Fasting. I recently have gone to OMAD.

[MBAnderson]

youtube.com/watch?v=NuGefQV...(Not working as expected?)

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youtube.com/watch?v=Bg4YXlQ...(Not working as expected?)

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“By influencing these major cellular pathways, ketone bodies produced during fasting have profound effects on systemic metabolism. Moreover, ketone bodies stimulate expression of the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Figure 2), with implications for brain health and psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.”

“Cells throughout the bodies and brains of animals maintained on intermittent-fasting regimens show improved function and robust resistance to a broad range of potentially damaging insults, including those involving metabolic, oxidative, ionic, traumatic, and proteotoxic stress.12 Intermittent fasting stimulates autophagy and mitophagy while inhibiting the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) protein-synthesis pathway. These responses enable cells to remove oxidatively damaged proteins and mitochondria and recycle undamaged molecular constituents while temporarily reducing global protein synthesis to conserve energy and molecular resources (Figure 3). These pathways are untapped or suppressed in persons who overeat and are sedentary.”

“In a clinical trial, older adults on a short-term regimen of caloric restriction had improved verbal memory.38 In a study involving overweight adults with mild cognitive impairment, 12 months of caloric restriction led to improvements in verbal memory, executive function, and global cognition.39 More recently, a large, multicenter, randomized clinical trial showed that 2 years of daily caloric restriction led to a significant improvement in working memory.40 There is certainly a need to undertake further studies of intermittent fasting and cognition in older people, particularly given the absence of any pharmacologic therapies that influence brain aging and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.”

“NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS

Epidemiologic data suggest that excessive energy intake, particularly in midlife, increases the risks of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.69 There is strong preclinical evidence that alternate-day fasting can delay the onset and progression of the disease processes in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.5,12 Intermittent fasting increases neuronal stress resistance through multiple mechanisms, including bolstering mitochondrial function and stimulating autophagy, neurotrophic-factor production, antioxidant defenses, and DNA repair.12,70 Moreover, intermittent fasting enhances GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission (i.e., γ-aminobutyric acid–related inhibitory neurotransmission), which can prevent seizures and excitotoxicity.71 Data from controlled trials of intermittent fasting in persons at risk for or affected by a neurodegenerative disorder are lacking. Ideally, an intervention would be initiated early in the disease process and continued long enough to detect a disease-modifying effect of the intervention (e.g., a 1-year study).”

nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/n...

[Fumaniron]

Glad to see! I sometimes do OMAD, but generally consume all of my calories within a 4 hr window. Having no food in stomach while taking sinemet certainly makes it more effective for me.

[Bolt_Upright]

Good for you Marc! I started a 46 hour fast this morning, but then realized I bought 7 avocados on sale yesterday so I had to postpone the fast.

[amykp]

BTW, ketone bodies (and autophagy/mitophagy/increased endogenous NAD+ etc) are why I eat a ketogenic diet. It does the same thing, right? That's why they CALL it a ketogenic diet, after all. If you want a double whammy, eat a ketogenic diet AND fast.

I started both when I was diagnosed and I'd like to believe that's at least partly why my PD has progressed so slowly.

[MBAnderson in reply to amykp]

Thanks. We are currently on keto.

[amykp in reply to MBAnderson]

Oh! I so wanted to be able to talk with someone else who was! It always seems like the powers-that-be are pushing "healthy grains" and "plant-based diets" with, IMO, no particular basis in PD neurobiology for doing so. I think it's more that it's trendy...and sadly, so wrong. For US.

Not that there's anything wrong with plants--I eat lots of green ones...but I soak them in butter/olive oil first.

I have lots of tips and recipes, if you like. I've been doing this for 7 years!

[jeeves19 in reply to amykp]

would love some tips please! I’m fasting very seriously now (one meal a day) but always found Keto too narrow. But if I eat once a day then I think I could make the change.

[amykp in reply to jeeves19]

Well, for starters, there isn't a green vegetable I don't eat, so that's pretty wide. I roast them in olive oil, steam them and drench with butter, or cover with cheese sauce (strong cheddar melted w/heavy cream)

Then of course there's meat, which I rarely eat plain--I dust w/keto panko (made from pork skin) and fry, saute, add lemon, butter, mustard, ginger, garlic, tomato, peppers....you can add pretty much anything except sugar, noodles, potatoes or rice! Same goes for stew. For liquid I use heavy cream or broth or dry wine.

Last night we had Indian Saag Paneer: cubed paneer (you know what that is?) sauteed with onion, ginger, chopped spinach, a few chopped tomatoes, curry powder and plenty of heavy cream. The keto difference is that we don't eat it over rice.

The night before I made Bacon "Mac" n Cheese, which was cauliflower roasted in the oven w/olive oil til a little crispy, then tossed w/sharp cheese melted into heavy cream (to make a sauce) and mixed with plenty of fried bacon pieces.

Sometimes we do just have roast chicken, or a steak, w/roast veggies.

The last thing I do is take advantage of the newer products that have come out. There are keto breads that are 1g per slice, and are are pretty good! (Check out Carbonaut gluten-free. I think it's incredible!) King Arthur makes decent keto flour. .. mixed w Almond flour makes pretty good pancakes. You can buy low carb tortillas, low carb chips, etc...just read the labels (they SAY keto, but aren't always. Be careful.)

Also, I am not afraid of sugar substitutes. So I make desserts. Creme brulee! Almond cream cheese pound cake!

[amykp in reply to amykp]

Oh, and one thing I read once was: when in doubt, eat more fat. A lot of keto is about ratios.

So I pour oil/spread butter on everything.

[bassofspades in reply to jeeves19]

Do you drink coffee? Black coffee will not disrupt your fast and it has many benefits. I got through many a fast by having a cup first thing in the morning and at noon. I heard you can use heavy cream and even coconut oil in it but you get used to black quickly. No sweetners!

[reedboat2]

Marc i’m with you on IF. My current window for caloric intake is 10 AM to 8 PM. My problem with OMAD would be meeting my protein goals. I just listened to a fascinating podcast interview with a guy named Don Layton PhD, who is an expert on protein metabolism. If you like I will send you a link.

[jeeves19]

Marc. Am with you now shoulder to shoulder. For the next year I intend to eat one meal daily and will occasionally skip even this. Never warmed to Keto as I practically always struggled in missing fruit. But boy am I getting sick the days. Realise that I’m in the last chance saloon and hence pulling every stop out: fasting, Keto and exercise will be the three dominant themes. Unsure though if at this stage, some nasty physiological changes are reversible? Don’t know about you but I wince at the prospect of my wife no longer being there. Beyond terryifying. Have no idea how our single colleagues manage 🤔😕 to cope. Contact me at any time to compare notes, share insights.

[amykp in reply to jeeves19]

For fruit: you can occasionally have raspberries and blackberries, in moderation, especially if you eat them with cream. You can also have starfruit (of all things!) Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, starfruit is only tasty if you have a tree. (We went and planted one!)

One other tip: take ketone salts and MCT oil every day. It gives your ketone levels a little boost, I think. I mix it into my coffee, which I use to break my fast usually around noon to 1:00. (Along w/butter, heavy cream and a bunch of other supplements )

Does this help? I've been doing this, really pretty strictly, since 2016 :o)

[jeeves19 in reply to amykp]

Thanks a lot for that. Some tasty meals for sure. Keep the flag flying and good luck on your journey. 👍😊

[amykp in reply to jeeves19]

Thanks you too! Any specific recipes, just ask. As is probably obvious, I can go on and on (and on and on and on....)

[chartist]

Marc,

My experience is that I had noticeable benefit with OMAD compared to an 8 hour eating window which showed no discernible benefit in my case. I think OMAD, if you can do it non stop, is very healthful for the majority of people.

Art

[MBAnderson in reply to chartist]

Same for me.

[MBAnderson]

We just quit Keto again. It was a shorter run this time, Usually, we try to stick with it for a few months at a time, but between Keto and OMAD, I've lost 15 lbs and don't want to lose more.

I feel considerably more energetic lately.

OMAD is no problem now - after a month.

[Zardoz]

Every one has written about eating one meal / day.

How does omad affect the other end, pooping?

One would think it could be a problem, especially with high protein.

[MBAnderson in reply to Zardoz]

I don't go out of my way to eat protein, but I don't know that it has made the problem worse. (I'm not doing omad everyday day anymore.)