So I decided that Keto was the way forward. Tried it when I was first DXed for
4 weeks but didn’t help. I probably expected too much in too little time. Anyway, 7 years later and I’m ready for the ‘big push’. Got my larder full of erithytol, almond flour, Keto snacks, MCT oil. Yesterday I had a breakfast that was a sort of frittata. No problem. I came home at 5 and thought I’d prepare some food for myself as my wife was having a heavy carb meal later on. Pretty unimaginative on my part but I cooked some Keto friendly sausages and two fried eggs. Yummy 😋. I waited a couple of hours before having a Madopar which had no effect whatsoever and then after 4 hours tried a rescue remedy of soluble Madopar. Disappointingly, this similarly had no effect on my PD symptoms. So it looks as if the ‘big push’ towards Ketosis won’t be happening. I can’t afford to be on a protocol that blocks my medication so badly. Just wondering if any of the community found a similar effect from eggs which is something of a mainstay in the Ketogenic diet?
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jeeves19
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While I'm not following a vegetarian diet (virtually the opposite of a keto diet), that is the only diet my neurologist says has improved PD symptoms for some patients. That is probably due to better absorption of Levodopa because of food passing more quickly through the stomach.
Frustratingly the Keto diet is suggesting that benefits can be experienced after a couple of months. I wonder how successful adherents cope with our experience?
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Hi Kevowpd. I think it’s that PWP are more resistant to processing glucose adequately and that the switch to ketones allegedly is a more ‘useable’ form of energy than the normal glucose ingestion. But after yesterday I think it’s all over for me. I suspect that we get even more sensitive to protein the longer we have the disease. I don’t remember such calamitous interaction when I had my 4 week stint many years ago.
Personally ketosis does not work for me – I experience exhaustion. Regarding eggs, a single egg does not seem to interfere with my levodopa medication.
Its not just the keto diet, but the fasting that helps autophagy. Remember, autophagy is the process by which your body eliminates the "junk", including a-synuclean clumps which are strangling and suffocating your neurons. Keto just accelerates it. Remember to get good sleep too, as best as you can. Most of this process occurs during sleep.
Years ago when I first went on Sinemet (carbidopa levadopa), I asked my doctor if I should avoid protein when taking it. He said it made no difference. I eat lots of protein and never regard timing my meds around food and I find makes no difference, indeed. I hope you have as good of a result as I have had. If not, I guess you can chalk it up to different things work differently for different people. In that case, I hope you find what works for you.
If you can't do keto, at least do intermittent fasting. Eat your food for the day within a 4 to 6 hour window. This leaves 18 to 20 hrs for fasting, which is adequate for autophagy to occur.
There are many, many low carb green veggies available to eat on Keto along with eggs and meat. Cucumber kale celery zucchini, green beans, Brussels sprouts, spinach, arugula lettuce, collard greens, turnip greens, broccoli, cauliflower plus many other types of lettuce.
Was keto for a while and now basically low carb. I think the important bits are removing refined sugar from the diet and not too many processed items. Like others have said, a degree of fasting is probably good but all these things are difficult to measure. Like you, I cannot tolerate protein around meds and try and keep these to the evening.
Hey mate, eggs are the most bio-available of any protein. Regularly I have 6 hard boiled for breakfast, wait an hour and then madopar if needed, and roughly 45 minutes to an hour later meds kicked In. Eggs are good are you sure they are the causation of delay for your meds to kick in?
It should be from the sausages. Susages have loads of MSG and natural flavouring( TOXINS) that all not only are excitotoxin but also lowering Sinemet absorbtion.
Better to consume boiled eggs than fried eggs.
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Just to add my experiences, eggs have a similar effect on me. It completely negates my following dose when taken up to as much as 4 hours after. I was amazed at how thoroughly it blocked any absorption of meds. I figured that it's the high protein content of eggs and now just avoid them. Sorry that I don't have any solutions to offer.
I'm low carb rather than keto, but I take my last Sinemet of the day at 6pm then have dinner at 7-7.30 pm. Could you try that way round with your Madopar? I don't eat eggs for my evening meal though.
Or try eggs again another day? Or at a different time of day?
All things are feasible with a bit of planning. I think that I need to be far more regimented and aware of medication timings from now on, rather than just taking them on a ‘need to’ basis.
Hey Jeeves! Hope u are doing,,well, not too bad,,, you would need to do Keto for at least a month to feel any lasting results.. I'm on the wonderful C/L so would probably be easier than ur drugs to embark on the Keto diet.. but could u do a Keto "lite" diet. ? Like cut out half your carbs,, and most sugar ? Are u still doing regular daily exercises? Seems to sustain me. But I was thinking also to take the plunge into KETO... will email u soon, cheers
True, for Levodopa to make it to the blood stream, it needs to pass through the stomach without being digested. That means not being mixed with proteins that digest in the stomach.
I’m 7years since diagnosis, and also tried keto early on. No way could I do it now. Any significant amount of protein and meds don’t work after.
I haven’t figured out how to get enough protein if I leave it all for the evening. I’m usually pretty tired, and just can’t consume the 60 gms I was recommended. In fact, by evening I don’t feel like eating protein at all!
I’m going to try a pea plus rice protein powder again one hour after meds during the day, perhaps I can slip in the extra protein that way…
I was interested to try keto after hearing more about a recent trial but I'm pretty skinny as it is and it seems inevitable you'd lose weight that I can't afford
i myself tried lots of different diets/eating regimes and found countless different things impacted my medication in countless ways, so i ended up seeing a functional medicine practitioner had some in depth bloods done on food allergens turns out i was having reactions to a lot more foods than i had realised like 80% of my daily diet. things have improved significantly since i have become a lot stricter with my diet. also started seriously following a thiamine/PEA complex protocol. i must say my daily diet is rather bland but other non PD symptoms have improved also eg psoriasis disappearing, anxiety when off gone away which in turn reduces the symptoms when in a off state. i can have a treat at weekends now things have improved but have to be cautious not to over do it. i never have a meal without taking digestive enzymes more than 1 if meal has protein in it. magnesuim tablets at night help with sleep and stop any constipation for me anyway.
Keto is NOT a high protein diet--it is high fat! You should not be eating any more protein than you did before and maybe less.
Eggs are not particularly a mainstay, though they could be. Good quality sausages/high fat cheese/butter/full cream/fatty bacon/olive oil/avocados/coconut/nuts like pecans, walnuts, macadamias, pine nuts...then all the green veggies Farrpottery mentioned...but roasted in olive oil or sauteed in lots of butter they are pretty tasty.
Since you do want autophagy, the best thing imo is fasting PLUS keto. And you won't feel great when you start--most people feel crummy for a few weeks as their brains adjust. It's called "keto flu".
And, I believe ketosis is mostly about neuroprotection. I'm not sure you will necessarily feel your symptoms improve very much, certainly not in the short term--I think the point is (theoretically) your disease will progress more slowly.
Of course, none of this is proven. But I started a keto diet pretty much the minute I was diagnosed (2016) andI've progressed pretty slowly. Still one-sided. Don't need dopamine replacement yet. That's not to say it isn't just luck...but I'm not about to stop the diet.
Amy. Thanks for that and sorry Ive been late in thanking you for the several responses you've made to recent posts of mine. They've been well recieved. You must be so proud that your self discipline and research has enabled you to come this far without dopamine replacement. Congratulations and I hope that this continues for you. Best.
Ha--I wish I KNEW it was my self-discipline responsible! That's the problem with one person doing something...how do you know it's not genetics, or some weird supplement, or the stars? It would be really frustrating to find out I skipped all that pasta for nothing!
But I AM pretty convinced sugar is toxic. And for some reason, I think PWP's really crave it.
Well, I certainly like sweet. One of the things I allow myself is fake sugar: splenda, monkfruit, allulose, erythritol...you name it. I often mix them together which I find tastes the best. The negatives of each balance out.
My point is, it's restrictive enough eating keto--I'm not about to go without dessert for the rest of my life :o)
my thoughts on diet. Not scientifically proved but i believe in cutting processed food.
I dont eat meat or any processesstuff even make my own jams. I take CR madopar and it is not effected by food. My shoping trolley is veg,fruit, rice, pasta all basic ingredients. I make own sauces etc and i am not a gd cook. I can feel bloated on breads and processed stuff
Just my thouggts Jeeves. You are what you eat. Gd luck
i would suggest reading Dr. Mary Newport's books or going to her site coconutketones.com/
i think you want to raise ketone levels via MCT oils, Coconut Oil or Ketone Esters rather than going into full blown ketogenic diet which may be unrealistic for many elderly people. You can lean into a more keto friendly diet and get many of the benefits.
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