A few months ago I posted my presentation about Parkinson's and a ketogenic lifestyle: youtube.com/watch?v=W7kT4Oo.... This presentation is in Dutch but you can use subtitles and then you can translate.
And now I recently saw this video (youtube.com/watch?v=b3CtpaG... by Nick Norwitz who completed his PhD on this topic, and here he gives a very good scientific substantiation for keto in Parkinson's under the title A Ketogenic Diet for Parkinson's Disease: Shaking Up the Science.
I learned about ketones in vet-medical school, thirty years ago. Yes, the body can use ketones for energy when there's no sugar in the blood. But it's not easy. When the body runs out of glucose it can switch to using ketones but it takes time for the transformation. And studies prove the brain can use ketones as well as it uses glucose. That makes it valuable for kids with epilepsy, for example.
I got interested in the idea of energy needed for long-distance running. Using fats seemed to be the ticket. So I fasted until I was out of glucose and was forced to use ketones. But for me it led to slower running and missing cut-off times in ultra-distance races.
Its not so black and white. Your body and brain can still utliize to a significant degree ketones even when you are not in ketosis.
Yes, when you first wake up the body is in a fasted state and is using ketones--It's why breakfast means 'breaking the fast'--But the moment you have that breakfast of pancakes floating in syrup and coffee with sugar, all those carbs stop the ketosis from happening. Using urinalysis strips I found that it takes at least 24 hours of fasting to use up the sugars and go back to using ketones.
IF I go for a walk or a slow jog, I burn fats more than I burn sugar. IF I'm sprinting, I burn more sugar than fats. Years ago I had a treadmill stress test. I got on a treadmill and a mask was placed over my face to measure carbon dioxide being produced as I exercised. At a slow run I was burning 70 to 80% fat. As I sprinted I was burning 90% carbs (sugars).
It has a lot to do with heart rate. At night as you sleep your heart is slow and you burn fat. Once you're up and about the body starts using glycogen, the storage form of carbs, Because it's in the muscles already it can be burned for energy right away.
The body uses fats or carbs for energy. The body also can use proteins via gluconeogenesis but that's a tortuous biochemical pathway. The body prefers to keep proteins in the blood in the form of amino acids for things like building muscles.
im doing ketovore 6 months now and there is a definite improvement . How about you Peter-Jan?
I have been following the ketogenic diet for 10 years now and have also added fasting and MCT 8 oil. I never eat breakfast and usually do OMAD (one meal a day). I started ketogenic in 2015, which was well before my diagnosis in 2020. But in retrospect, I already had PD in 2015 because in 2013 I no longer had a sense of smell. The effect of my keto diet was great at the time: I suddenly had much more energy and was less depressed. Because of that effect, I was immediately convinced that this was good for me and now I don't want it any other way. The course of my PD is slow according to my neurologist, perhaps this is due to the ketogenic lifestyle, but I cannot determine the causal relationship with certainty.
How do you handle the weight loss? What else do you take in terms of supplements and pharmaceuticals?
I also lost weight with a BMI of 19. I then started eating a bit more fat, my BMI is now stable at 21. Other supplements and pharmaceuticals: hydrogen, infrared (well-red), vitamin B2, B3 and B12, D3, K2, Taurine, Magnesium (citrate and threonate). And then the necessary exercise. And for a few months now I have carbidopa/levodopa, 3 x a day 25/100.
Thank you 🙏🏻
Fat as in pure fat like Ghee and Coconut oil or things like avocado?
Please could you kindly say what form the hydrogen is in?
I use a device that can make hydrogen from distilled water. I then inhale the hydrogen through a nasal cannula.
Thank you. Is the device something like a Kangan water machine?
What symptoms do you have? Do you get tremors? You look great on video! I struggle presenting now due to shaking…
I have a lot of symptoms but they are quite mild except for my sense of smell, I can hardly smell anything anymore. These are my other symptoms: less energy, daytime sleepiness, walking less well, balance problem, standing less upright, constipation, RBD, tremor, urinating very often, getting tired more easily in company, choking, weaker voice.
I always get lost in the details...
How many calories, carbs, protein and fats in a bowl of steamed rice? In chapati? In eggs fried in ghee? in fried salmon or curried anchovies, etc.
Then there's the issue of maintaining blood ph so that calcium is not leached from the bones.... Which diet to follow? What to avoid?
Also adequate B vitamins and mega dosing of B1 B2 B3 B6 B9 B12 and Magnesium and Vitamin C D3 K2 Curcumin NAC Probiotics Lithium Ginkgo Cinnamon Lion's Mane CBD Red light Tass Gloves...
Gosh! I am tired already and this is just half the list... and all these to be adjusted based on feelings, and feelings can be elusive, and regular testing for these is not affordable.
Life should flow easy. Having to worry about the next dose, hour, tomorrow, near and far future is not life.
I hear you, all of this is very complex and tiring. I've not got PD but have CFS/ME due to mast cell/histamine issues. The micromanagement is a full time job, though worth it for a better quality of life than previously.
I watched the video by Harvard PhD candidate Nick Norwitz and when I tried to watch it again I got an error message. Maybe that means too many are trying to access it at the same time. I can believe it because his info is important. Staggeringly important is not overkill. He mentions that when the body loses the ability to burn glucose it still has the ability to burn ketones. And more importantly, by burning ketones the NAD/NADH system is preserved. In other words, radicals are eliminated. I really need to watch that again to be more clear on that point.
Prof Bas Bloem presents "The importance of nutrition in managing Parkinson's disease"
Parkinson's and Mitohormesis - presentation by Dr. Matthew CL Phillips
Ketogenic Diet Parkinson's
