So this is my latest stack. I think I have a good list now. Now it is time to fine tune it. Get the dosages and timing right. Will any of it help? I hope so. I have not been diagnosed with PD. I have been diagnosed with REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (with other troubling symptoms). I still have a sore left shoulder and left leg (but my shoulder does not feel like it has broken pieces in it anymore).
If anybody wants to get together on Zoom to fine tune these or their protocol ideas, just let me know. We can set up group calls or maybe Marc would like it if we just hijacked part of one of his calls
In the mean time I will start spending a week on each item, fleshing it out, and posting an updated protocol.
2022/01/27 - 15:59
Every Day:
1. Follow the Solar Cycle: I get up when the sun comes up. Got to bed no later than 11:30 PM. Wear blue blockers after 8 PM.
2. Specific Carbohydrate Diet: Has been shown to normalize the microbiome.
3. Circadian Diet: Only eat when the sun is out.
4. Intermittent Fasting: Only eat during a 4-5 hour window. Usually sometime between Noon and 6 PM.
5. High Dose Thiamine (B1): Currently 1500 first thing in the morning, taken with 2000 mg of Magnesium L-Threonate.
6. Broccoli Sprout Tea for Sulforaphane: Drink it between 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM so I am boosting Nrf2 while my circadian rhythm is on the upstroke.
8. Dr. Matthew Best Prebiotics and Probiotics for Women.
9. Selenium plus Inositol: 100 mcg L-Selenomethionine plus 750 mg Inositol: May lower anti-thyroid antibodies (I have Hashimoto's).
10. Berberine: 400 mg. Neuroprotective. Note to self: Identify more reasons why you are taking this. May need to take a break from this after 12 weeks.
11. Vinpocetine: 30 mg (with food or your body absorbs nearly none of it). Supposed to increase blood flow to the brain.
12. Curcumin BCM-95: (BCM-95 means it has Curcumin oil in it) 650 mg. Antioxidant.
13. Saffron: 50 mg.
14. 2 teaspoons of Brewer's Yeast on my food once a day.
15. Niacin 250 mg Time Released: 1 hour before bed.
16. NAC 1200 mg with Taurine 1000 mg: 1 hour before bed.
17. CBD Oil: Right before bed.
18. Mixture of 1 teaspoon ground Chamomile Flower, 1/2 teaspoon ground Nigella Sativa, and one teaspoon Ceylon Cinnamon (my teaspoons are heaping), and 600 mg of Organic Licorice Root Extract 20:1 Powder. I just eat this dry a little at a time with a spoon twice a day (well before my first mean and well after my last meal). I chew it some and let it sit in my mouth as long as possible so it goes down my throat slowly. These are all antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory. I'm trying to treat my microbiome from gut to mouth.
19. Exercise: 20 minutes on the treadmill. Long walks when the weather is nice.
20. Exercise plus Red Light: 20 minutes on the recumbent bike with the red light shining on the back of my head. I follow this with hydrogen water.
A Couple/Few Days a Week:
1. Vitamin B12.
2. Vitamin C.
3. Vitamin D.
4. Vitamin E.
5. Krill Oil/Cod Liver Oil.
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Bolt_Upright
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600 milligrams of licorice root extract may be high, depending on your personal tolerance and the actual amount of active ingredient. See my writing here:
That's a helluva article park_bear! Good job you. I have not been diagnosed with PD but I have had an issue with getting lightheaded when I stand most of my life. I always blamed my low blood pressure. It has been worse the last couple of years (or maybe worse since I learned about Orthostatic Hypotension). Anyway, I am not getting lightheaded when I stand anymore. Is it the licorice?
You probably know I think about pathogens: The antiviral and antimicrobial activities of licorice, a widely-used Chinese herb 2015 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/a... . Licorice seems to be antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-fungal.
I may be taking too much. It tastes good mixed with my cinnamon and nigella sativa and chamomile flowers.
It could be the licorice. I recommend getting a blood pressure cuff if you do not already have one and checking your blood pressure. If your numbers are good then all is well. Also you can monitor your orthostatic hypotension by comparing blood pressure standing versus sitting.
If he is taking DGL, he won't have to worry about that. The component in licorice which causes high blood pressure has already been removed from DGL supplements. I take about 1500 mg of DGL per day. Do you believe that is too much? I will read your article linked now.
Hi Park Bear, Excellent article! I want to add licorice even if just used intermittently. Im on Azilect. I don’t see why increases Mao-B inhibition via another means would be bad? And the licorice might do more than just Mao-B inhibition? I think it’s fair to assert that it is not just addressing symptoms but is actually neuro-protective. Based on your writings, I believe you agree? What would you recommend as the means of taking it? Other supplements Im researching and trying include Quercitin, Apigenin, and spermidine. Have you any experience with those? I listened to Dr. Cynthia Li. I thought of you because she too feels she has benefited greatly from Qigong.
As it happens I recently read Doctor Cynthia Li's book and we are both students of Mingtong.
The benefit of licorice root extract for Parkinson's is the MAO – B inhibition. As far as I know it is not disease modifying. The adverse effect is due to raising blood pressure at higher doses.
As far as taking it goes it is a simple matter to mix the powder with whatever food or drink you deem appropriate.
For disease modifying substances there is of course high-dose thiamine. I also suggest cinnamon. My report here:
Dry?! That’s rough. I will try it though. I bought some really revolting licorice that others on Amazon actually like. Maybe you would like it since you enjoy the taste? Your dry licorice, sorry to ask but what kind? I didn’t see any powder form. I will resume my search. Btw, my name is Matcha Roe bc I ingest matcha and fish roe daily despite hating them both. ☺️
That's funny because I never liked Licorice (my wife loves it) but after a week I grew to love that Zagarese brand you have.
But I am cheap so I switched to Organic Licorice Root Extract 20:1 Powder, 8 Ounce (1 Year Supply) $20 amazon.com/gp/product/B079N...
I'm actually mixing a teaspoon of Matcha Tea, of Nigella Sativa, of ground chamomile flowers, a heaping teaspoon of Ceylon Cinnamon, and what I think is about 600 mg of the licorice root extract (twice a day, except I skip the Matcha Tea part in the evening).
I did check my BY tonight: 124 over 71, so still good so far.
The reason I have it dry is I want to expose as much of my microbiome as I can to it. I want it to spend a good amount of time in my mouth.
Regarding dry, I get your reasoning. That’s thought provoking. I’m getting used to this revolting licorice. Dare I say I’m starting to like it! Bolt, please, thoughts on Apigenin? Dried parsley has much more than chamomile. I think fat / oil will increase the absorption so I take with a swig of olive oil for the oleic acid. I too have matcha AM but of course not PM. In the PM I have L-theanine. I highly recommend it. It’s derived from tea.
Coffee?? I hate coffee but I ingest it for the polyphenols. I read that unroasted, green coffee, has much more in the way of active compounds. I bought some. It tastes very mild. I recommend it.
I just read that Nigella Sativa can lower blood pressure. That could counter the Licorice. I personally need to increase my blood pressure and blood flow do the brain as do many PWP
Thank you Park Bear. Thanks to you I’m taking Ceylon Cinnamon most days. I researched the licorice a bit more, there is some evidence / belief of it having some neuro protection. I’m not having luck with putting in a link so below is a screen shot with the beginnings of info from neuroscience news.
I want to add that in Northern Europe, I think it was Sweden, the Mao-B inhibitor that preceded Azilect (forget the name) was determined in a large in human study to have a disease slowing effect so I have therefore decided to conclude that Azilect does as well. Licorice, being an adaptogen spurred me to reevaluate Ashwaganda which is also an adaptogen. I will report back on that. 😊
Azilect had initially been thought to slow disease progression but that has been disputed by subsequent data.
The liquiritigenin study used a cell culture model to examine its effect. This is okay for a starter but does not tell us if it gets through the blood brain barrier. Fortunately this study comes to our rescue tells us that it does indeed do so:
"They found that after six months, the treatment arm improved by about 2 points on the UPDRS scale, whereas the control group declined by about 2 points. This result had a P value of .001, which is highly statistically significant. "
It was a modest improvement which at the time I attributed to the MAO – B action. It is possible it could be a disease modifying effect due to liquiritigenin. I may start taking it again.
Link to a partial text of the clinical study, the rest of it is behind a pay wall:
There was some in each sample but the amount was highly variable, .108 to 2.174 mg/g. 4 of the 20 had less than .5 mg/g. I have seen glycyrrhizin content of licorice root extract stated on occasion, but not liquiritigenin. Asking a chemistry lab to analyze a sample would not be cheap, say around $500-$1000. One could ask a vendor to provide this information. Otherwise we have to take our chances I am afraid.
" Collectively, these findings classify the components of licorice root extracts as low potency, mixed ER agonists and antagonists, having a character akin to that of selective estrogen receptor modulators or SERMs."
" Liquiritigenin was found to be the principle phytoestrogen of the licorice extracts; however, it exhibited lower estrogenic effects compared to 8-prenylnaringenin in functional assays. Isoliquiritigenin, [also contained in licorice root] the precursor chalcone of liquiritigenin, demonstrated significant estrogenic activities"
The problem with taking licorice extract for the liquiritigenin:
If you take a substantial dose of 500 milligrams of licorice extract daily, you are getting at most one milligram of liquiritigenin. If fully absorbed and evenly distributed throughout a 50 kilogram person that amounts to a concentration of 20 parts per billion. In chemistry talk that is a fraction of a nano – mole. The concentration used in the study cited above was 10 micromoles. See figures 3C-F here:
So the concentration of liquiritigenin from taking licorice extract is too low by a factor of over 1000. Taking licorice extract for the liquiritigenin will not be effective. As an alternative you can investigate the efficacy of quercetin which resembles liquiritigenin chemically.
I did not realize Quercitin was so similar to licorice. I’m taking it but being that it is proported to be a strong senolytic I do not take a high dose for long. I hope the one I got is good. Of course I researched it but I am winging it. Licorice is an adaptogen I believe and can have good or bad effects in one’s hormones depending on one’s status. What about Ficetin? It is a senolytic too I believe.
I popped in here looking for your cinnamon info bc I need to reread for dosage and timing.
I am pretty sure Licorice contains quercetin, which is part of the reason I take licorice root extract. I have no education in this area, but I prefer to take the root extract so I am getting the entire spectrum of flavanoids and what-nots making up the root (I am not sure the experts really know what part of the plant is helping).
You are so far of me scientifically park_bear. I do want to add one note though: If the pathology of PD starts in the gut or, more importantly, if the continued pathology of PD is driven by the gut, then the ability of a supplement to cross the BBB may not be important. I just wanted to remind people to maybe not write things off due to their inability to cross the BBB.
Added bonus if it does both gut and BBB! Count me in for your eventual meeting. You will fall off your chair though when you see my list! I was on here before as CCLemonade. I needed a break.
I have delved in to research more with the time I saved by avoiding HU for awhile.
It's your aura. 😉 btw, sorry to hear you hate the taste of matcha. A way to make it taste better is to add a bit of organic oat milk to it. I use the Akira brand and love the taste myself, as I do ikura. Where do you get your salmon roes from?
I just added your brand of matcha to my shopping cart. Mine is inexpensive as far as matcha goes. Maybe that’s why it’s gross. ☺️ I tried it with oat milk. I gave up on liking it and now I just get it over with. I use 1 teaspoon in a 1/2 cup of goat milk yogurt or coconut yogurt then I add 1 teaspoon cacao, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 -1/4 teaspoon of transresveratrol Resveratrol and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. I stir up this gross brew and gulp it down. I just want to get all the nutrients in me as fast as possible and get on with my day. What do you think ? I’m a fussy eater so if I’m not going to like it no matter what I do I might as well just combine it all and get it over with.
For the salmon roe, I’ve been acquiring it from Fresh Direct. I’m cringing as I type that bc now I suspect that’s bad.
Have you had green coffee before? Or coffee cherry tea? When looking for the healthiest coffee I learned that roasting it kills much of the nutrients so I’ve started having green (aka unroasted) coffee. I don’t like it but I get it down. I tried just having a spoon full of grounds to get it down faster and that worked.
I have pounds of organic green coffees since I roast them using the roaster below. I enjoy my morning cup of black coffee lightly roasted and with less caffeine content than horrible tasting green coffee with higher caffeine. For the beneficial compounds, I occasionally use Swanson's Full Spectrum Coffee Cherry.
I don’t order salmon roes online as most fish caviars are nasty when jarred except for the highest grades that cost $$$$$. You should try ordering ikura at one of the best sushi restaurants near you topped with a quail egg on top of sushi rice wrapped in nori . It’s an acquired taste I enjoy but you’ll appreciate the difference from what you’ve been trying. Even then some of the roes served at random restaurants are terrible.
The Akira is a good organic brand, almost as good as the costly Ippodo Ummon-no-mukashi with high umami. Yes most non-ceremonial lower-grade matchas are nasty and you also need to remember not to use boiling water to avoid bitterness. Watch a few youtube videos on how to properly brew matcha.
I am. I vacillate between thinking it is helping and thinking it’s not. There are things I feel confident are helping and things I think might be. Exenatide is the latter. But, I had really low blood sugar and was slim when I started it.
Despe!! Hi!! I have missed you! I changed my name from lemonade which was really optimistic matcha roe because although I abhor both, I get the job done and ingest them and whatever I need to to take care of myself! I have been spinning my wheels with research but I have been learning. How are you and your dear Hubby?
We are doing OK. Cold weather flares up his symptoms, but very manageable for his age and duration of PD. He has a scooped posture and I constantly remind him to look up when he walks. That is basically his bothersome symptom. Of course that prohibits spinal fluid reaching the brain. . .
Looks good to me. I discontinued vinpocetine & Inositol and have never taken a few others such as brewers yeast, saffron, licorice, & CBD. You ought to be pretty healthy.
Thanks. I am far from a genius. I am a high school graduate and I like to organize my thoughts.
I have not been diagnosed with PD. I have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. My neurologist says it will eventually become PD or MSA or LBD. I would like to avoid these outcomes.
I do have a sore left shoulder, but I think it is getting better.
And increasingly there is a growing interest in PDE family of enzymes - there are eleven of them. Here is a 2015 article on the use of PDE5 inhibitors (Viagra, Levitra, Cialis) as 'therapeutics for heart disease, diabetes and cancer'
So I think Vinpocetine is a great choice in this stack. The PDE1 enzyme is a good therapeutic target. And it has other pharmaceutical targets - sodium channel regulation and meditating cellular inflammatory response.
Too bad there are no large scale multi-center, multi-dose, double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trials to verify its action in Parkinson. And trust me none is coming.
Background: The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) is complex; it includes mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. Notably, Toll-like receptors (TLRs) may activate inflammatory or anti-inflammatory responses in Parkinson's disease. Vinpocetine has been tested as an anti-inflammatory in both animal and in vitro research. Thus, it is important to test whether the anti-inflammatory properties of vinpocetine may have a protective effect in PD patients.
Methods: Eighty-nine Parkinson's disease patients and 42 healthy controls were recruited for this study. All patients were randomly assigned to either the traditional therapy group (T PD group, n = 46) or the vinpocetine group (V PD group, n = 43), in a blinded manner. Both treatments were administered for 14 days.
Results: Administration of vinpocetine reduced mRNA levels of TLR2/4, as well as protein levels of the downstream signalling molecules, MyD88 and NF-κB; moreover, it lowered the expression levels of serum inflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and MCP-1. Notably, vinpocetine increased TLR3 mRNA levels, as well as protein levels of the downstream signalling molecules TRIF-β and IRF-3, and serum levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-8. Furthermore, vinpocetine produced a robust increase in the Mini Mental State Examination score, compared to that achieved by using levodopa therapy.
Conclusion: Vinpocetine treatment may exhibit anti-inflammatory activity and alleviate cognitive impairment.
Hi Casey, I read on the cinnamon thread that you were starting your wife on niacin and butyrate. Why combined? What butyrate did you go with? I take butyrate & TUDCA together. Instead of niacin I take NR or NMN (niacin is a precursor to these). Any thoughts on them vs. niacin? I take Vinpocetine. Do you have knowledge of other substances for increasing blood flow to the brain? I think Selenium might be one?
Hi again, the niacin butyrate combo is interesting. Rudolph Tanzi at Harvard is studying butyrate TUDCA combo. I take body bio butyrate as well. Thank you for the info
I will reread Wriga’s work on this. But I have not seen anything from Jed Fahy stating this. Moringa works on a similar but not identical pathway. Would this mean then that one should not take trans-Resveratrol with sulfuraphane since it is also a powerful antioxidant? Or matcha with all of them?
Yes but the benefits of the isothiocyanates are similar and you simply do not want to overactivate nrf2. I see it as options and prefer to add variety vs amount.
Okay I’m getting it. I need to not double up on substances that activate the NRF2 pathway. I don’t know if the other stuff I’m doing activates the NRF2 pathway.
This is an example of why I need to write more reports on all this to organize the jumble of info in my head.
I now wonder if cacao, turmeric, and cinnamon are overlapping too much? My rational on using all three is that some cultures use all three in cooking.
Matcha and coffee are fine but maybe coffee fruit extract would be too much ?
There are compounds that compete in absorption when taken together and others that help in synergy. Whenever I take turmeric or quercetin, I make sure to eat something oily/fatty as well as black pepper, sometimes combined with bromelain. It all depends and you should research all supplements for interactions, but just as in multivitamins, I see it's easier to just take em all at once for convenience as long as you find them beneficial. Coffee Fruit Extract has more beneficial compounds than can be found in coffee or matcha, so I'd separate the category although you do need to take it in the am.
Thank you Rescuema. Have you seen or tried cascara aka coffee fruit tea? I don’t like it. (Surprised I’m sure! ☺️) but I drink it but not as often as I should. Maybe I should give up on it and just get the extract. When possible I’m inclined to try and use things in their natural form. I was just reading about how EGCG can cause liver damage so I’m sticking with my matcha. Maybe I can grind the cascara?
Now I’m going to listen to what Silverstrov has to say about green coffee.
I take trans Resveratrol, Quercitin, turmeric, and matcha with both fat and pepperine.
I wonder your thoughts on Spermedine and Apigenin?
And Rescuema, I’m better than I was a year ago! My lowest point was about July 2021 and I’m improved from then. 😀
It's wonderful to hear that you're feeling better!!! I noticed you've been staying out of drama and I give you major kudos for that. No I have not tried cascara tea, as my unopened/unused supplements/teas are piling up, I need to get a handle and try to stick with the cores of what actually works. You know what they are. ; )
As far as you being confused with Nrf2, you'll find the below article helpful. The article helped me to avoid eating chestnuts and fenugreek on the days I use NRF2 promoters. The section on "Why NRF2 May Not Work" is especially interesting.
Do you grow your own? I can not eat enough veges to get the amount of nutrients I hope to ingest. I’m not very big, about 118 lbs. I think I need all the sprouts and herbs I can get to maximize nutrients with minimal volume. It concerns me that my brain has the same nutritional needs as a 6’ tall man but I’m small and can only eat so much!
Yes I grow my own daikon sprouts. More like periodically sprouting a small amount and they're very easy to keep. After you sprout them, you can keep them in the refrigerator. As far as Moringa, I use the Kuli Kuli brand also simply for convenience when I don't feel like cooking/steeping my broccoli sprout icecubes.
I like the price (and I use this brand for my Chamomile Flowers already): Moringa Powder 1LB (16Oz) 100% CERTIFIED Organic Oleifera Leaf $18 amazon.com/Moringa-Powder-C...
Thank you for loading that. I will figure out how! ☺️ So, niacin VS NR or NMN; sounds like either or is not the case. But both increase NAD. Perplexed. Will research more. Steer me if you have info on that. And every time you say chamomile I want to shout DRIED PARSLEY!! 😂. I’m chanting Apigenin. Another one to throw at you Bolt, beet powder. Dried beet powder. That’s my newest addition.
Agreed. I mean, nobody really knows for sure, but the Auburn study used Niacin, and they used Niacin because it binded to GPR109A (I think I got that right) and GPR109A is anti-inflammatory and that was their goal. My understanding is the other "niacins" do not bind with GPR109A.
I just began researching this. I believe you are correct. My goal has been to increase NAD but am I understanding correctly that niacin increases NAD but has additional benefits that NR and NMN do not? (Including screen shot bc I don’t know how to link)
niacin solves deficiencies, present and past. What shortcomings? Well it is the basis of dozens of enzymatic processes. Deficiency of nad, tryptophan, prostaglandins and so on ... for this it must be supplemented.I don't mean to sound cryptic but the topic is vast, but not that much.
But I have been on to Niacin a while now. Used ATP CoFactors - a No-Flush Niacin /B2 combo along with daily high dose Iodine/Iodide (12.5 mg) to solve some of my spouse temperature dysregulation and fibrocystic breast issues.
And then came Simon's article - To B3 or not to B3, that is the question
I have too many questions to even know what to ask. I was using niacin and “upgraded” to expensive NMN with the reasoning that it requires fewer steps to convert to NAD but now I gather that that was an oversimplification. And I’ve added TMG to support methylation. I don’t know what is working but something is because I am better than I was.
Can I ask you about coffee? Are you familiar with the Rutgers coffee study? Looking for coffee with the most benefits I found green (aka unroasted) coffee. And coffee cherries (the husks) If you have thoughts on the subject of coffee, I’m all ears.
you CaseyInsights and Bolt_upright are already an expert, technically much more than me. I'm not an expert and this stuff is terra incognita. I used niacin intermittently when I was young and so it was easy for me to understand what flushing was and the three types of b3 etcetera, so lately I have been taking it back. The only advice I can give you is to use it initially in moderate doses and with all the other moderate vitamins and minerals, calcium and magnesium, etc. It solves deficiencies and the body will need to be well fed with everything, but don't overdo it. Niacin is not b1! and don't think it does just one thing, that's not how it works, it does a lot of things, so don't play the little chemist even if I already know you won't.
Gio, can't read Italian (wish I could ), but you are absolutely right! Niacin is the best form of B3. I was paying good money on NR but I had my husband stop it and start Niacin (thank you, Gio!) He got more energy and he likes the flushing--looks like it brings him alive. However, I do have a whole bottle of NR and he started it again so we wouldn't waste good money on it. It doesn't hurt anyway, and as soon as he finishes the bottle of NR, he will start Niacin again, indefinitely this time.
Wonderful. Thank you. I’d be up for like a phone call with a group. Online video calls just suck up my high-speed data. But a phone call in usually works in that situation too. Please keep me posted!
No, this is the same licorice. It can raise BP. "Can" does not mean "will", but do your research. Licorice can have serious adverse effects.
Hi Bolt, do you (or anyone else supplement with Selenium? (Good fir hashimotos I gather) I want to eliminate nuts for a while to see if that helps my digestion but Brazil nuts are my primary source of Selenium.
I do take selenium. Selenium with Inositol. Selenium plus Inositol: 100 mcg L-Selenomethionine plus 750 mg Inositol: May lower anti-thyroid antibodies (I have Hashimoto's).
Myo-inositol plus selenium supplementation restores euthyroid state in Hashimoto’s patients with subclinical hypothyroidism europeanreview.org/article/...
M. Nordio, S. Basciani
Selenium is also being researched as neuroprotective.
Men over 50 (me) maybe should not take selenium, but I have bigger things to worry about.
Now I need to research inositol too. So yours is combined, inositol with selenium. Adding that to my research list. Are you the one that mentioned taking matcha? I just learned that EGCG is excellent.
My pantry looks like a heath food store supplement isle.
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Parkinsons detox 
Much has been said about the unproven coconut oil claims but little about the well documented and more promising curcumin
