Vicia Faba is rich in Vitamin B9 and fits perfectly into the diet of Parkinson’s disease sufferers
Like many other essential vitamins, vitamin B9, also called folic acid, is not synthesized by the human body. It has, therefore, to be taken from a healthy, regular diet. Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, milk, and milk products, are examples of products rich in vitamin B9. Vicia Faba L (broad beans) is also an excellent supply of Vitamin B9.
Vitamin B9 is an essential vitamin that is mainly responsible to make DNA and repairing DNA. DNA is the main code in the human body that tells the cells what to do in the complex process of billions of actions to maintain the de body in good functioning. We should know that DNA is exposed to multiple aggressions of many types varying from oxidative stress, chronic inflammation to increased exposure to a wide range of electromagnetic waves. Consequently, the repair process of DNA is essential in order to avoid disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
Also, Vitamin B9 is involved in the production of red blood cells. Red blood cells also called hemoglobin, have some of the most essential functions in our organism. They transport oxygen to the organs and cells in order to make them function properly.
Lower hemoglobin levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease?
A recent study published in the scientific revue Brain demonstrates that low levels in red blood cells are considered as a risk factor to develop neurodegenerative diseases.
It highlights the fact that disease severity in Parkinson’s disease patients is higher when lacking hemoglobin. It also suggests that low red blood cells levels can affect iron metabolism and can lead to anemia.
We reported also on another study that suggests that Broad beans could indeed be an excellent natural way of helping in Parkinson’s disease management.
Vitamin B9 levels drop dramatically when the Vicia Faba is boiled
It is interesting to notice that the non-denatured Vitamin B9 content in Vicia Faba beans is at the daily recommended dosage. Once it is cooked and boiled, the content of Vitamin B9 is 4 times lower than at its original estate.
Published data on Diet and Fitness show that Vicia Faba (broad beans) mature raw seeds contain 423ug (106% RDA) against only 4 fold lower 104ug (26% RDA) for boiled mature seeds of Vicia Faba.
Vicia Faba based food supplements that avoid boiling in the extraction process and preserve active principles including Vitamin B9 and L-dopa could be an excellent solution to improve life quality in this most debilitating disease.
Vitamin B9 shows also protective function to preserve dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson’s disease
Dr. Mattson, chief of the laboratory of Neuroscience of the US National Institute on Aging, reports observation of Vitamin B9 deficiencies in Parkinson’s disease patients. His findings show evidence that Vitamin B9 may have a key role in protecting the dopaminergic neurons from damage related to aging processes. Vitamin B9 could indeed contribute to slowing down Parkinson’s disease progression that is not considered in today’s medical reference protocols. He suggests that a Folic acid (Vitamin B9) rich diet or food supplements containing Vitamin B9 could be an interesting tool in Parkinson’s disease management.
Important information and disclaimer: This article is for general information only.
It is not used to give medical advice, to treat or cure diseases. For any medical-related questions, please contact your doctor or pharmacist.
Share and join us!
This content can be important for people who need it, please share it! If you liked this article and would like to know more, please join our community! Thank you!
Reference:
Brain res. 2017 Jan 15;1655:145-151. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2016.11.007. Epub 2016 Nov 10.
“Lower hemoglobin levels in patients with Parkinson’s disease are associated with disease severity and iron metabolism”