Vicia Faba for the treatment of movement disorders in Parkinson’s disease?

Broad beans and Movement disorders in people with Parkinson’s disease 

Patients with Parkinson’s disease suffer from different types of movement disorders – it can range from having muscle spasms and showing episodes of uncontrolled movements, to muscle weakness and rigidity during walking but also imbalance. In our short articles about the use of fava beans (Vicia Faba) for the treatment and prevention of Parkinson’s disease, we presented the results done by Guggenheim in 1913, and its effects on motor symptoms by Kempster et al in 1993. 

Eating broad beans or consuming Vicia Faba-based food supplements to improve “off moments” and “on moments”

It follows that more and more patients with Parkinson’s disease observe beneficial effects on their motor symptoms after ingesting cooked fava beans. Interested by these results, Apaydin and collaborators from the Movement Disorders Outpatient Clinic in Turkey started a small clinical observation with three patients with Parkinson’s disease who previously reported improved motor effects from fava bean ingestion. They were particularly interested in measuring the effects of broad bean ingestion on the occurrence of “on” moments and absence “off”moments of such movement disorders.

To assess the occurrence of movement disorders, the authors recorded the change in frequency and duration of the patient’s “on” and “off” periods, as well as the sleep duration. The patients were asked to ingest approx. 250 g of cooked fava bean at least twice a day without altering their dietary habits. After 1 to 3 months of consumption, the patients felt a prolonged “on” time. One patient even experienced decreased dyskinesias and reduction of the carbidopa/levodopa medication. 

For those that have difficulties eating 250g of Faba beans two times per day, it could be useful to use food supplements based on Faba Beans. 

More studies to understand better the  positive effects of broad beans consumption 

Following these results, and following other studies that recommend adding fava beans into their regular diet to manage Parkinson’s disease, further studies with higher numbers of patients are still necessary to fully understand the full potential of Vicia Faba as a source of natural L-Dopa in the management of Parkinson symptoms. 

Important information and disclaimer: This article is for general information only.
It is not used to treat and cure diseases. If you have any health problems or illnesses, please contact your doctor or pharmacist!

Reference: H. Apaydin et al (2000). Broad bean (Vicia faba)—A natural source of L-dopa—Prolongs “on” periods in patients with Parkinson’s disease who have “on–off” fluctuations. Movement Disorders 15, 164-166.