"Coffee Put to the Test for Treating Parkinson's Disease"
When James Parkinson first described the classical symptoms of the disease,
he could hardly foresee the evolution of our understanding
over the next two hundred years like the role of nutrition,
increasing Parkinson's disease risk with high dietary intakes
of animal fat, iron, mercury, and dairy products,
whereas the intake of antioxidants and a plant-based dietary pattern
may be protective.
Plant-based diets are known to preserve body tissues
from oxidative stress and inflammation, both hallmarks
of chronic degenerative diseases like Parkinson's.
On the contrary, animal-based foods,
particularly rich in animal proteins and saturated fats,
are correlated with the promotion of neurodegenerative diseases,
in addition to some of the leading killers
like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc.
Not all plants are necessarily good though. For example,
the potential neurotoxicity of graviola,
a fruit known as soursop.
Consumption of soursop can lower blood pressure and uric acid levels
but may also cause an atypical form of Parkinson's disease,
because the fruit contains neurotoxic compounds.
And indeed, population studies do show a link between
the overconsumption of soursop with neurodegenerative disease.
Yes, those who follow a predominantly plant-based diet may show
the lowest prevalence and incidence of Parkinson's disease,
but plant-based nutrition is not just about reducing the risk
but can be used to manage the disease.
In my video, "Treating Parkinson's Disease with Diet,"
I discussed this case report, in which a diet low in animal fat
and including both whole grains every day,
as well as one to two cups of strawberries a day,
seemed to be effective in reducing symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
But there are like 20,000 edible plants out there,
and only a limited number of them have been studied
for anti-Parkinson's activity.
One plant that's gotten a lot of attention is coffee,
which may exert a protective effect against
the development of Parkinson's disease
and may even help slow down the progression of the disease,
based on studies like this.
They show the Parkinson's patients who drink coffee or caffeinated tea
appear to cut their risk of dying prematurely in half.
But correlation doesn't mean causation.
You don't know if caffeine really works until you...put it to the test.
Caffeine for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
A six-week randomized placebo- controlled double-blind study.
The caffeine group was started out at approximately a cup of coffee's
worth of caffeine twice a day, once in the morning and once after lunch,
and then increasing it to two cups' worth twice a day, which would
be like four cups of black tea twice a day or six cups of green.
And a significant improvement in Parkinson's symptoms
within three weeks compared to placebo.
A cheap, safe, simple treatment for Parkinson's,
though an important limitation was the duration of the study.
Caffeine has what's called a tachyphylactic property,
meaning its effects tend to diminish over time with repeated use
(at least when trying to combat sleepiness).
So it would be really nice to see the study repeated
over a longer time frame. But there was no such longer study
until five years later.
Randomizing Parkinson's patients to about two cups of coffee worth
of caffeine twice a day for not six weeks, but more than
six months, and no benefit over placebo. Drats.
Caffeine did not provide sustained symptomatic benefit after all.
So caffeine may have a short-term benefit, which quickly dissipates.
Regardless, caffeine cannot be recommended
as symptomatic therapy for Parkinsonism.