I have been toying with the idea of taking vitamins and supplements and I read so many of you do. As with everything to do with my pd life I think very hard about these things. I have concluded the following for me :
1. I pop enough pills
2. I'm not sure how effective they are
3. They are expensive
4. If I did I would have a full blood nutrition test to find out in black & white what my deficiencies were
But you know what I'd rather spend the extra money, time and effort on real food.
I had a complete metabolic panel done and was very surprised by the results. I was in the normal range for everything. I thought I would be deficient in something due to PD, the medicines or the fact that I don't take any vitamin supplements. I just eat healthy home cooked meals. The only medicine I take is Sinemet. If Sinemet works for you, the other medicines may not be necessary.
Strangely enough I also have been wondering about supplements. However, I reached the same conclusion as you have. My meds are so perilously balanced that I am frightened of upsetting the applecart. It took a long time and effort for my Consultant to get me where I am today and I am grateful for the time she gives me.
Your list of lovely delicacies has to be a lot better than even more pills.
I like the idea of buying nutrient rich good versus buying a list of supplements.
Supplements really do get expensive. We had a list to purchase each month, with COQ10 being the most pricey. Then a prescription supplement called CerofolinNAC was added, and the best price we could find was 50 (USD) per month. Much better to buy quality food that will deliver nutrients more effectively anyway.
Just had an additional thought regarding raised bed or container gardening. It's a great way to get a little exercise and enjoy watching vegetable plants or herbs grow. Containers are good, because they can be easily moved and kept at a height one can easily reach.
It's almost planting time where I live, so I have both spring and planting fever.
Yes - my father-in-law has made me some raised beds. Last year, we had lettuces, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, strawberries and spring onions all through the summer. This really helped me to eat in a more healthy way because there is nothing like picking something from your own garden/patio for dinner! I grow herbs all year round and I make a lot of soup. I pay much more attention to trying to stay as well as possible these days and I've (deliberately) lost a huge amount of weight. I did this just before I was diagnosed. I had been very overweight and I think if I still was, my PD would be much more difficult to manage. I was just saying to my husband this morning that I needed to start planting the first tranche of salad soon. I get a huge amount of pleasure from this. As we have said here before, sometimes it is the little things that can keep you going.
I agree with going as natural as possible (and I love reading all your yummy sounding posts), but I believe that PwP's need lots of extra antioxidants & I think that's hard to do with food alone?
I think it is hard to get everything from food. I try to eat well - lots of fish and salad in summer, homemade soup in winter. Although I have a weakness for cheese and chocolates and recently have found myself somewhat addicted to crumpets. But I do take quite a few supplements.
My only PD medicine so far is Sinemet which someone else mentioned. I take omega 3 1000 and vitamin D 2000 and curcumin most days. The omega 3 has made my eyes much moister so I don't need restasis now. We do eat lots of spinach and berries and I get about 29 grams of fiber every day. Except for the Sinemet I have been eating this way for many years (and since I am the cook my husband has too!) . I think it is hard to get the omega 3 from diet and if we use sun lotion outside (PDers can get more melanoma than others) we probably need the vit D supplement. I also think nuts are a good way to get nutrition. I guess PD people just really need to be aware of all they do and that includes eating. My sense of smell is not gone completely yet but is not real strong and I hope I don't the sense of taste which we can lose.
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