08.31.20
According to a new study led by researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, people who closely follow a Mediterranean diet – high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish, whole grains, and unsaturated fats – were less likely to develop early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease compared to those who ate less-healthy diets.
Parkinson’s disease is most well-known for psychomotor symptoms, including tremors, however, early symptoms can include constipation, excessive daytime sleepiness, REM sleep behavior disorder, and depression. These are among the prodromal symptoms, which arise years before the onset of more obvious indicators of Parkinson’s disease.
While these early symptoms may not necessarily be indicative of Parkinson’s, and their prevalence in those with poor diets doesn’t indicate any effect on Parkinson’s disease risk, the authors of the study feel that overall, this type of eating pattern protects the body by potentially lowering inflammation throughout. Combinations of these symptoms, the authors of the study wrote, are indicative of adverse health outcomes related to the central nervous system.
The authors of the study pooled health data from 47,679 participants in two long-running studies of U.S. health care professionals: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants self-reported their dietary intakes using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, the results of which were used by researchers to determine and score each participant’s overall adherence to a Mediterranean diet over a 20-year time span.
Overall, people who scored in the top 20% of diet quality, adhering to the Mediterranean style diet, were one third less likely to develop prodromal Parkinson’s disease symptoms within the 20-year window compared to those at the bottom 20%.
While these results are preliminary, researchers believe that the study warrants further investigations into what effect a Mediterranean style diet may have on Parkinson’s disease symptoms and diagnoses, to better understand why diet was linked to these prodromal features.
Parkinson’s disease is most well-known for psychomotor symptoms, including tremors, however, early symptoms can include constipation, excessive daytime sleepiness, REM sleep behavior disorder, and depression. These are among the prodromal symptoms, which arise years before the onset of more obvious indicators of Parkinson’s disease.
While these early symptoms may not necessarily be indicative of Parkinson’s, and their prevalence in those with poor diets doesn’t indicate any effect on Parkinson’s disease risk, the authors of the study feel that overall, this type of eating pattern protects the body by potentially lowering inflammation throughout. Combinations of these symptoms, the authors of the study wrote, are indicative of adverse health outcomes related to the central nervous system.
The authors of the study pooled health data from 47,679 participants in two long-running studies of U.S. health care professionals: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Participants self-reported their dietary intakes using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, the results of which were used by researchers to determine and score each participant’s overall adherence to a Mediterranean diet over a 20-year time span.
Overall, people who scored in the top 20% of diet quality, adhering to the Mediterranean style diet, were one third less likely to develop prodromal Parkinson’s disease symptoms within the 20-year window compared to those at the bottom 20%.
While these results are preliminary, researchers believe that the study warrants further investigations into what effect a Mediterranean style diet may have on Parkinson’s disease symptoms and diagnoses, to better understand why diet was linked to these prodromal features.
