All posts by Parkinsons Recovery

Sprouting Fava Beans

sprouting fava beans
What follows are several questions Aunt Bean answers about sprouting fava beans and making a fava bean tincture commercially.
Robert Rodgers PhD
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
www.parkinsonsdisease.me
Hi Aunt Bean: 

I am trying to help out a close friend with PD. My daughters are both herbalists so have training in making, etc. I have been helping people heal on various levels starting with my own issues, for many years.
My questions are:
1. Would sprouting fava beans have significant benefits?  I tend to think so but would have to be ongoing so investing in a sprouter would be worth it. Appreciate your thoughts.
2. The creating a tincture process seems like a good direction my daughter might be interested in, but it is drawn out. Has anyone you know dabbled commercially in making a fava tincture?
Thanks for all you given to many
Sam

Answer to questions from Sam

  Sprouting organic sproutable dry beans is very simple and requires no special equipment. In a large bowl Soak  2 Cups favas in 5 cups  water, enough to keep them covered for 24 hours (filtered water. )Then drain them into a colander (bowl with drain holes) . Pour back into large bowl and rinse well. Then, back into colander to drain. Do the rinse and drain 3 times a day until they begin to sprout well. Usually, this takes 3 to 4 days unless the beans are old or are a variety with very tough skins. Keep rinsing 3 times a day until they  sprout. Please read the downloadable pamphlets on how to sprout beans and suggestions how to process and eat them or use them to make sprout balls, etc.
I don’t know  of anyone making the Fava tincture commercially and wish someone would.
God bless and guide you  Sam in how to help your friend.

Aunt Bean

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab®4

——– Original message ——–
From: Robert <robert@zeropointhealers.com>
Date: 5/31/2018 3:59 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: “‘SandraCares.Bowman'” <sandracares.bowman@gmail.com>
Subject: FW: Hi and a few questions

 

From: Sam LaTona [mailto:samlatona06@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2018 8:18 AM
To: robert@parkinsonsrecovery.com
Subject: Hi and a few questions

Hi Aunt Bean
I am trying to help out a close friend with PD. My daughters are both herbalists so have training in making, etc. Ive been helping people heal on various levels starting with my own issues, for many years.
My questions are:
1. Would sprouting fava beans have significant benefits?  I tend to think so but would have to be ongoing so investing in a sprouter would be worth it. Appreciate your thoughts.
2. The creating a tincture process seems like a good direction my daughter might be interested in, but it is drawn out. Has anyone you know dabbled commercially in making a fava tincture?
Thanks for all you given to many
Sam LaTona

Eggplant Tincture?

eggplant, growing Fava beans

Question:

I was talking to Robert Rodgers this week and just learned about this.  It’s too late in the season to grow my own but I can certainly purchase organic fava beans and try to sprout them..  wow!

Once upon a time RR interviewed someone who drank a lot of eggplant juice for the nicotine.  Have you ever tried tincturing eggplant? 

Many thanks

Betsy

Reply

I never tried juicing egg plant, but I grow it and enjoy making humus from baked , pureed egg plant. Have also made it into vegie burgers , egg plant jerky , and Parmesan , and soup.
The person you heard speak about juicing was Glen Pettibone. He has done blog talk radio for Robert a few times. I do juice lightly steamed fava pods and use this to make dried l-dopa chips….very portable.
Depending where you are located, you may be able to grow a fall crop, starting the 1st  of July and the beans will start October 1 and go until you get below 26 degrees. I had a good fall crop here one time. (usually it gets too hot and dry for them in August and the weather turns cold for just a few days the end of October and kills them) So it is iffy at best. End of February or 1st of March is best time to plant them in east TN. May God Bless and  guide you.
Aunt Bean

 

Fava Beans

fava beans and dopamine

Fava Beans Question for Aunt Bean

Hi, I stumbled across your website today. Are the skins on the fava beans okay to eat and are there any nutrients in them? also if someone has already been taking the medicine for Parkinson’s Disease can they still use the fava beans? should they get off the medicine and just do a street diet with fava beans in it or should they stay on the medicine?
Thank you
The fava bean inner skins are ok to eat. Some people like them and some don’t.  The more mature the bean , the chewier they are.If you have never eaten fava beans, have a g6pd blood test done to make sure you do not have the enzyme deficiency that can be devistating if you have favism (look up on internet) A person taking PD meds can start slow on fava beans and if they help to relieve symptoms, you can very gradually cut back on meds. It is tricky and doctors won’t  usually know how to help you. If you overdose on beans, you might not notice. Keep a good journal of symptoms and when and how many beans eaten. Also when and type meds taken. Also other foods eaten. Everything comes together to be able to see the full picture. Put a special mark the times during the day when you really felt good. Some people can get completely off meds.. Fod Bless and guide you.
Aunt Bean

 

 

Farm Update from Aunt Bean

Uncategorized

 

Farm Update from Aunt Bean

Greetings from east Tennessee. Aunt Bean is doing very well.  I am still soaking nuts to eat daily and that seemed to be a big missing link in my nutritional picture. My mandolin playing is still improving and we are still entertaining at local nursing homes. I have started  making puppets to strum the mandolin …it seems that my bear is the favorite for little children and the elderly. His name is “Bearstrum”  . It makes it a little more difficult to play because of the extra fur around my pick….but if I goof up,  just blame the bear!!
I’ve been into the seed catalogs and ordered already for spring planting. My favorite new plant from last year is toothache plant from Baker Creek Seeds….anyone out the that is a gardener should check this on out. It is amazing, and really works on toothaches, muscle pains, arthritis, etc..  A new must have plant on the farm. May God Bless You and grant you happiness and healing in 2018.
Love, Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Tincture

fava bean tincture, , ,

Aunt Bean: May I ask if its not recommended to take Fava if you are taking Levodopa (synthetic dopamine)?

Yes, fava bean tincture can be taken with levodopa….you just have to make sure that you are not taking more dopamine than you need to function properly. It is a balancing act when using pharmaceuticals and everyone is different…so it is up to you as an individual on an hourly basis as to how much you need. I feel in my heart as a “citizen scientist and self imposed Guinea pig”, that if you take more than you need, your body will stop making it’s own. Also, that you will continually need more. Like in taking pain pills, etc…. always having to increase.  I test my dopamine levels by my symptoms and doing a finger tapping test. My left hand will slow down to nearly nothing when I am low….so does my mandolin playing.  So, my  sister…please always be careful, go slowly into any new “tests” of meds. Start low dose, not high , and work up to the bare minimum that makes you functional.  Find the foods that help you the most…..eat right, exercise and deep breathe in the warm sunshine. Laugh a lot and try not to get stressed about little things. Always count your blessing and try to help others. Foods that help me most are PAPAYA, fermented or fresh; blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, apples, eggs,  Nuts , green tomatoes, egg plant, sweet potatoes. I am mostly sugar free (I eat about 1/3 Cup ice cream a day) and definitely gluten free. 
May God Bless and Guide You, 
Aunt Bean

Sprouting Fava Beans

fava bean spouts, fava beans and dopamine, , ,

All about Sprouting Fava Beans for Dopamine

Aunt Bean:

I live in the city and got diagnosis of PD when it was already hot. Initially could not find any fresh fava beans at all & had difficulty finding dried beams.

Finally found some dried beams and started sprouting them.  What size of dried bean do you use?  Does size or the color of dried beans affect L-dopa amount?

The size and color of the fava beans does not matter,  though they will all have different amounts of L-dopa content. It would be best if you can find a source for the one you like best and use it consistently so each one does not effect your dopamine levels differently. You need to try to keep this as level as possible , and only take the smallest amount that you can to control symptoms. I think the more you take, the less your body thinks it needs to keep making and you want to just give it what it is lacking and not any more. If you are going the route of making food your medicine like I am….also supply it with nuts for thiamine, apples, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon and especially papaya (if you do not have a latex allergy) Gets lots of exercise and sunshine, breath deep , laugh, dance etc….

Recently found long fresh (6” or longer) Fava beans at vegetable stands and market but farmers growing season is almost over.

I am afraid I am using the wrong kind of dried  fava beans and preparing fresh and dried beans poorly. The beans I found are either small to medium sized with hull removed or large (1“ to 1 ½: long) with hull still intact. Have sprouted both but after 4 days most beans but not all have sprouted but no leaves.  Do I need to let the bean get a leaf?

A report sent to me by a researcher said that the 4th day of sprouting is generally the highest in dopamine content. Some varieties peak at day 3. *my guess is the ones that sprout a day before the others would peak first.  The beans do not need a leaf.

Dried FAVA BEANS : How I have been sprouting and processing:

1 –  Soaked beans for 24 hours

2 -  Rinse beans 2=4 times a day for 3-4 days (depended on when white , pointed sprout appeared)

3 –  rinsed hulled beans

4 – ?/ (you mention cutting away the bad parts.  Is that the black along the edges?)

5 – steamed raw beans for 4-6 minutes till tender.

6 – quick froze beans and then bagged for later use.

7 –  Eat/swallow 1/.4 to 1/2 beans as need for symptoms. This is good for me from ½ to 1½ hours.

How long can sprouts be kept without freezing or out of freezer? (mine seem to start going bad after 3-4 days in fridge)

In sprouting….after the final rinse.  Peel the beans, cut away black spots (beans should be white) they can have a light brown spot around where the little white point of the sprout emerges though, that’s ok.  Rinse beans again and steam for 5 minutes, not til tender (you will loose some dopamine). Freeze and eat as needed
I don’t understand eating 1/.4 to 1/2 bean  (Do you mean  :  1/2 a bean   or  1/2 an ounce   or 1/2 a cup?
You might keep a smaller bag of beans in freezer to keep from getting into the big one several times a day, or grind the beans and take out a tablespoon or what ever you need / or the amount you will use each day and put that in the refrigerator.

 

FRESH FAVA _ How I have been processing:

1 – Cut pods into 1” sections, include beans

2 – Steam pod lets for 6-10 minutes tender (fork  easily Penetrate)

3 – Quick freeze & then freeze & package in plastic bags

4 – Eat ¼ – ½ pieces of 1 ” pod periodically – seems to give quite a L-dopa rush if eat large piece, need to drink a lot of water

Sounds like your method is ok of processing them.  We like to remove the bean from the pod to enjoy with meals and they don’t have as much dopamine as sprouts or the pod. If you have a juicer, steaming the pods lightly until just bright green and then chilling them and juicing them works well. Then you don’t have the indigestible fibers. If the fiber don’t seem to bother you….that’s ok. With juicing them…you could freeze in ice cube trays and take out one and put in glass of water to sip on during the day as needed (keep  cold in fridge)   or  add ground flax seed or chia to thicken the juice and make “bean blobs” in the dehydrator about the size of a 1/2 teaspoon and dry them. We still freeze the blobs to keep them longer…up to a year and my friend only takes 1 or 2 a day.    I hope this helps you.

Thanks for your information.

Lyn

You are welcome. God Bless you and guide you on your journey with PD.

Aunt Bean

Fava Beans Growing Season

growing Fava beans

I’m Belgian and I live in Romania for more than 25 years. Got PK 3 years ago,I refuse to use chemicals and until now just take mucuna pruirens powder for L-dopa. Seems that the fava beans are much better! My question is : where can I find seeds for that wonderful remedy? In order to begin also my self a little farm for that. Can we imagine to grow that all year long in covered solar construction? I’m new in gardening… Thank you for your answer,god bless you!

Answer from Aunt Bean
I don’t know the weather conditions in Romania. Fava bean plants like cool weather. Here in Tennessee, I plant in First of March and begin to harvest plant tops the first of May. Usually harvest the first beans the first of June. By the time July comes, the weather is too hot for them and they quit producing and need to be thrown in a compost pile. Sometimes they can be planted as a fall crop, but it is iffy….sometimes you get nothing for your effort in the fall if the cold weather comes too soon.
I don’t know if you are able to order seeds from America or not. There are several places to order organic Fava bean seeds here. There is a place called International Gourmet that ships canned beans and juice. It would be one way to see if the Fava beans help you before going to the effort of trying to grow them. They work for some people, but for others they don’t. So, I would try to answer these questions and then make a decision on the basis of how well they help you. Then consider your growing season. Hope this helps for now. Any questions are welcome.
God bless and guide you,
Aunt Bean 

Thiamine (B1) for Parkinson’s

Uncategorized
 Aunt Bean is doing something a bit different, and it is helping a lot.  Now boosting thiamine(  B1)  by foods.  I soak a brazil nut , 5 cashews, 5 almonds, 5 pistachio,

2 bitter apricot pits ( seeds that look like small almonds)  , and a dried organic unsulfured apricot in filtered water overnight.  Then rinse them well in the morning and eat them.  I am taking my fava L-dopa tincture about once a day instead of 5 times a day  (and less of a dose). My body is functioning better/ my mandolin playing is 100% improved.
Here is an article about an Italian Dr. treating PD with high doses of thiamine.  http://easyhealthoptions.com/italian-doctor-curing-parkinsons-disease-with-thiamine/
I hope this information will help some of my brothers and sisters out there with PD….it has made a huge difference in my life since the first of February this year.
The gardens are looking good.  We planted 3 black raspberry canes this morning, The favas are looking good. Time to weed, hill and mulch them. I call it  “The bedding of the beans” ,a very special time for me for the last few years. I will have been using the L-dopa fava tincture now since October of 2009. So, they have been a big part of my life.  Eat well, exercise, get out in the sun, and play!
God Bless you.
Love ,  Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Sprouts

fava bean spouts
Using fava bean sprouts is the fastest way to get a usable L-dopa product to take.  If you are sprouting beans the fava bean sprouts have the most L-dopa at day 4 or 5 of sprouting. It seems to be most productive to soak beans for 24 hrs, then,  rinse and drain these 3 times a day for 4 more days. Then at that stage, break off any stem and set aside. Cut off any bad spots and peel the out-er skin off  of the bean to discard .  Then rinse the bean well and  steam them for 1 minute to destroy bad bacteria .
I would then put the beans and the tiny stems in a food processor and blend together  (or chop finely together) This you could dry into a powder to take.  Something else you could try is to freeze in a thin layer squeezed flat in a freezer zip lock and frozen , so he could use as needed, but it would keep fresh a long time.

We had good L-dopa source using the ground sprouts for “Sprout Balls”…recipe in the booklet downloadable here (Click on the Handbook on the right column here). My friend used about 8 of these a day for l- dopa supplementation.

The young leaves do not have much L-dopa…they can be eaten as salad by anyone without much effect. The buds for  at the top of the stems about the time that the first flowers begin to appear on the plant (approx. 5 weeks or so after planting and each stem will get one at the top). You have to harvest the bud ball at just the right time or it opens up and just looks like tiny leaves at the top of the stem. Ants and aphids are very attracted to this part of the plant and it is good to harvest it to make the plant send out new stems from the bottom (thus more buds) and for more bean production on more stems also.
As far as going to a farmers field to pick, make sure he doesn’t spray pesticides (that he grows them organically). Sprays will make people sick along with the bees and bugs.
All you will find in the field if he is harvesting are bean pods.  Any size pod is usable from very tiny to big. I would wash them. Open ones with bean inside and remove them for eating..(.they are delicious…need to be lightly steamed and taste like peas) Then juice the pods.  You can freeze juice in small containers or ice cube trays to use as drink or make the Bean blob recipe in the book from the juice,  adding something to thicken it like chia seeds or flax seeds ground, some salt or other seasonings you like . Line your dehydrator trays with parchment paper and drop your mixture in tiny blobs on the paper close together to dry. It works well to put mix in a zip lock bag , seal and cut off a time (like cake decorating bag)
The bean pods can be used for tincture, but you have to chop them very fine and use a press to squeeze the tincture out of them when the 4 weeks of shaking them in brandy are finished. We had to make something special to squeeze the brandy out without leaving a lot behind in the pods. Hope this helps
Love Aunt Bean

Thiamine as Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

Uncategorized

Just wanted to update you on what I have been doing lately  and it has changed PD symptoms immensely. We are very excited and want to share the news so it might help my brothers and sisters with PD also.

Since the middle of January, I have started eating more foods that were unusual for me ….I strongly believe that our food is our medicine and what we eat affects our whole body function.  I ordered raw Brazil Nuts/ raw cashews/ dried apricots and  bitter apricot kernels after reading about things that help cancer. Started soaking about 10 apricot kernels in water for about 12 hours , then rinsing and drying them well and putting them in a tiny glass container in the refrigerator.  In the morning, as a supplement to my normal diet , I eat one Brazil nut, 2 of the bitter apricot kernels and one dried apricot all together and try to chew them a long time. (The Brazil nut is big , so I start with it first, breaking it a little in my teeth before adding the apricot and kernels).
I am also eating a handful of raw cashew nuts and a handful of pistachio nuts daily. An apple a day and when possible , an avocado , also (price goes from .69 to $1.50 each on these, so I will buy them when they are under a $1.00 each). We are also buying kiwi fruit and enjoying them often. They are so good for you! I also added over a teaspoon of chia seeds a day and my bowels are moving better.

 

After a couple of weeks doing this. I started noticing that I wasn’t taking my homemade L-dopa tincture from fava beans as often. After a month, some days I only needed it one time (some days I don’t need any) It really varies a lot depending on the other foods I have eaten (especially, whether I have had egg plant and peppers sautéed with onions and garlic cooked up with morning eggs).

DIET DOES AFFECT US SO MUCH. I wasn’t sure why my new additions to my diet were affecting my PD symptoms so much. Then, a precious friend sent me this link to a Dr. in Italy using Thiamine (B1) for PD treatment…

Parkinsons vs thiamine
http://easyhealthoptions.com/ italian-doctor-curing- parkinsons-disease-with- thiamine/

and it explained why I was so much better. Another friend found the link on thiamine and diabetes (I am also type 2 diabetic)

a study about thiamine and diabetes – most diabetics are thiamine deficient.
               http://jeffreydachmd.com/thiamine-deficiency-and-diabetes/
Anyway, my mandolin playing has improved so much, my ability to talk to strangers , and children. I am working on Bible based puppet shows and making puppets again (hadn’t done needlework, besides mending, for a very long time). I really didn’t think I could feel any better than I had been. Thought things were going very well….BUT, I am functioning much better now on much  less L-dopa supplementation.   So, I just wanted to encourage my brothers and sisters with PD to try these food sources of thiamine.
FARM NEWS: Managed to get a small area of the lower garden tilled before heavy rains and made into raised beds. After the rains, we easily planted 430 fava beans into these very soft raised beds on March the 2nd (first above ground planting day in March)  First time I’ve been on schedule in years. Still need to get another area tilled and planted in between rains this week. It’s hard work, and we stay so busy . God is good. Life is good.  Eat good organic food and exercise in the sunshine.  God bless you all.
Love,  Aunt Bean