Nutrition is a vital component of maintaining and preserving good health. It may be an especially important consideration when one has a disease or other health condition that may impose certain dietary requirements or restrictions. At the same time, the standard recommendations for good health still stand – heart healthy eating, weight control, adequate fluid intake, limiting alcohol consumption, and more. With Parkinson’s disease, dietary choices and habits can help alleviate some symptoms. For example, fluid and fiber intake may help with constipation, increasing fluid intake may alleviate orthostatic hypotension, the feeling of dizziness when standing up, and a high protein meal can interfere with levodopa absorption, leading to fluctuations in medication effectiveness. In this second of two episodes with Dr. John Duda, Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Professor of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, a Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence, he tells what he recommends about diet and nutrition for his Parkinson’s patients, including when to look for organically grown produce.
Related Resources
- The Latest in Nutrition and Parkinson’s Disease (blog)
- Podcast Feedback Survey: Tell us what you think about the podcast here!
- Expert Briefing: Nutrition and Parkinson’s (webinar)
- Episode 99: Nutrition Advice Part 1 (podcast)
- Managing Parkinson’s: Diet & Nutrition
- Episode 4: The Importance of Good Nutrition for People with Parkinson’s (podcast)
About This Episode
Released: March 9, 2021
John Duda, MD
John Duda, MD is the Director of the Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center (PADRECC) and Co-Director of the Center for Neurotrauma, Neurodegeneration and Restoration of the Cpl. Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center and a Professor of Neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. For the past 19 years, he has worked with his colleagues in Philadelphia to provide state-of-the-art care for thousands of Veterans with PD and related disorders.
His research activities have included basic science investigations into the role of Lewy pathology in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders as well as investigations into the mechanisms involved in traumatic brain injury. He has also conducted clinical research in Parkinson’s disease with studies of deep brain stimulation therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, the benefits of a plant-based, whole food diet, and the use of olfaction as a biomarker of disease diagnosis and progression. He has received research grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs, NIH, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson Research, and the Department of Defense. He has been recognized as a BLR&D Senior Clinical Research Scientist and authored more than 120 scientific publications including articles in JAMA, Science, Neuron, The New England Journal of Medicine and Neurology.
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