Through trial and error, Aunt Bean has discovered that a single day security guard is not sufficient to protect her precious fava beans that growing in her Tennessee garden. She thus implemented a backup plan which by all accounts is working beautifully.
Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com
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There are no fences which protect Aunt Bean’s Fava Bean plants from exploitation by deer, foxes and rabbits. How does she protect her valuable fava beans from being eaten by uninvited guests? Watch the video to discover her secret.
Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com
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At the Fava Beans Festival in Piney Flats, Tennessee, Aunt Bean shows how she harvests the tips of fava beans growing on her farm. She uses the tips (which look somewhat like delicate flowers) to make her magical tincture that has offered her sustained relief from her own Parkinson’s symptoms.
Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com
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I attended the amazing Fava Bean festival in Piney Flats, Tennessee sponsored by Aunt Bean. During a break, Aunt Bean revealed that her friend Patricia who is wheel chair bound and has Parkinson’s was an expert at line dancing.
Below is a video of Patricia line dancing with Aunt Bean’s help at the Fava Bean Festival. It was worth the trip from the west cost to witness Patricia Line Dance. At least you get to see the video.
Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Pioneers of Recovery
http://www.pioneersofrecovery.com
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Dear Aunt Bean:
Can you be more specific with the process for making the fava bean tincture? I have ordered seeds to grow the beans to make a tincture. Getting info from you would be easier than re-inventing the wheel.
1-What will the bean look like when it is mature?
ANSWER: At maturity…you will see the large beans firm and bulging inside the pod.
2-What then? Pick and let dry? Do they have to dry? Can dry beans be kept in freezer until ready to sprout at a later time, like in winter?
ANSWER:Â To use the l-dopa…we usually pick the pods a few inches long when pretty and green and unspotted. The mature beans are usually getting aphid spots that have to be cut out OR the whole been may need tossed. The mature bean pods and the young ones have the same amount of l-dopa (so we pick young!!)
We open the pods / remove the beans / steam pods and beans separately and enjoy the beans for meals (not much l-dopa , but a good gentle support for the next day). The pods we juice and usually make bean blobs (Dried chips) from them . The juice can also be frozen in ice cube trays and used as a drink when needed.
Mature dry beans can be kept in the freezer but it is not necessary unless you are afraid of bugs getting to them or varying house temperatures or dampness that would cause them to sprout.
3-How do you sprout them? in water? wrapped in a damp paper towel? Rinse? I have seen your info after that; steam, mash, soak in brandy.
ANSWER:  Soak for 24 hrs in a bowl in filtered water / then rinse 3 times a day for 3 days. Peel off the thin skin membrane then steam 6 to 8 minutes and freeze and eat as needed or make sprout balls / or can tincture them to make liquid l-dopa mash the sprouts/ place in a glass jar / cover with brandy and close tightly with lid/ shake for 1 month / strain/ let stand a day for the sediment to settle/ then siphon off (leaving sediment in the bottom) and label the bottle.
Start out with just a couple of drops until you find the proper dose for you.  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A G6pd blood test before doing anything with favas and consult your doctor before embarking on this adventure. If you are already on meds you can get into serious trouble experimenting.
4-About how many beans make how much tincture?
Answer….I usually use fava plant tops. I will have to do a new batch of sprout tincture to count beans for certain size jar,  but I’ll do that and report
5-Will the tincture “go bad” – thinking about how much can be made ahead.
ANSWER:Â We have kept tincture a year past that I don’t know
6-In my research I found a Fava called “Ianto’s Return” (sometimes Ianto’s, or sometimes Lanto’s) “Originally introduced by Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds. A large-seeded Guatemalan variety that reaches 6 feet tall. The bright yellow seeds are reputed to contain elevated levels of dopamine.” Is this the variety that you grow?
ANSWER:  I am using a generic variety (Who knows) that the health food store had shipped in for me Organic Sproutable Fava Beans”   Most favas are pretty much the same. I’ve tried 10 varieties so far *My favorite was Prescose Violetto (Italian) but Windsors are most common
Perhaps you can write up some instructions to email when requested – I think you have come upon something wonderful for those of us with PD Thank you for your discovery and for sharing! I’m looking forward to trying this and getting off of or reducing pharmaceutical dopamine.
Mary
Fava Bean Festival
* Special guest appearance of Robert Rodgers, PhD of Parkinsons Recovery
www.favabeans.parkinsonsrecovery.com
Sponsored by the NE TN Parkinson’s Support Group – Johnson City, TN
(With support from the Mountain States Health Alliance )
PLACE:
Edgefield Methodist Church Life Center
745 Pickens Bridge Road
Piney Flats, TN
DATE: Â Â Â Tuesday, June 19, 2012
TIME: Â Â Â (Registration begins at 8:30 AM)
(Fee of $10 to pay for expenses collected at the event)
PROGRAM: 9:00 AM – 2:30 PM at Life Center
See first-hand how “Aunt Bean†– (Sandra Bowman) - has used fava beans as a therapy for treating Parkinson’s. She will demonstrate how to grow and harvest this natural source of dopamine therapy, share recipes, and even provide a walking tour of Bean Acres at her farm in Piney Flats!
LUNCH: Â Â Â Â 11:30 AM -1:00 PM
(Lunch on your own – suggestions/directions will be given at the event)
TOUR OF BEAN ACRES FARM:Â Â Â Â Â 2:30 – ??
(Stay as long as you would like to stay!)
(Buses will transport attendees to and from the Life Center and Bean Acres)
Pre-Registration
*** Pre-register through the MSHA Health Resource Center***
Call 423-915-5200   Mon.- Sat. 8:00 am – 6:00 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. Ask to register for the Fava Bean Festival
What will the fava bean look like when it is mature?
The pods become large and the beans will be FULL feeling inside and firm. The bean’s pod may begin to darken slightly    Main thing to watch for is aphids.  Spray weekly with parsley tea (big hand full of dried parsley steeped in 1 gallon boiling water for half hour). Let cool and spray plants with this.
 Any special instructions on growing?
Some plants become tall and need stacked. Others are shorter. It is still helpful to hill soil around them for support. Watch for aphids!!
What then? Pick and let dry? Do they have to dry? Can dry beans be kept in freezer until ready to sprout at a later time, like in winter?
The green pods are the most useful part of the plant. Juice them at any size (as long as they are pretty…not black spotted).  Juice and freeze juice or make fava chips by adding ground flax seed. Salt to taste and dry blobs in dehydrator. These really work good for l-dopa.
You can also just drink the juice or freeze in ice cube trays perhaps in whatever dose size your body needs. Everyone is different!!
How do you sprout them?
Soak beans overnight in a large stainless steel or glass bowl. Then, rinse three times a day for 3 whole days. Peel, rinse and steam them for 8 minutes. They are then ready to freeze or stir fry with garlic & onions or make into Fava Sprout Balls :: Mash steamed beans: Add peanut butter and ground oatmeal.
Look up : “No Bake Cookies” on internet and revise as needed. People only have to find sproutable organic fava beans at the health food store to make these They are a very good source of l-dopa.
I really prefer using sprouts instead of the tincture of bean sprouts because there is not a great deal of l- dopa when it is completed. Thus for the tincture I prefer using the fava plant tops.
About how many beans make how much tincture?
Use 2 cups of steamed, mashed sprouts to 1 C Brandy
Will the tincture “go bad†– thinking about how much can be made ahead.
This I cannot answer…haven’t had it for more than a month at a time.  The fava tops tincture has lasted a year (haven’t had it any longer).
In my research I found a Fava called “Ianto’s Return†(sometimes Ianto’s, or sometimes Lanto’s) “Originally introduced by Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds. A large-seeded Guatemalan variety that reaches 6 feet tall. The bright yellow seeds are reputed to contain elevated levels of dopamine.†Is this the variety that you grow?
I have never had this variety . I buy generic, organic fava beans from the health food store in 20 lb bags.
I do highly recommend a G6pd blood test for anyone planning to try using favas for medicine.
I also recommend making your own fermented papaya. It helps symptoms amazingly well, even dried store papaya is helping a friend who is going natural like me. My friend also uses mucuna capsules 2AM   and one  1 PM and fava tops tincture in between and she is doing wonderfully.
May God Bless You and guide you in your quest for optimum good health.
Aunt Bean
How does fermented papaya work? Â
Response:
It seems to produce special enzymes that help us process dopamine in the body. It helped so very much with my night vision driving and night symptoms of Parkinson’s disease …
It is great and so easy to make for yourself. The purchased powder works also, but is very expensive to use if you are on a tight budget like myself.
Do not use any papaya products if you have a latex allergy or are pregnant.
Mucuna is another bean that contains natural l-dopa,…it is very good if you are lacking movement. I use it occasionally when I have a lot to do and am lacking energy resources. I have bought powder from Gary & Sun and make no bake mucuna balls (like cookies) . I really depend on my fava tops tincture in daily life…it keeps my symptoms under control and I can do whatever I need to (work sun up to sundown usually.
God Bless.
Aunt Bean
This week at Bean Acres we were blessed by having dry enough soil
to get the garden disked and tilled.   We managed to plant over 1,000
favas!
Aunt Bean
Well, I have good news for all of you…..I finished the experiment of using the fava bean seeds and sprouting them for three whole days..then steaming them for 6 minutes, mashing them and adding brandy to cover them in a jar….shaking it for a month each day. Then, straining off the brandy into a clean jar and letting it set for a day to have the sediment fall to the bottom,…carefully taking the clear liquid into another clean container from which it is put into dropper bottles.
It works for me also!!!! This means that if you can obtain organic, sprout-able fava beans (that can be used for cooking or planting (UNTREATED!!) you can make this fava l-dopa tincture. You do NOT have to grow a garden..which is impossible for most people because of their location and physical condition.
This to me is a tremendous find because I may not always be able to do the amount of work I do now, and it was a concern to me that I would not always be able to make my own l-dopa because of this. It doesn’t exist on the market….you have to make it yourself ! This new tincture has not been tested yet for it’s l-dopa content (which was done for the fava tops tincture .@..2 drops approx = 1mg l-dopa).
Hopefully I will find someone soon who can test it……BUT – I actually think it works better than the tincture made from fava tops…which is much harder to do with all the labor and fighting aphids for tops…the aphids like them best, too!!! As soon as it is tested I will report back. I don’t know why it is so hard to find people willing to test things when PD is so widespread…they want grant money for a few minutes of time spent doing a simple test. Somehow, that is hard for me to grasp.
Please to have a G6pd test done if you have thoughts of trying fava beans as a source of l-dopa to make sure you don’t have the enzyme deficiency which could make them quite harmful to you. Also. if you are on MAOI drugs or other PD meds that may need to be cut out or adjusted with adding fava…please talk to your doctor…don’t experiment on your own. I can experiment on myself because I am on no PD drugs…the only prescription med I take is Armour Thyroid (a natural thyroid supplement).
So, for now….Keep Exercising!! Eat Lots of good organic fruits & vegies …Check out the book Natural Therapies for Parkinsons by Laurie Mischley (Hope that is spelled right) It is a wonderfully informative book on what you can do to improve your health)
God Bless You
Love,
Sandra
For a free Handbook on how to make Aunt Bean’s fava bean tincture visit:
https://www.favabeans.parkinsonsrecovery.com
Robert Rodgers PhD
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery