Low levels of neurotoxic chemicals in cheese may explain the connection between dairy product consumption and Parkinson’s disease.
Preventing Parkinson’s Disease with Diet
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Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Four things that we can do that may reduce our risk of developing Parkinson’s disease is exercise, avoiding dairy products, pesticides, and avoid getting hit in the head (which means wearing your seatbelt, bike helmet), and—if you read journal articles written by scientists with way too much time on their hands—avoid getting attacked by extraterrestrials, a leading cause of traumatic brain injury in comic books.
What about avoiding pesticides and other industrial pollutants? A recent autopsy study found higher levels in the brains of Parkinson’s victims of PCBs found in Monsanto’s Aroclor, which was banned in 1979, but still pollutes the world. And, the more PCBs found in the brain, the worse the brain damage. The worst three appeared to be PCBs appeared to be numbers 138, 153, and 180—the levels of all of which are significantly lower in the bodies of those eating plant-based diets.
So: “Does a vegan diet reduce risk [of] Parkinson’s disease?” Good question. Well, we know that every single prospective study on dairy products or milk and Parkinson’s disease tended to find increased risk. It may be that “dairy products in the United States are contaminated with neurotoxic chemicals.” There’s substantial evidence suggesting that “exposure to pesticides may increase Parkinson’s disease risk,” and autopsies found higher levels of pollutants and pesticides in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients, and some of these toxins are present at low levels in dairy products.
They’re talking about toxins like tetrahydroisoquinoline, a Parkinsonism-related compound found predominantly in cheese. Although the amounts of this neurotoxin—even in cheese—are not really high, the concern is that the chemical may accumulate in the brain over long periods of consumption.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- J. Bronstein, P. Carvey, H. Chen, D. Cory-Slechta, D. DiMonte, J. Duda, P. English, S. Goldman, S. Grate, J. Hansen, J. Hoppin, S. Jewell, F. Kamel, W. Koroshetz, J. W. Langston, G. Logroscino, L. Nelson, B. Ravina, W. Rocca, G. W. Ross, T. Schettler, M. Schwarzschild, B. Scott, R. Seegal, A. Singleton, K. Steenland, C. M. Tanner, S. Van Den Eeden, M. Weisskopf. Meeting report: Consensus statement-Parkinson's disease and the environment: Collaborative on health and the environment and Parkinson's Action Network (CHE PAN) conference 26-28 June 2007. Environ. Health Perspect. 2009 117(1):117 - 121
- M. A. Kamp, P. Slotty, S. Sarikaya-Seiwert, H.-J. Steiger, D. Hänggi. Traumatic brain injuries in illustrated literature: Experience from a series of over 700 head injuries in the Asterix comic books. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2011 153(6):1351 - 5 - discussion - 1355
- J. M. Hatcher-Martin, M. Gearing, K. Steenland, A. I. Levey, G. W. Miller, K. D. Pennell. Association between polychlorinated biphenyls and Parkinson's disease neuropathology. Neurotoxicology 2012 33(5):1298 - 1304
- H. Arguin, M. Sánchez, G. A. Bray, J. C. Lovejoy, J. C. Peters, R. J. Jandacek, J.-P. Chaput, A. Tremblay. Impact of adopting a vegan diet or an olestra supplementation on plasma organochlorine concentrations: Results from two pilot studies. Br. J. Nutr. 2010 103(10):1433 - 1441
- C. Allison Russo, Claudia Steiner. Hospital Admissions for Traumatic Brain Injuries, 2004. HCUP 2007 27(NA):1-9
- J. R. Richardson, S. L. Shalat, B. Buckley, B. Winnik, P. O'Suilleabhain, R. Diaz-Arrastia, J. Reisch, D. C. German. Elevated serum pesticide levels and risk of Parkinson disease. Arch. Neurol. 2009 66(7):870 - 875
- Milber JM, Noorigian JV, Morley JF, Petrovitch H, White L, Ross GW, Duda JE. Lewy pathology is not the first sign of degeneration in vulnerable neurons in Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2012 Dec 11;79(24):2307-2314. Epub 2012 Nov 14.
- Chen H, O'Reilly E, McCullough ML, et al. Consumption of dairy products and risk of Parkinson's disease. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2007 May;165(9):998-1006. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwk089. PMID: 17272289; PMCID: PMC2232901.
Image thanks to neurology.org
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video.
Four things that we can do that may reduce our risk of developing Parkinson’s disease is exercise, avoiding dairy products, pesticides, and avoid getting hit in the head (which means wearing your seatbelt, bike helmet), and—if you read journal articles written by scientists with way too much time on their hands—avoid getting attacked by extraterrestrials, a leading cause of traumatic brain injury in comic books.
What about avoiding pesticides and other industrial pollutants? A recent autopsy study found higher levels in the brains of Parkinson’s victims of PCBs found in Monsanto’s Aroclor, which was banned in 1979, but still pollutes the world. And, the more PCBs found in the brain, the worse the brain damage. The worst three appeared to be PCBs appeared to be numbers 138, 153, and 180—the levels of all of which are significantly lower in the bodies of those eating plant-based diets.
So: “Does a vegan diet reduce risk [of] Parkinson’s disease?” Good question. Well, we know that every single prospective study on dairy products or milk and Parkinson’s disease tended to find increased risk. It may be that “dairy products in the United States are contaminated with neurotoxic chemicals.” There’s substantial evidence suggesting that “exposure to pesticides may increase Parkinson’s disease risk,” and autopsies found higher levels of pollutants and pesticides in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients, and some of these toxins are present at low levels in dairy products.
They’re talking about toxins like tetrahydroisoquinoline, a Parkinsonism-related compound found predominantly in cheese. Although the amounts of this neurotoxin—even in cheese—are not really high, the concern is that the chemical may accumulate in the brain over long periods of consumption.
Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.
- J. Bronstein, P. Carvey, H. Chen, D. Cory-Slechta, D. DiMonte, J. Duda, P. English, S. Goldman, S. Grate, J. Hansen, J. Hoppin, S. Jewell, F. Kamel, W. Koroshetz, J. W. Langston, G. Logroscino, L. Nelson, B. Ravina, W. Rocca, G. W. Ross, T. Schettler, M. Schwarzschild, B. Scott, R. Seegal, A. Singleton, K. Steenland, C. M. Tanner, S. Van Den Eeden, M. Weisskopf. Meeting report: Consensus statement-Parkinson's disease and the environment: Collaborative on health and the environment and Parkinson's Action Network (CHE PAN) conference 26-28 June 2007. Environ. Health Perspect. 2009 117(1):117 - 121
- M. A. Kamp, P. Slotty, S. Sarikaya-Seiwert, H.-J. Steiger, D. Hänggi. Traumatic brain injuries in illustrated literature: Experience from a series of over 700 head injuries in the Asterix comic books. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2011 153(6):1351 - 5 - discussion - 1355
- J. M. Hatcher-Martin, M. Gearing, K. Steenland, A. I. Levey, G. W. Miller, K. D. Pennell. Association between polychlorinated biphenyls and Parkinson's disease neuropathology. Neurotoxicology 2012 33(5):1298 - 1304
- H. Arguin, M. Sánchez, G. A. Bray, J. C. Lovejoy, J. C. Peters, R. J. Jandacek, J.-P. Chaput, A. Tremblay. Impact of adopting a vegan diet or an olestra supplementation on plasma organochlorine concentrations: Results from two pilot studies. Br. J. Nutr. 2010 103(10):1433 - 1441
- C. Allison Russo, Claudia Steiner. Hospital Admissions for Traumatic Brain Injuries, 2004. HCUP 2007 27(NA):1-9
- J. R. Richardson, S. L. Shalat, B. Buckley, B. Winnik, P. O'Suilleabhain, R. Diaz-Arrastia, J. Reisch, D. C. German. Elevated serum pesticide levels and risk of Parkinson disease. Arch. Neurol. 2009 66(7):870 - 875
- Milber JM, Noorigian JV, Morley JF, Petrovitch H, White L, Ross GW, Duda JE. Lewy pathology is not the first sign of degeneration in vulnerable neurons in Parkinson disease. Neurology. 2012 Dec 11;79(24):2307-2314. Epub 2012 Nov 14.
- Chen H, O'Reilly E, McCullough ML, et al. Consumption of dairy products and risk of Parkinson's disease. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2007 May;165(9):998-1006. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwk089. PMID: 17272289; PMCID: PMC2232901.
Image thanks to neurology.org
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Title
Preventing Parkinson’s Disease with Diet
LicenseCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Content URLDoctor's Note
If this sounds familiar, it’s because I featured it in my 2012 year in review video, Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death. I also touch on Parkinson’s in Risk Associated with Iron Supplements.
Avoiding dairy may have other benefits. See, for example:
- How Tumors Use Meat to Grow: Xeno-Autoantibodies
- The Acne-Promoting Effects of Milk
- Cow’s Milk Casomorphin and Crib Death
- Dietary Guidelines: From Dairies to Berries
- Dairy & Sexual Precocity
Or any of my dozens of other videos on dairy.
What if it’s too late, and you or a friend or family member already have Parkinson’s? Treating Parkinson’s Disease With Diet is coming up next!
For further context, check out my associated blog posts: Avoiding Dairy to Prevent Parkinson’s, and Treating Parkinson’s Disease with Diet.
For all of my most recent videos on Parkinson’s disease, check out the topic page.
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