Matthew Phillips Talk on Parkinson's Dietary Study

Is there an “optimal” diet for Parkinson’s?
This question has been debated for years. On one hand, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets may increase brain dopamine, an important chemical deficient in Parkinson’s. On the other hand, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate “ketogenic” diet may enhance the brain mitochondria that produce energy for brain cells.
In 2017, 47 volunteers with Parkinson’s joined investigators from Waikato Hospital led by neurologist Matthew Phillips to conduct a randomized controlled pilot trial comparing the effects of a low-fat versus a ketogenic diet on the motor and nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s.
The results of the study, “Low-fat versus ketogenic diet in Parkinson’s disease: A pilot randomized controlled trial”, were published online in Movement Disorders in August (freely available at
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mds.27390
During the 8-week study, half of the participants engaged in a low-fat diet, half in a ketogenic diet. The groups were well matched regarding age, Parkinson’s symptoms, sex and other variables. Throughout the study, the participants were assessed by the same neurologist on the same weekday at the same time of day. The neurologist who conducted the assessments was blinded to the randomisation.
Total calories of the diets were kept the same. The amount of protein consumed by each group was also kept the same.
After 8 weeks, the ketogenic group experienced a 41% improvement in nonmotor symptoms, compared to only 11% improvement in the group that consumed the low-fat diet.
The nonmotor symptoms that improved the most in the ketogenic group were generally those that respond least favourably to levodopa - urinary problems, pain, fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and cognitive impairment.
“These exciting results have made their mark, for they suggest that a change in diet - in this case, a ketogenic diet - may improve some of the most disabling, least levodopa-responsive symptoms of Parkinson’s,” Phillips said.
Two limitations of the study are the low number of participants and the short duration, so the findings should be considered preliminary. Phillips said the findings suggest that a ketogenic diet may be a good complement to levodopa therapy for Parkinson’s, pending the results of longer, randomised trials.

[@samieramohamed2467]

Thanks for great feedback. Please note too much time is wasted on the study details. What we need as public is the conclusion and the tools to help patients. Time is the most precious item we have of lost never come back. So please be spect, focused, direct on the subject and messages you want your listeners to keep. I am talking from experience of teaching medicine all my professional career always leave patients and listeners two points they shall never forget . I remember a sentence in general surgery since1968 the operating theatre and as a surgeon is like your first night of marriage. Then he started good lighting, good knowledge of physiology and anatomy, skills etc.

[@drmclphillips]

Thanks Samier, good advice for sure! This was my first-ever lecture on youtube I think, so I have learned a lot since it went up. Hope to keep improving continuously...kind regards, Matt.

[@jolantaursprung5020]

very good lecture. terrible acustics

[@miamorissette5475]

Please contact me. My partner has been just diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I am an avid reader and do Rolfing pilates training weight training and have explored all kinds of nutritional information. After listening to you talk about ketosis, my partner did a three day water fast and is now on a ketogenic diet. He does not have tremors or other symptoms yet but is getting progressively slower and stiffer. I’m hoping we can restore the metabolism through this nutritional shift and slow down progression. I would really love to talk to uou and make sure we are keeping helpful logs of daily shifts and using the correct oils proteins and vegetables to promote restoration of his neurological metabolism. I’m a kiwi and so it was exciting for me to see such an innovative approach to this mysterious and deeply unknown disease.

[@mcgragor1]

Its been a year, can I ask you if this worked? Or did you find something that worked? Thanks

[@wayneschenet5340]

Excellent detailed study showing that the Ketogenic diet definitely improves the life of Parkinson’s patients.

[@johnallen7367]

If you want to see staggering reversal of symptoms: Put patient on Carnivore diet. High protein, high saturated fats, zero sugar, zero carbs, zero plants. Throw away any statins that they are on. Sit back and watch them recover.the brain is 25% cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol in the mistaken belief that its the primary cause of cardiovascular disease is whats generating all the mental health and brain neurological issues. Insulin resistance from sugar and carbs is the actual culprit in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and probably most cancer. These are all diseases that exploded into prominence mid twentieth century when we started eating seed oils, sugar and general crap.

[@janelifestolen6916]

have u ever tried a group that takes Magnesium and Vitamin B supplements and a group who does no supplementation?

[@johngrahamx]

That’s very interesting. Well worth listening through to the end. It looks like the Ketogenic diet is having some massive benefits!

[@camiloraulrios7525]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYrEd6ljbcmpa5o you makes me remember this video, there is a long interview to him and had Parkinson’s diadgnosed about for about 20 years now

[@michellerobertson874]

Very interesting and informative lecture but the sound was pretty awful at times.

[@armadillotoe]

To my knowledge, there is no test to tell you if loss of smell and constipation are early signs of PD. Don't neurologists have to wait until a gait disorder is present for a diagnosis? I could be wrong but would like to know for sure. I thought a diagnosis was ruling everything else out? It is a shame such a great presentation is plagued by the poor sound quality. I wish a transcript of the entire video was available.

[@ipomoea_batata9906]

Try those three dots just under the bottom right corner of the video (past the title, view count, like count, share & save buttons), then click the 'show transcript' ... it's automatically generated, true, however it's mostly a good job done there with capturing the words correctly.

[@cosmichealth3907]

Keto works in pd So does thiamine,vit d,niacin,C,copper,zinc B6 and b12 and folinic acid

[@bernadettebaca2577]

Can you post the diet? Id like to follow it

[@That_annoying_Rat]

Good lecture but a lot of sound interference

[@drmclphillips]

Yup, the sound people apologized after but too late...Matt.

[@bernadettebecher5668]

Great presentation- glad I took the time to watch the entire podcast. Thank you kindly.

[@ravindrakango6266]

I had heard about the kito diet is beneficial for improving many symptoms of PD. But this is very structured study. However most of the neurologist guys focus on medication and excercise that gives temporary relief. No doubt they are important for managing day-to-day tasks. But these guys rarely know and seldom advise PD patients on the diet which will address the root causes and yield long term results. Does this experiment had any improvement in sleep quality, is not clear. The study is 2 years ago. Is the medical community doing any further research in dietary aspects ? But I think there is no harm the PD patients trying this on their own initiative, mauntain some records and share the feedback. If hundreds or thousands of patients try it, the findings would be more generalized and trustworthy.

[@camiloraulrios7525]

how about 20 years kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6S8dJ-Mht6Agq8 living with Parkinson's and the diet

[@sunwm2003]

The medical authority doesn’t want any large scale serious study of treating Parkinson’s or any other neurological disease because they work so well. If everybody eats healthy low carb food, the healthcare industry will have much lower income and profit. This is not a conspiracy theory BTW.

[@johnallen7367]

They focus on medication because the entire medical/pharmaceutical industry knows that there is no money in cure. There is, however, an enormous amount of money in treating you for ever.

[@andrewzanas9387]

What specifically did the two diets consist of? By eliminating citric juices, ie once my main source of vitamin C, and substituting vegetable juice instead, I went from being awakened in the middle of the night every night by the need to urinate, to not having my sleep routine interrupted at all. Slept for 9 hrs last night. Usually I can get by on 6-7 hrs of sleep by choice. The cost? Vit C intake dropped from 90 to 80 rdr per 8 oz. glass. Well worth it. The thing I find most aggravating in dietary recommendations is the advice given in grams per kg of body weight metrics. Who talks like that? Yes, I know 454 g = 1 lb and 2.2 lbs = 1 kg. Tell us in ounces of shredded chicken per 100 lbs of body weight. Something, anything we can relate to. I don't have PD but this on-line study review has been eye-opening. I have friends who do and it's been hard to watch someone you care about struggling with PD. I follow Peter Attia's keto diet recommendations. I'm a stroke survivor with total left side paralysis who wasn't expected to survive. They told my sisters to start closing my estate. I regained 85% of my mobility in 3 months. Luck was def a part of it. The luck was due to finding myself under the care of 3 incredible female neuro-physio-therapists who were willing to think outside the box, a lot of humor and much hard work.That was 16 yrs ago. Just celebrated my 78th birthday. Don't believe everything you're told. Like Tom Brady said, everything he tells the media is 90% absolute BS.😁Nobody knows half of what they say, but they all feel obligated to give us hope. They mean well.🥰Trust, but trust in yourself and what your body is telling you too, and verify.

[@ParanikaNat]

The diet plans for both low-fat and keto are available under supporting information in the study - movementdisorders.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mds.27390

[@davidthompson4934]

This is really very important information for some of us and it's a shame the sound quality was so poor.

[@MrKynetic]

Damn...such great information but I really battled with the poor audio quality - gave up at the 36 min mark! 😢

[@Kyle-xt8ip]

we used to kid around about how my father in law couldn't smell anything. now we know why. I'm hoping and praying we can figure something out in the near future in regards to a cure.

[@Plainsman1300]

Dr John Bergman, chiropractor, treated a 74 year old woman, 12 years a Parkinson-s patient, in a wheelchair and he had her walking with a cane in 90 days. From my memory, times and age may vary.

[@Dee-mj3pu]

Dr. Berg is a chiropractor and Scientologist. His son says his father is a fraud. See the son's story on the internet.

[@Plainsman1300]

@@Dee-mj3pu dr Berg is not dr. BERGMAN. Have you noticed that fact?

[@brucebelmore1831]

His bias towards the Keto diet was obvious from early in this lecture. It would be nice to know what foods they were giving the low fat diet, the hunger complaints suggests they were getting under fed. This deck was stacked imho.

[@kenpumford754]

That’s why scientists perform randomized controlled trials, to remove any effects of bias. It’s the gold standard, and that’s what was done in this study.

[@johnallen7367]

Low fat is not the answer. High saturated fat diet, no sugar, no carbs and take them off statins. Brain is 25% cholesterol. Stop starving the brain of what it needs, and you will see magical results.

[@d.7641]

Great info. The raspy sound is very distracting and annoying to the point I didn’t finish it.

[@ParanikaNat]

Great study and life changer for me! I have been following Dr Matt’s Metabolic strategies - fasting (OMAD - one meal a day) and keto diet, along with medication, for my young onset Parkinson’s for about three years now. Metabolic strategies help with both motor and non-motor symptoms and I have been able to reduce my medication significantly. A lot of viewers have complained about audio quality. You can check out Dr Matt’s recent presentations ‘Dr Matthew Phillips - Parkinson's, Fasting, and Ketogenic Diets’, ‘Metabolic strategies in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s’ and ‘Dr. Matthew Phillips - 'Metabolic Strategies as Therapies in Cancer and Neurodegeneration' ‘.

[@betruebeart]

Yes, this diet has led me to be fully rid of all symptoms and off all medication as well. Keep studying this please!

[@everythingbiomed4390]

@@betruebeart jj

[@BluegrassBarn]

Great study and consideration of variables. Were the males and females who participated equally divided between the two groups, to eliminate the possibility of sex-specific outcomes skewing the results?

[@BluegrassBarn]

I am not all the way through the video, so that question may be answered in the remainder.

[@bettymar135]

Trying to listen, but sound keeps cutting out. Have to stop😢

[@drmclphillips]

Yes sorry, poor sound quality in this one...Matt.

[@yanshen1795]

Has any studies been done 16/8 or 5/2 intermittent fasting affects on Parkinson's ... I have been experimenting with it ... side benefit my high blood sugar is normalized ... Michael ... p.s . my gut is fine ... :)

[@perryfroze]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5LMqn2ggLynY5I Check that link, might be the Parkinsons study you're looking for

[@macclift9956]

Iron overload?

[@javiertuel5013]

Do you think it is beneficial for a person with PD to fast?

[@niladri82]

Check Mike Mutzel's video on it. According to that video, fasting and autophagy help.

[@marcanderson5612]

too much static

[@sabrinamcalister200]

Meeting Dr Igudia KZbin channel was the beginning of a new life for me after using his herbs medication in curing my type 2 diabetes completely