Fighting Parkinson’s, and the validation of the Recipe, part 4

The Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery® is a soul, mind, and body recovery protocol. Today is part 4 of a 4-part series supporting you who are doing the Recipe. Part 4 will address the dietary part of the Recipe.

Background

I started doing the Recipe on September 28, 2009. I had my full recovery on June 12, 2010. On January 5, 2011, I posted the Recipe on my blog. On November 17, 2017, my book became available on Amazon.

As noted in my previous blog posts, I put in this query on Google:
“has the parkinson’s recipe for recovery been studied as a whole or only studied in its individual elements”

Here is the response received from AI Overview:

“In scientific and clinical research, the “Parkinson’s recipe for recovery” has not been formally studied as a whole collective protocol. Instead, clinical studies and trials consistently evaluate its individual elements — such as specific dietary approaches, targeted physical therapies like exercise, and psychological treatments. While the individual elements of the recovery protocol are validated in peer-reviewed literature, the recovery protocol as an aggregate remains untested.”

Today we will look at the validation on the dietary component of the Recipe, specifically looking at a vegetarian diet and healthy eating in general.

I will post the queries and responses and provide the studies at the end of this blog post.

The Recipe diet, in general

Initial query:

is a vegetarian diet part of the parkinson’s recipe for recovery

AI Overview response:

Yes, a vegetarian diet is a core component of the “Parkinson’s Recipe for Recovery” developed by Howard Shifke. 

The holistic program incorporates the diet alongside other practices such as Qigong, acupressure, and meditation.

Key Details of the Diet

• Implementation: The author notes it is a vital part of the recovery process.
• Dietary Focus: The eating plan centers on a whole-food, vegetarian approach that eliminates or severely restricts meat, dairy, and refined sugars.
• Flexibility: While Shifke recommends a vegetarian diet for maximum benefit, he has also suggested users can ease into it by gradually increasing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while cutting back on animal protein, processed and fried foods.

Vegetarian diet and Parkinson’s

Initial query:

is a vegetarian diet helpful for parkinson’s disease

AI Overview response:

Yes, a vegetarian or plant-based diet can be helpful for managing Parkinson’s disease (PD). It can help alleviate constipation—a common PD symptom—and promote better absorption of the medication levodopa by shifting protein intake to later in the day.

A vegetarian diet helps manage Parkinson’s disease in several key ways:

• Enhanced Medication Absorption: Levodopa relies on the same transport pathways as dietary protein. By limiting animal proteins, individuals often experience more consistent medication efficacy throughout the day.
• Reduced Inflammation: High intakes of antioxidants and phytochemicals in plant-based foods can lower oxidative stress and chronic inflammation, which are factors in PD progression.
• Improved Gut Health: Plant diets are rich in fiber, which relieves common gastrointestinal distress and supports a healthy microbiome.

Clinical studies and articles validating the Recipe dietary healing methods

Click here for “Diet for Parkinson’s: Unveiling the Current Science Behind Your Food Choices.” (“Some studies suggest that societies where people mostly eat vegetarian or vegan diets have lower rates of Parkinson’s disease (PD). A study in the UK found that people who ate healthy plant-based diets had a lower risk of getting PD, while those who ate unhealthy plant-based diets had a higher risk. Another study tested a vegetarian diet on 16 patients with PD for 14 days and found that it helped improve their symptoms.”)

Click here for “Preventing and Treating of Parkinson’s Disease with a Plant-Based Diet.” (“There are no disease modifying drugs to treat Parkinson’s disease. This makes prevention all the more important. A plantbased diet can help reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. In particular, several phytochemicals present in plant foods help reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. The increased fiber in a plant-based diet promotes butyrate-producing flora thus reducing inflammation, and it treats constipation, a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease. Eliminating meat from the diet plays its part in reducing the risk. Therefore, both the presence of plant foods and the absence of meat and dairy combine to reduce risk.

Treatment with a plant-based diet can enable the dosage of medications used to treat the symptoms to be reduced. This may be especially advantageous in treating constipation caused by anticholinergics. The long-term benefit of a plant-based diet in slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease should be researched. Its efficacy in treating nonmotor symptoms should also be researched further.”)

Click here for “New Study Finds Vegan, Plant-Forward Diets May Help Prevent and Slow Parkinson’s.” (“Healthy vegan diets and Mediterranean diets emphasize higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are rich in antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E, polyphenols, and carotenoids. These help reduce oxidative stress and support healthy cell function, particularly in the mitochondria, where energy is produced. Additionally, plant-based foods contain compounds that can reduce inflammation, further lowering the risk of cell damage linked to Parkinson’s. Researchers noted that historically, in regions where plant-based diets are common, such as East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, there are lower rates of Parkinson’s disease.”

“What recent studies have shown is that green, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, and also tea can help a microbiome prosper,” Ramirez-Salazar [Sergio Ramirez-Salazar, M.D., MPH] says.

On the flip side, the study authors noted that consuming more red and processed meat is associated with an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome, which has been linked to a higher Parkinson’s disease risk.”

As you can see, the dietary part of the Recipe is validated as helpful for people who have Parkinson’s disease.

Conclusion

I have had people tell me over the years that if they had to change their diet, they would not be doing the Recipe. As a result, I will share with you, as I generally do when discussing healthy eating, this quote from Margaret Mead:

“It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” (This goes for women, too).

Here are my general feelings about the dietary part of the Recipe:

If a person is eating healthy food and eats more fruits, vegetables, greens, grains, beans and lentils, and a little less animal protein, and little-to-no dairy, sugar, white flour and preservatives, they should do great in doing the Recipe and in their recovery.

When I had Parkinson’s, I got terrible constipation. As a result, I switched to a vegetarian diet with high fiber. I limited my dairy (Sally used butter in cooking) and ate eggs (otherwise it was a vegan diet), but also, I eliminated processed sugar, white flour, and preservatives because all of them created phlegm, mucus, inflammation for me.

After resolving the constipation, I stayed with the vegetarian diet. The number 2 cause in the Recipe for what brings tremors and other symptoms to the surface, and makes symptoms worse, is too much phlegm, mucus, inflammation in the body.

Also, my research showed that animal protein took more energy to digest than vegetable protein and, personally, I preferred my energy to be used for healing not just digesting food.

Please post a comment letting us know how you are doing in your dietary considerations in doing the Recipe.

You are worth it!!!

All my best,

Howard