Parkinson's: The Magic Potion Works!

 

Scientific Proof That 

 The Magic Potion Works!

This came in an e mail from the Parkinson Foundation.  Basically it was about a study where they fed berries to lab mice with PD symptoms and their symptoms improved.

https://www.parkinson.org/blog/science-news/berry-compound-reverses-pd-in-mice

The next paragraphs are for people who really like scientific details.  Or you can skip to the bottom where the black ink comes in again. 

The human body naturally produces antioxidants. These antioxidants have been shown to destroy excess free radicals (oxidative stress) which, in turn, helps protect brain cells (neurons) from their toxic effects, such as inflammation, DNA damage and cell tissue damage. Studies have also shown that long-term oxidative stress contributes to the development of many diseases such as diabetes, cancer and Parkinson’s disease (PD).

In the brains of people with PD, there’s a build-up of a protein called PARIS (Parkin Interacting Substrate), that inhibits the production of another protein called PGC-1α. One of the many important functions of PGC-1α in dopamine-producing cells is to fight off damaging oxidative stress – so that there’s plenty of healthy dopamine remaining to do its job. 

This begged the question: might there be an antioxidant that could block the PARIS accumulation – that leads to the PGC-1α not being able to protect the dopamine-producing cells?

A just-published study in the journal, Science Translational Medicine, titled “PARIS farnesylation prevents neurodegeneration in models of Parkinson's disease,” (Jo et al., 2021) screened over 230,000 compounds, and identified farnesol as a possible candidate. Farnesol is a natural compound found in berries (as well as other fruits and herbs) that has demonstrated impressive antioxidant capabilities. 

To accomplish this complex study, scientists created mice models with different genetic make-ups. For example, some of the mice models did not have the parkin protein, while others had an overproduction of PARIS, among others. The mice were then randomly selected to be fed either a farnesol-supplemented diet for one week, or a regular mouse diet. 

The following week, the mice were injected with alpha-synuclein, (a key protein involved in PD). Behavioral and chemical tests were conducted, in addition to robust statistical analyses. Next, multiple experiments were carried out on the mice brain tissue, such as measuring the concentration of farnesol in the mouse brain. The scientists also measured the levels of dopamine, PARIS and PGC-1α proteins in the mice brain tissue.

Results

•                 PD mice models fed the farnesol-supplemented diet demonstrated improvements in strength and coordination tests designed to measure the progression of PD symptoms. 

•                 PD mice models fed the farnesol-supplemented diet had twice as many healthy dopamine neurons than mice not fed the farnesol-enriched diet.

•                 PD mice models fed the farnesol-supplemented diet had approximately 55% more of the protective protein PGC-1alpha in their brains than the untreated mice.

What does this mean?

This study demonstrated that in mice models of Parkinson’s, eating farnesol (Farnesol is a natural compound found in berries) not only prevented the loss of dopamine-producing neurons, it reversed behavioral deficits in mice, showing an improvement in strength and coordination.

What that means to me is that the Magic Potion just might work. 

Cheers,

Nancy and the Snark

 Ingredients For the Magic Potion:

2 bananas (I freeze them)

2 cups of wild blueberries (it's important to use the wild ones because they have more potent antioxidants than the regular ones)

1 cup of fresh cilantro (I haven't used that much, maybe a handful, I'm not fond of cilantro so I'm working up on it. Amy gave me a wonderful tip for storing the fresh cilantro, she said to put the stems in a glass of water and keep the green bouquet in the frig. It's fun to see it in there!)

1 cup of orange juice (I've been using 2 cups of juice)

1 tsp barley grass juice powder

1 tsp Spirulina

1 small handful (around 2 tbsp) of Atlantic Dulse (I have flakes)

optional: water to blend (I haven't used water; I like the thick smoothie)

Directions:

In a high-speed blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

This makes enough for two people. Or you can put half in the fridge for later.