Do animal proteins cause an increase in a... - Cure Parkinson's

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Do animal proteins cause an increase in alpha synuclein?

12 Replies

A HU comment contained the following:

“but there was some clinical data that indicated that animal proteins are one of the causes of alpha-synuclein, which is thought to be the primary culprit in clogging the dopamine receptors. So whether it's meat or dairy, animal proteins are not good for us with PD. “

Which really has me curious. Do animal proteins cause an increase in alpha synuclein? Is that why dairy is bad for PWP? Is my belief that goat and sheep yogurt and cheese wrong so long as it doesn’t contain casein? Casein is definitely a common cause of inflammation but maybe for PWP pathology it’s even worse because the dairy contains alpha synuclein stimulating elements? I don’t know but I want to find out. And what about eggs than?

Vertebrate food products as a potential source of prion-like α-synuclein

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/334...

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We then discuss meat as a ready exogenous source of α-synuclein and how certain risk factors, including inflammation, may allow for dietary α-synuclein to pass from the GI lumen into the host to induce pathology. Lastly, we review epidemiological evidence that dietary factors may be involved in PD.

nature.com/articles/s41531-...

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply to

Honestly, there is sooo much research that shows that plant-based and plant-only diets protect against PD, reduce PD symptoms, and improve both brain and body health.I've been eating a Whole Food Vegan diet for over 6 years and the improvement in my symptoms and my life in general have been fantastic. I don't feel 100% 100% of the time, and I have done other things besides changing my diet, I can't say 100% that it was my diet that has gotten me this far, but I believe that it's been a strong and very rewarding piece of the overall puzzle.

7 years ago I was in very different place and going downhill very quickly. When I switched to my diet, I began to be able to exercise more, stop falling over, improve my attitude, and take better care in other ways. I highly recommend it and will gladly answer any questions you might have about it.

in reply to JAS9

I definitely agree with plant based but plant only? I would prefer that bc meat grosses meat out and I felt more ethical as a vegetarian (almost vegan) But I’m concerned it’s not adequate omega 3 and B12.

Do you eat gluten , corn, soy, or other grains? I avoid all of those due to inflammation.

I believe you take a low dose plant omega but I take 1 gram a day based on some research I can attempt to refind.

If you have time and access to it, can you share the info you mentioned regarding plant only and PD?

I’m presently about 80% plants, some days more like 95% plants.

Do you know if meat products directly increase alpha synuclein? Sounds logical but I need to research this more.

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply to

Sure. Just googling "Parkinson's vegan" got me many, many results. Here are just a few:pbdmedicine.org/preventing-...

youtu.be/bSxdNJk-ej0

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/115...

davisphinneyfoundation.org/...

parkinsons.va.gov/Consortiu...

brainandlife.org/articles/h...

Some of those concern the Mediterranean diet, but I consider MD to be a largely plant-based diet with small amounts of fish (or chicken) occasionally. There are studies that strongly suggest that MD is likely healthy despite the fish, not because of it. I can find that info if you'd like.

Do I eat gluten , corn, soy, or other grains? No, rarely, yes, and definitely. This changes for me as I've tried to understand what effect they have on me. Some of the ancient grains are really good and seem to give no problems. Modern wheat isn't something I eat very often anymore.

B12 is important. But about 1/3 of meat eaters don't get enough of it either. nutritionfacts.org/video/th...

B12 pills are cheap and easy to take, so that's not a big deal. I also take a little powdered kelp for iodine, D3, K2, and C sometimes. Also B1, potassium, magnesium, and B6. And, yes I take some vegan Omega3, even though I'm already eating ground flax seeds as well as other high-omega3 foods.

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply to

Here's a great video on research on how animal products directly increase alpha-synuclein:

nutritionfacts.org/video/th...

in reply to JAS9

He is making some not scientific links to align with his desired message. I want to believe him but I definitely don’t based on that video. Personally I did not ingest animal meat for the 15 years prior to being diagnosed with PD but I did it a lot of grains. Since removing most grains I’m much much better.

I will look in to this further. I appreciate your supplement list. Thank you.

If I could resume being vegetarian I would be very happy for spiritual reasons.

jeffmayer profile image
jeffmayer

Do u know if it's ok to use almond milk

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply to jeffmayer

Almond milk has no animal protein and is, therefore, not part of this topic. As far as I know, none of the plant based milks are particularly bad for PWP.

jeffmayer profile image
jeffmayer

Thanks

Boscoejean profile image
Boscoejean

my husband has been a vegetarian for over 50 years and he has Parkinsons- his progression has been very slow however being a vegetarian did not seem to prevent it

in reply to Boscoejean

I was a vegetarian when diagnosed as well.

JAS9 profile image
JAS9 in reply to Boscoejean

I suspect that there are several contributing factors for many of us. Take me for example. Even though I probably started life with enough dopamine-producing cells, I didn't eat a vegan diet until I was 57, so that might've killed off maybe 10% of what I had. But I also worked as an indoor painter in my late teens and a chemical used in paint remover is now known to be a good way to get PD, so there goes maybe another 10-15%. Also, I drank lots and lots of diet soda containing aspartame (at least 32 oz. of soda a day for over 15 years) so there goes maybe another 15% of my dopamine cells. And there are several more things that are known contributing factors. Paraquat is another. Eating bat brains (ugh) is another interesting possible example.

youtu.be/7jWi6WQQ9wo

So, no, just eating veggies probably isn't going to cure PD. It might possibly prevent it, depending on how many other factors are contributing to each individual's case, but I think that PD is more like a tin roof with lots of holes in it, or an old car's leaky power steering that's missing half of its fluid. You might not notice the leaky roof so much until, one day, you do.

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