Parkinson’s Disease or PD affects a vast number of aspects of your overall health. While some of the most common symptoms are muscle spasms and tremors, individual symptoms can also vary. Research suggests that your diet has an important role to play. A diet high in antioxidants can reduce oxidative stress on the brain.

Here’s the kind of diet that we recommend:

What do we recommend?

The right kind of diet can not only help optimize your Parkinson’s diet but also maintain overall fitness. To help ease the PD symptoms, a good intake of water is highly recommended. Doctors recommend taking your PD medications with a full glass of water to help your body break them down efficiently.

Fiber-rich foods are also considered an excellent option for PD symptoms. Anything from brown rice to beans, fruits, and whole grains helps ease the digestive difficulties that come with PD.

We also recommend increasing your vitamin D uptake and limit alcohol, sugar, and caffeine consumption. All of these can significantly interrupt your sleep. Add more egg yolks, fortified milk, tuna, fatty fish, leafy green vegetables, and salmon to your diet. If you feel hungry in the middle of the day, snack on some berries, nuts, cashews, and walnuts.

Common challenges

Individuals with PD often eat very little and end up losing a lot of weight. This is because of nausea that results from high medicine intake and difficulty swallowing. To address these challenges, add some bitter greens to your diet to stimulate the appetite. Engaging in guided exercise will also help increase your hunger capacity. If you have difficulty swallowing food, try softer diet options like butter and avocado.

Individuals with PD symptoms also show symptoms of tremors and stiffness. This makes it difficult for them to eat their food without help. If your loved one is dealing with PD, put their dishes on a rubber mat, so the plates don’t slip. If drinking too much water is causing urinary urgency, you could also rely on foods with high water content. These include berries, celery, watermelon, and grapefruit.

Seek help

Changing or reworking the diet for someone with PD isn’t as easy as it sounds. Don’t make drastic changes all of a sudden. Start slow and steady. Make a single change at a time. Seek help from a registered dietician or a PD specialist to help you make a list of nutritious meals that work well for the individual’s condition with a very holistic approach.

If you’re on the lookout for a reliable PD specialist in Los Angeles, we recommend seeking help from Dr FarzinPedoium. Dr Pedoium is a board-certified neurologist who has been serving LA for the past countless years. Book an appointment online.