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Parkinsn Current Topics
Fava Bean Discourse
From: Robert Fink <rafink@IX.NETCOM.COM> Subject: Re: fava beans / dopamine
You wrote:
> >I have a vague feeling this topic has been aired here before; >but if not, here is a ref. that may be of interest... >Seems to be merely anecdotal of course...Apols if this is a >repeat, but it's pretty brief: > >================================================================ >From: Dave Cunningham <76702.453@CompuServe.COM> >Newsgroups: bionet.neuroscience,misc.health.alternative,rec.food.preserving, >sci.agriculture,alt.agriculture.misc,alt.folklore.herbs, >alt.sustainable.agriculture >Subject: fava beans >Date: 18 Feb 1995 02:54:42 GMT > >I have a friend who is a healthcare consultant in alternative medicine and has >a client in New York City who has Parkinson's disease with really bad tremors. >She recently tried a special variety of vicia fava/vicia faba bean with the >client (a 54 year old white male) and achieved 3 hours and 15 minutes of >tremor-free time for him with just a 100 gram feeding of the beans. > >She is trying to access some seeds for this variety as yet unknown but possibly >the golden variety or the Cyprus type variety. Her source of growing was >place in England but the person there is unreliable as to sending frozen product >and he refuses to send any seeds. She would like to know if anyone has any >information concerning a source of beans (including the pods) or seeds. The >phenomenal thing about the bean pods is that the special varieties have >enormous amounts of dopamine in them. There is also at least one other >ingredient occurring naturally in these high-dopamine content beans which >favilitates the removal of certain symptoms such as rigidity (stiffness) or >shakes (tremors) in some Parkinso's patients. > >P.S. Please contact me via E-Mail due to the lack of my activity in this >newsgroup. > >Thanks, Dave > >==================================================================== > > > >Regards, > >-- >robert jones >rwj@tyunnos.demon.co.uk > >
A caution regarding fava beans. There is a group of people (usually of Mediterranean ancestry) who lack an enzyme needed for the breakdown of a substance within fava beans; and if they consume such beans, they can get a serious (and potentially fatal) blood condition called "favism". I do not recall more specifics; but I want to say that fava beans are not universally "benign".
Best,
Bob
-- ********************************************************
Robert A. Fink, M. D., F.A.C.S. Phone: 510-849-2555 Neurological Surgery FAX: 510-849-2557 2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 Berkeley, California 94704-2636 USA
E-Mail: rafink@ix.netcom.com CompuServe: 72303,3442 America Online: BobFink "Ex Tristitia Virtus"
=========================================================================
From: John Cottingham <johnc@IADFW.NET> Subject: Re: Fava Beans!
In article Lisa Carper <lcarper@USAOR.NET> writes:
>File this under, 'How Bad Can They Be??' :)
>Based on readings here and elsewhere, after looking near and far we found an >purchased 2 1/2 lbs of fava beans hoping to unleash the dopamine contained >therein. We then found ourselves at a complete loss as to how to fix them >but JR likes beans (pinto, white, etc) so we figured how bad could they be? >Well, for those of you who would also like to try fava beans, trust us, we >need to find or develop recipes! >If any of you have any recipes for fava beans or if you have ideas on how to >fix them PLEASE email us asap. Thanks. >LCarper (lcarper@usaor.net) >P.S. My mother used to eat them as a little girl (in her Italian family) but >can't remember how they were fixed. >--
They can probably be fixed like snow peas, either simmered slightly covered with water or steamed until tender.
Flavoring for the diet concious can be with salt if it is permited in your diet or sprinkled on herbs. A slight dab of butter may be sinfully permitted.
The portion to achieve the equivalent effect of 25/250 is slightly less than 1 cup. Adjust the portion accordingly according to what you normally take.
Expect some dyskinesia.
From: Milton McLain <mem122a@LANL.GOV> Subject: Re: FAVA BEANS
Hi out there!
Unless I am mistaken, any dopamine consumed as fava beans is not available to the brain since it is unable to pass through the blood-brain barrier membrane. Correct?
Milton McLain =========================================================================
From: "J.R. Bruman" <jrbruman@NETCOM.COM> Subject: Re: Fava Beans! In-Reply-To: <199507171601.JAA12712@netcom22.netcom.com>
In the article* posted here recently by J. Cottingham, which started this discussion, authors point out that most of the L-dopa in fava beans (vicia faba) is in the pods, not the beans! All they could say about making the pods edible was "microwave cooking and homogenization [and] administration together with carbidopa". Good luck! *Kempster, P. et al: Nutrition Reviews; 1994:52:51-58 Cheers, J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
On Mon, 17 Jul 1995, Lisa Carper wrote:
> File this under, 'How Bad Can They Be??' :) > > Based on readings here and elsewhere, after looking near and far we found an > purchased 2 1/2 lbs of fava beans hoping to unleash the dopamine contained > therein. We then found ourselves at a complete loss as to how to fix them > but JR likes beans (pinto, white, etc) so we figured how bad could they be? > Well, for those of you who would also like to try fava beans, trust us, we > need to find or develop recipes! > If any of you have any recipes for fava beans or if you have ideas on how to > fix them PLEASE email us asap. Thanks. > LCarper (lcarper@usaor.net) > P.S. My mother used to eat them as a little girl (in her Italian family) but > can't remember how they were fixed. > -- > =========================================================================
From: Robert Fink <rafink@IX.NETCOM.COM> Subject: Re: Fava Beans!
With the re-enthusiasm concerning fava beans, I need to
repeat the caveat about those people who lack an enzyme
(G6PD) having serious complications (anemia, blindness) from
eating fava beans ("favism"). This enzyme deficiency is
hereditary and is seen mostly in people of Mediterranean
origin (Italians, Greeks, Middle Eastern). It is rare but
can be serious.
Best,
Bob -- ********************************************************
Robert A. Fink, M. D., F.A.C.S. Phone: 510-849-2555 Neurological Surgery FAX: 510-849-2557 2500 Milvia Street Suite 222 Berkeley, California 94704-2636 USA
E-Mail: rafink@ix.netcom.com CompuServe: 72303,3442 America Online: BobFink "Ex Tristitia Virtus"
=========================================================================
From: John Cottingham <johnc@IADFW.NET> Subject: Re: FAVA BEANS
In article Milton McLain <mem122a@LANL.GOV> writes:
>Hi out there!
>Unless I am mistaken, any dopamine consumed as fava beans is not available >to the brain since it is unable to pass through the blood-brain barrier >membrane. Correct?
Milton, we're gathering anecdotal evidence. We have a nutrition study in the archive and we are reproducing it on the list. Some are growing the vicia faba and others are learning how to fix and eat it.
Informal phase I clinical trials have been done previously and we are in phase II now.<g>
We are going to prove in our own unscientific ways if it is true or not...once and for all to see.
Our own, "famous", Mathias Kurth said in his continuing education video for doctors that "Vicia faba was a source of natural levodopa."
To answer your question, the L-dopa does pass the blood-brain barrier.
The improvements noted in the literature, ie. finger tapping, and walking time tests last approximately 4 hours per serving.
The dyskinesia score peaks about 30 minutes after eating. drops and varies slightly over the next 3 hours followed by an "end of dose" peak which tapers to the "off" condition at about 5 hours.
The "end of dose" plasma L-dopa levels for Vicia faba ingestion at 5 hours are similar to those seen one hour after taking carbidopa/levodopa dose.
Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 1993: 2(2).
If you would like to follow along, search for dietary factors with the search tools used with the print all statement to get the study.
Conversion factors:
100 g faba beans and pods = therapeutic effect of = one 25/250
carbidopa/levodopa
100 grams = 3.527 ounces weight
From: Karin M Beros <beros@UCLINK.BERKELEY.EDU> Subject: Re: Fava Beans! In-Reply-To: <199507171535.IAA09051@uclink.berkeley.edu>
Well, my friends. I think I can help you here. We are ethnically Greek and have lived in the Middle East, where my husband was chairman of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the American University of Beirut.
In these eastern Mediterranean cultures fava beans are eaten as a salad kind of meal, but not in the western sense of "salad" with greens and things. The Greeks call the style of cooking ladera (that's a delta "d," pronounced like the "th" in the word thee).
Fresh fava are best, but dried are also fine. Since I haven't yet started my work day, I'd better be quick here!
Either shell fresh beans or soak overnight the dried ones. Assume you are starting with a pound of fresh favas or half a pound of dried beans. Cover in a pot with a combination of water and olive oil (half and half?). Add the juice of one lemon, a chopped onion (you might saute this first; it enhances the flavor), a carrot, a large handful of chopped parsley, and a chopped tomato or two. Salt to taste; also add a small spoon of sugar -- it's good for the onions! Add a few cloves of chopped garlic (or leave them out, if you prefer). Cook this concoction very slowly for a couple of hours; less if you start with fresh beans (all you real cooks out there will wince at this, but it does work). Check the level of liquid in the pot periodically so it won't go dry. The completed dish should have discrete but tender fava beans, but the rest of the ingredients will probably have collapsed into a very tasty sauce for them. The dish shouldn't be runny.
I think you'll enjoy it, unless you have a particular aversion to olive oil. Ladera can be substituted for a main dish, i.e. a meal without meat. Add a salad of fresh tomatoes, a little feta cheese, maybe a glass of wine, and enjoy!
k.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mrs. Karin M. Beros, MSO beros@uclink.berkeley.edu International and Area Studies voice: (510) 642-8542 Office of the Dean, 260 Stephens Hall fax: (510) 642-9466 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Mon, 17 Jul 1995, Lisa Carper wrote:
> File this under, 'How Bad Can They Be??' :) > > Based on readings here and elsewhere, after looking near and far we found an > purchased 2 1/2 lbs of fava beans hoping to unleash the dopamine contained > therein. We then found ourselves at a complete loss as to how to fix them > but JR likes beans (pinto, white, etc) so we figured how bad could they be? > Well, for those of you who would also like to try fava beans, trust us, we > need to find or develop recipes! > If any of you have any recipes for fava beans or if you have ideas on how to > fix them PLEASE email us asap. Thanks. > LCarper (lcarper@usaor.net) > P.S. My mother used to eat them as a little girl (in her Italian family) but > can't remember how they were fixed. > -- > =========================================================================
From: John Cottingham <johnc@IADFW.NET> Subject: Re: fava beans
In article Sid Roberts <sirobert@CC.YSU.EDU> writes:
>Last Sunday's New York TTimes (Aug 13,1995) Magazine Section (pp53-54) >features recipes for preparing fava beans - most call for lemon, olive >oil and some pecorino cheese. There is a recipe for fava bean salsa, >fava bean pudding with shitakes, bacon and arugula, and, Fava Bean salad >with Frisee, Peppers and Pecorino.
It's just amazing how current topics and advances read about here make it into print or television or even WWW pages....later.<G>
=========================================================================
From: Barbara Jarjoura <jarjoura@DMV.COM> Subject: Re: Fava Bean Recipes
>For those not familiar with fava beans, 1 cup of beans or pods contains >approx. the equivilent of one 25/100 standard release Sinemet. Several list >members have reported therapeutic results by occasionally including fava >beans into their diet. > > John,
Thanks so much, this is great news. Fuad loves fava beans, eats them like candy. I let you all know if it helps.
=========================================================================
From: MichelMarg@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Fava Bean Recipes
In a message dated 96-04-23 11:28:51 EDT, you write:
> >For those not familiar with fava beans, 1 cup of beans or pods contains >approx. the equivilent of one 25/100 standard release Sinemet. .
I like fava beans too.
They contain approximately 34 % water, 8% protein, 0.5% fat, 26% carbohydrate, traces of fatty acids, 55mg calcium, 290 mg phosphorus, 6mg iron, 1160mg potassium, and traces of vitamins. How is 1 cup of this equivalent to any Sinemet that contains L-dopa and carbodopa? In calories, or therapeutic effect, or that it can exarcebate favism.
I like fava beans, and sometimes I think they do not like me. they can provide all the essential amino acids when eaten with with rice. Bon appetit. Michel =========================================================================
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