Senior Lifestyle

Parkinson’s Diet: What Are the Best Foods to Eat

Written by Haley Burress
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What & how to eat with Parkinson’s disease is challenging and plays an essential role in keeping your strength and controlling or easing the symptoms.

Besides, the neurological disorder and certain related conditions make it difficult to live on a balanced diet.

However, some foods manage your nutritional status, plus you need to make sure your medications work well to avoid Parkinson-related issues or at least make them less severe.

Read on, as we also have few safety tips to help you cope with the symptoms in this article!

CHECK: The Best Parkinson’s Fork and Spoon

Best Foods to Eat with Parkinson’s

Let’s start with the “what” part of the question, shall we?

While your doctor is your best source of information regarding the best Parkinson’s diet for you, these below meal ideas for Parkinson’s patients often play a starring role in your personalized plan.

Foods Containing Omega-3

Consumption of foods that has omega-3 fatty acids is likely to benefit Parkinson’s patients.

Omega-3 reduces nerve inflammation and controls neurodegenerative Disorders, as well as it also helps with secondary symptoms like dementia and confusion.

So if you’re concerned with that, eat different kinds of seafood like salmon, sardines, and oysters.

Fatty fish and fish oil are also beneficial to improve brain health and cognitive function.

Antioxidant-rich Foods

Oxidative stress is a situation that occurs when free radicals are damaged or get unstable in the body, which gives rise to this disease and similar symptoms.

A diet rich in antioxidants focuses on oxidative stress levels, which helps stop tissue and cell damage.

Incorporating foods rich in antioxidants is healthy for overall brain health and helps in Parkinson’s treatment.

You can have sufficient antioxidants in:

  • Dark Fruits
  • Dark Chocolate
  • Berries
  • Nuts
  • vegetables

In short, a plant-based diet has plenty of antioxidants. Also, some of them have a high level of vitamin C which could boost the immune system to prevent nausea.

Foods With Necessary Nutrients

Parkinson’s disease patients should concentrate on eating from all food groups, a diet that provides essential fiber, minerals, and vitamins to the body altogether.

  • Overlook fad diets
  • Drink 6-8 glasses of water every day
  • Eat fiber-rich foods, consume whole grain bread, vegetables, brown rice, fruits to avoid constipation.
  • For cramps, consider drinking tonic water which has quinine
  • Yellow mustard with spice turmeric also helps with cramps and encourage bowel movements

Check out this video:

What Foods Should Parkinson’s Patients Avoid?

These foods are usually a no-no, so expect to find them off-limits on your doctor-recommended diet plan.

Foods With Saturated Fats

More highly saturated and cholesterol food intake worsens the symptoms and raises more than a few problems on the side, such as heart disease, blood pressure abnormalities, and metabolism deficiency.

If you are already treating the extreme symptom condition, it is not advisable to include this dietary fat intake which you cannot afford.

Processed Foods

Processed foods promote intestinal permeability, which leads to the severity of symptoms like swallowing and problems with speech and smell.

Items like French fries, ready meals, bacon, candies, and many other foods similar to canned foods and colas cause to speed up the PD progress.

With that said, Parkinson’s disease patients are best to keep away from to prevent any symptoms severity.

Few Dairy Foods

Although, almost all dairy products are protein-rich foods, and are essential for PD patients to stay a healthy weight.

But low-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt are some of the products cause to aid Parkinson’s progression.

That’s why limiting the consumption of these items should help to treat the symptoms more continuously.

Some other foods that need consideration are to:

  • Limit sugar intake as that causes saliva and drooling as well as it leads to tooth decay
  • Reduce salt and sodium intake (ask your doctor for proper consumption)
  • Drink alcoholic beverages in moderation because they are empty calories, leads to accidents, and are not advisable with medications

How to Eat With Parkinson’s Disease (Safety Tips)

You probably ask yourself, how do the Parkinson’s spoons work? And are weighted utensils for tremors good for Parkinson’s?

We are going to discuss that and some other tips below:

  • The spoon counteracts hand movement and cancels the tremors
  • Weighted utensils are valuable to control tremors
  • Use rubber mats for plates to stop slippage
  • Make dining area easily accessible
  • Make dining chairs easy to sit and stand up from

FAQs

How to prevent Parkinson’s disease naturally?

Unfortunately, there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease currently. It’s a prolonged condition that interferes with life quality.
However, you can slow its progression down and reduce the severity of the symptoms with proper diet and medications.

How do you feed someone with Parkinson’s disease?

Sit upright with your head slightly tilted forward, do not talk, and focus entirely on eating. Swallow one bite multiple times until your throat is clear. Drinking water after every bite, also tucking the chin into the chest helps to swallow.

Conclusion

As there is no specific food for Parkinson’s disease, these diets help prevent or relieve the symptoms. Maintaining a healthy diet also is a possible factor to reduce its risk and slow the progression of this disease.

References

  • “Diet & Nutrition.” 2020. Parkinson’s Foundation. 2020. https://www.parkinson.org/Living-with-Parkinsons/Managing-Parkinsons/Diet-and-Nutrition.
  • “Diet & Nutrition.” 2021. The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research | Parkinson’s Disease. 2021. https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/diet-nutrition.
  • “Foods to Eat and Avoid with Parkinson’s.” 2018. ParkinsonsDisease.net. 2018. https://parkinsonsdisease.net/stories/what-to-eat-and-what-to-avoid-when-managing-parkinsons-disease.
  • hollowc2. 2020. “The Best Diet for Parkinson’s Disease.” Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic. October 6, 2020. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/the-best-diet-for-parkinsons-disease/.
  • Watson, Kathryn. 2018. “Diet and Parkinson’s.” Healthline. Healthline Media. September 20, 2018. https://www.healthline.com/health/parkinsons-and-diet.
senior woman showing her arms

Do you have more tips on how to eat with Parkinson’s disease? Please let us know in the comment section below!

About Author

Haley Burress
Haley has been working with seniors and their caregivers for more than 17 years. She has held local and national leadership roles in a variety of senior services and senior care agencies. Today, she is a sought after writer specializing in topics for older adults, their family members, and professional caregivers. When she isn't at her computer sipping coffee, you can find her hiking with her husband, son, and dog or trying a new cookie recipe in the kitchen. Follow her on LINKEDIN. Read her LATEST POSTS. Learn more about her HERE.

1 thought on “Parkinson’s Diet: What Are the Best Foods to Eat”

  1. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a year ago at the age of 67. For several months I had noticed tremors in my right hand and the shaking of my right foot when I was sitting. My normally beautiful cursive writing was now small cramped printing. And I tended to lose my balance. Neurologist had me walk down the hall and said I didn’t swing my right arm. I had never noticed! I was in denial for a while as there is no history in my family of parents and five older siblings, but I had to accept I had classic symptoms. I was taking amantadine and carbidopa/levodopa and was about to start physical therapy to strengthen muscles. Finally, I was introduced to Kycuyu Health Clinic and their effective Parkinson’s herbal protocol. This protocol relieved symptoms significantly, even better than the medications I was given. After First month on treatment, my tremors mysterious stopped, had improvement walking. After I completed the treatment, all symptoms were gone. I live a more productive life. I was fortunate to have the loving support of my husband and family. I make it a point to appreciate every day!

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