I have been experimenting with intermittent fasting. I eat no earlier than 2:00 p.m. and no later than 8:00 p.m. Some days, I don't eat until 5:00 p.m. Especially when I wait until 5:00, my sense of smell is much better and I feel better than ever. I never had a resting tremor, but occasionally have an "intentional tremor" in which I tremble slightly when drinking from a glass, etc. The intentional tremor disappears and I feel completely normal if I don't eat until 5:00. It's much easier to do than I anticipated. I encourage you to try it.
Intermittent Fasting Seems To Work - Cure Parkinson's
Intermittent Fasting Seems To Work
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jimcaster
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But, Jim what about that morning coffee?
No food till 2 PM. I'm impressed. Really. I don't eat after 7 PM or before 11 AM, but now you've inspired me so now I want to try for a 6 hour window like you.
I've never seen it discussed anywhere, but do you think a morning coffee undermines the fast?
I have never liked coffee, so that's not an issue for me, but I don't think it would be a big deal either way. In fairness, I should admit that I take half of my supplements in the morning so I'm not 100% pure either. 😊
But, don't we need to take many of our vitamin supplements with food ?
Good question. I have always taken supplements and vitamins twice a day usually on an empty stomach with no I'll effects which I can determine.
Yes, I use to do that too, till I read about how we are just wasting $, and not getting benefits if we don't take our supplements with food. Google each supplement, and see what it should be taken with...unless it's like B1 with special orders from dear DR C !
True. A few can be taken on an empty stomach, but most should be taken with food depending on a few things but mostly whether or not they are water or fat soluble.
Hi Marc
For me morning coffee with MCT oil C8 , butter and Mannitol won’t ruin my everyday intermittent fasting.Kia
Ditto.
Thanks you two. I was so hoping that would be the answer.
Hi Kia, could you recommend a good source of MCT C8 oil? Thks
Hi Dadcor
I get it from here;
shop.ketosource.co.uk/produ...
Its been said that this “MCT C8 is the purest in the market.”. For me works very well.
Same 🚩w modification: I use coconut oil, ghee and mannitol. Fats help Stretch the fasting period, nicely & give supplements something to grab onto.
I’m with you MB. 11:30 is my limit. Maybe its the am coffee or the am supplements or MAYBe the combo of both, but by 1130 I have to eat! Evenings nothing after 7. I recently started with a trainer at the gym who of course was horrified with my eating schedule but OK with choices...Hohummm!!! try living with PD buddy and we’ll discuss. I’ll give him credit though, he did listen to my reasons and moved on from there. Sometimes the look of apathy pays off 😏
Ha.
• in reply toMBAnderson
Not if it's black coffee.
I don't think you need worry about the morning coffee, MBAnderson. I listened to discussions on the Awakening from Alzheimer's online series, and programme host, Peggy Sarlin, and Dr Perlmutter seem to have OKed it. Dr Perlmutter advocates fasting. 🙂
Coffe is ok but without sugar, use mannitol instead, and heavy cream has no lactose,instead of milk. Take vitamins with fish oil and coconut oil for fat solubility. Intermittent fasting is all about no carbs no protein for 12 hrs a day or longer.
Thank you, thank you.
Ditto, kinda. Mannitol, MCT with Coconut oil or ghee butter and also take supplements same time. Breakfast at 8 dinner between 3:30-4:30.
Do you have days with no food at all? Also do you keep any special diet?
As of yet, I have not tried to go without food all day, but I'm confident I could do it. For now, when I do eat, it's nothing pre-packaged. Lots of vegetables, nuts, fish, fresh fruit, greens, etc.
Sure you could do it, no trouble. I Haven't eaten since yesterday at 7 PM and don't feel bothered by it, although I do drink a lot.
What do you drink a lot of 🍷? That phrase has “a lot of” connotations...
Tap water, mineral water, and cold green tea.
We don’t eat after 5.30pm until 8am the following morning, would that count?
Google "intermittent fasting for brain health" and you'll get lots of info. I think what you are doing is good, but I think an even longer period without food could be even better.
• in reply to64sa8ndF
Yes. You are doing better than 99% of the population!
I have just started the following fasting strategy: one bowl of fruits, berries and green tea no coffee, no lunch until 12:30 , no beef, chicken and fish only. Ask me what about results in 30 days
Please report back in 30 days and I'll do the same.
How’s the 30 day (plus) results @newhope1961 ?
Fasting helps, but the biggest positive effect is 1.5 hours of exercise every morning, treadmill, yoga, rock steady and sandune blocks. Exercise is as far as I know the only proven way to stop the progression
One thing Specifically I did notice that helps is no milk , eggs or cheese......however THE best thing I have ever done was change my exercise routine to what I just described in the last 30 days
“It works” means ...?
Isn’t it “the placebo effect?”
Lots of things work if you believe in them. If it helps you, do it. But I won’t be. I need more than “faith “ in fasting 🤔
I tried to be specific. Enhanced sense of smell, decreased intentional tremor, and a feeling of normalcy, which I associate with mental clarity and reduced anxiety. I'm going to continue doing this several days per week to see if my handwriting improves. There's a lot of legitimate research identifying the specific benefits of fasting, but to each his own...
Meaning I simply feel better, very little tremors and stiffness
I have done this on a limited basis - nothing until 11.30am, nothing after 7.30pm. this is the only way I have managed to lose weight. However, it does play havoc with medications which have to be taken with food three times a day!
I've not been eating till after12 noon for the past six months and have been much better
There's a fair amount of research out there around the benefits of intermittent fasting, particularly focused on gut-health, which we all know is directly connected to brain health. I would highly recommend the podcasts by a UK Dr called "Feel better, live more", with the following episode particularly relevant:
drchatterjee.com/healing-ib...
On a personal note I have been intermittently fasting 3 days a week for the last 3 weeks and there's no doubt that meds work better on these days, although my thinking is that this may be primarily related to protein avoidance.
Nick
Is constipation a problem?
Not for me. I've never had that problem.
I do IF too, nothing but plain green tea in the morning to start my day. Coffee w/ MCT and heavy cream and supplements usually not until about 2:00. I try to finish my last bit of dinner by 8:00pm, 7:00 if possible.
It's for the autophagy! And I don't take sinemet yet, so it has nothing to do w/ medication absorbtion.
Great post JC! I recommend a book called The Obesity Code for great information on intermittent fasting . It's not hard or scary at all!
Thanks! I'll check out the book!
I IF as well dx April 18 and I feel as though my tremor has not progressed. I have a lot more energy, less brain fog, no longer diabetic & have lost 35 pounds. Easiest lifestyle change I’ve ever made.
IMHO, the jury has come in on (intermittent) fasting -- it's good To do. I put it At # 3 in importance, right behind exercise and sleep.
The purpose of the IF is to adapt our body to use fat converted to ketons as a source of energy rather than glucose to tackle the problem associated with Insulin resistance, therefor we will need to avoid eating carbs or protein during our fasting (anything that raises insulin or blood sugar not allowed) no matter fruits or bread ,...etc.The more hours we don’t eat the better results we will get. I think avoiding gluten is also a great help adding even more value to the IF.
2 more cents....no animal in nature, including the human body, was designed to eat 3 meals a day! And breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. It is the most important meal of the day to SKIP!
• in reply tobassofspades
bass......now you tell me ! 😜😜😜
Art
bassofspades• in reply to
😂
bassofspades• in reply to
Every new day is another opportunity to try it . It's not as hard as it looks
Ha- it is certainly the easiest meal to skip! Especially w a yummy fatty coconut cream coffee!
Most of my life I have had a 6-8 hour window of eating,for me it works well. I once read that having coffee, if loaded with cream, butter etc is considered a meal.....so probably not best to have along with your first meal. Dr. Pamela Fergusson,RD,PHD, says if you can't manage this way you can do a 5-2 pattern, which is for 2 days a week men can have 600 calories and women 200, then for 5 days eat as you normally would......
Jim,
My mother has dinner at around 7.30pm in the night and then she only has Bullet-Proof Coffee at around 7.30am the next morning and nothing till lunch at 12.00noon-12.30 pm. Seemed to have increased her energy levels./alertness to some extent, but any benefit towards reducing tremors seems minimal. Even then, it has improved her a lot, comparing before vs after she started fasting. It has now been almost 8 months since she has been doing it.
Hi, Jim,
I started intermittent fasting on my son's recommendation a week ago - I eat between 11.00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. So far have noticed no improvement, hope I will 
I feel that drinking wine increases my tremor (mostly intentional as well).
Is it possible not to lose weight with this regimen? I'm already too slim..............
This is strange. Usually the alcohol reduces the tremor for PD or Essential Tremor. Regarding the fasting I put a post in early June. I had a colonoscopy and stopped eating for two days and also cleaned my digestive system. All the symptoms just went away for a while. They came back but in a reduced intensity.
I agree with Ion. I don't have a resting tremor, but my occasional intention tremor is reduced by alcohol. I'm not sure about the weight loss aspect, but I assume if you load up on calories between 11 and 7, you should be okay. One final thought--of the more than one dozen things I do or take to combat the progression of PD, I have very little idea what is specifically helpful. I'm not as concerned about getting "better" as I am about not getting worse. Intermittent fasting is one of many things I am throwing at the wall, in the hope that something sticks. The research seems fairly compelling and fortunately I don't find fasting to be very difficult. I may not be getting better, but I'm confident I'm better doing something than if I did nothing. Good luck!
After the event I described above my symptoms got reduced and also I reduced the medication, too. B1 from 2g to 1g, c/l from 3x 100/25 to 2x100/25 and amantadine from 2x 100 to zero.
• in reply tojimcaster
Hi jimcaster, isn’t essential tremor the one that responds to alcohol? I have heard that it is often used as a differential diagnosis indicator that distinguishes it from PD.
jimcaster• in reply to
I've read that, too. Unfortunately, even though they are mild, I have several other symptoms which are consistent with PD (micrographia, poor sense of smell, poor arm swing when walking, bradykinesia) to believe the diagnosis of PD from a Movement Disorders Specialist at Mayo Clinic is correct. I also believe that PD is not a single disease, but an array of related disorders with multiple causes...
Jim. Are you still fasting? Just wondered after reading this thread. If you are, do you think it helps?
Thanks and you’re lucky not to be hungry!
Im glad this topic is still going. Ive been intermittent fasting for most of a week {cheated Friday } and have been enjoying good results. I haven't taken any meds or supplements in 9 hours and haven't had the slightest tremor . I fasted 22 hours today and 21 yesterday. Coffee is ok and water when fasting. I was a little unsteady in the morning.
The reason I think this works is that it lets autophagy occur, and to me, that means your body is disposing of the tangled misfolded proteins that choke our dopaminergic neurons . I predict studies will come out as this trend in intermittent fasting gains popularity.
I hope you are right!
• in reply tobassofspades
Congratulations. By coffee okay do you mean no milk and sugar?
bassofspades• in reply to
the way I drink my coffee is with 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil, a bit of heavy cream and a spoonful of mannitol.
Coconut oil is MCT (medium chain triglyceride) and is supposed to be OK. Anecdotally, it awesome for your health but I cant prove that. Ive been ingesting the stuff for years and I have PD anyway!
Heavy cream has no lactose, no sugar, so technically it shouldnt cause an insulin reaction in your bloodstream.
As for Mannitol, again, anecdotally, its good for PWP, but I cant prove this either. ive seen fruit flies do great on the stuff in videos. Because mannitol is only partially absorbed by the body, it significantly reduces the rise in blood glucose and insulin levels that occur following the ingestion of glucose.
Disclaimer - Im not officially a dietitian, though I often talk like I am!
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