A Plant-Food Diet in the Risk and Management of Parkinson’s Disease

Dietary protein content can reduce the effectiveness of levodopa treatment in Parkinson’s disease (PD)–affected patients, as the large neutral amino acids (LNAA) and levodopa, a prodrug of dopamine, share the same saturable carrier system. Moreover, the importance of some dietary risk factors for PD has been postulated in recent decades. A plant-food (vegan) diet, easily restricting total protein intake to the RDA while redistributing the total daily protein amount, can be effective in minimizing diet interference on levodopa treatment. This appears to be useful in the management of PD patients, improving levodopa efficacy, possibly reducing total Levodopa schedule, and optimizing neurological performance. These effects can slow the appearance of motor impairment and of the complications related to levodopa chronic therapy. Moreover, the composition of a plant-based diet can hypothetically contrast some risk factors for PD, contributing to slow the progression of the dopaminergic system degeneration underlying the disease.