me. It is enough for him to know. Ask him.

The three key elements for his case, in my opinion, are:

1 - Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), essential to produce dopamine from dopa and for a thousand other things. Pyridoxal phosphate (its active form) is the most efficient coenzyme in Nature (B2 and C are needed to activate B6). The sources to start can be brewer's yeast and pistachios (about 50 contain 0.5 mg). Any trace of this vitamin will be banned, but don't pay too much attention to them. You haven't read the package insert for Sinemet or Madopar properly. They still live in the world before 1975.

2 - Magnesium, very deficient in current diets and neuroprotective, regulator of stress, muscular and nervous impulse, necessary for glutathione synthesis, for genes, for almost everything. It needs the B6 to reach the interior of the neuron.

Sources can be the old pistachios and a salad with lots of green each day (magnesium is the heart of chlorophyll).

3 - Vitamin C, good for everything, like magnesium and B6. It protects the brain from oxidation, the liver and the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, etc.

They cover the entire spectrum of possible causes of Parkinson's, although there are others more specialized: B2 for mobility, omega 3 and turmeric for depression, milk thistle or artichokes for the liver, melatonin for sleep, magnesium carbonate as a laxative, B12 for balance, etc.

Exercise and vitamin D from sunbathing (and adding a vitamin D3 supplement) are ESSENTIAL. They slow down the disease. There are still a few years to go, but Oguh in 2014 will show that physical exercise stops the disease and Suzuki in 2013 for D3 (1200 IU a day minimum).

The mental attitude is very important in Parkinson's: the placebo effect can reach 30% or more of motor improvement in those who expect levodopa and receive only sugar in the studies (the famous placebo).

Another pillar is to control the neurotoxic homocysteine: Ahlskog recommends in his books 25 mg of B6, 2.5 mg of B9 and 2 mg (2000 mcg) of B12.

A good vitamin and mineral supplement can help you as another pillar, like Supradyn.


SUMMARY:

If you can locate a possible cause or causes, so much the better. For example, for brutal stress and anxiety, more magnesium and brewer's yeast, lots of natural and supplemental vitamin C, omega 3, etc. If not, open up the range, with foods and recipes that cover it all:

Green tea
Egg yolk (since the giant PURE study of 2017, we are allowed one a day). Fundamental for neurotransmitters.
Avocado
Broccoli.
Turmeric.
Sardines, fresh or canned.
Gazpacho, a gift from Mediterranean diet.
Salad.
When the time comes, if necessary, take Sinemet or Madopar in small quantities and join Mucuna with green tea polyphenols (Teavigo).

Dad has horrible nutritional habits. He eats badly, all garbage. He drinks cola and coffee only. It costs a lot of work to change them. Insist on it. He adds things so that little by little they make room in his diet. You can go slowly: add a daily tomato in the form of a salad; an orange, an apple and a kiwi; one or two raw or steamed carrots, etc.

The ideal is a Mediterranean diet with oriental touches (green tea, turmeric, ginger, etc.). The "zero" or "light" is neurotoxic poison (aspartame). Take it all off.

A little bit of fried tomato with turmeric and black pepper (5 to 1 ratio; if you use a dessert spoon, a teaspoon of turmeric and the generous tip of black pepper, more or less). It is antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cleans the pineal gland that produces melatonin, it crosses the protective barrier of the brain: so it attacks free radicals and pro-inflammatory molecules, it raises glutathione...).

No worries, but don't leave it for a few months or for next year, because you have a golden opportunity.

If you don't convince him, he's going to have a very bad time.

Do not forget to buy the first two books of Dr. Gonzalez Maldonado's neurologist when they appear in 1997 and in 2004, "The strange case of Dr. Parkinson" (it will be Dad's favorite) and "Heterodox treatments in Parkinson's disease", which will be your favorite. Yes, laugh. But little by little you will stop being a Neanderthal, a caveman, to open your mind to the new. And they say that miracles don't exist...

If you don't listen to me, it will take you 26 years to realize this and more than 50,000 hours of research and study, but I think that then you will be able to "starve" the Parkinson's, not the sick one. But don't trust or waste the precious time and knowledge you have been given. Many, many millions before and now did not have that chance.

Check with your doctor and pharmacist. Perhaps the neurologists will laugh or get angry. It was the usual thing in your time, but in mine they are already opening their minds and letting their patients try if they know it won't hurt them. A brave and humane attitude. Osler would be happy. So would Hippocrates.

A big hug and lots of encouragement.

P.S.: I am enclosing the book that I will write in 2015. For your eyes only. So you can save Dad from living in hell on earth. In 2020 we have learned a thousand times more than you know in 1994. Don't forget that. There is light at the end of the tunnel."

Great Post. Thanks for sharing.

I just wondered if you were aware of Nutritional Yeast as opposed to Brewer's Yeast. Its available in UK Supermarkets. I sprinkle it on my food and its full of a broad spectrum of B Vitamins and for Vegan Food it actually tastes really nice.

Top 5 nutritional yeast benefits and how to use it


Also I copied this from NutritionFacts.Org ....



Benefits of Nutritional Yeast to Prevent the Common Cold

Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on February 14th, 2017

Natural immunomodulators that can help regulate our immune system without side-effects have been sought for centuries, and all the while they’ve been sitting in the produce aisle. Plants produce thousand of active compounds, many of which modulate our immune system, but we can’t forget the fungi (see Boosting Immunity While Reducing Inflammation).

Mushrooms have been used for centuries as folk remedies, and for good reason. Some have been shown to boost immune function, so much so that a type of fiber found in shiitake mushrooms is approved for use as adjunct chemotherapy, injected intravenously to help treat a variety of cancers by rallying our immune defenses.

More than 6,000 papers have been published on these so-called beta glucans, but almost all of the data about preventing infections had come from petri dish or lab animal studies, until a few years ago when a series of experiments on athletes showed beneficial effects in marathon runners (see Preserving Immune Function in Athletes With Nutritional Yeast). What about the rest of us? We didn’t know… until now.

As I explore in my video, Nutritional Yeast to Prevent the Common Cold, beta glucan fiber found in baker’s, brewer’s, and nutritional yeast helps to maintain our body’s defense against pathogens even in nonathletes, according to a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The recurrence of infections with the common cold was reduced by 25% in those that ate the equivalent of about a spoonful of nutritional yeast a day, and they had fewer cold-related sleeping difficulties when they did get sick.

What about half a spoonful a day? Still worked! Subjects experienced a big drop in common cold incidence and a reduction in symptoms as well. Why is this? This study found that not only were upper respiratory infection symptoms diminished, but that mood states appeared to improve, for example, a significant boost in feelings of “vigor.” So, the researchers suggest that maybe the yeast fiber is able to counteract the negative effects of stress on the immune system.

In terms of side effects, two folks reported stomachaches, but they were both in the placebo group.

Unlike antibiotics and antivirals, which are designed to kill the pathogens directly, these yeast compounds instead appear to work by stimulating our immune defenses, and as such don’t share the same antibiotic side effects. They stimulate our immune defenses presumably because our body recognizes them as foreign. But if it’s treated like an invader, might it trigger an inflammatory response? Turns out these fiber compounds may actually have an anti-inflammatory effect, suggesting nutritional yeast may offer the best of both worlds, boosting the infection fighting side of the immune system while suppressing inflammatory components.