All posts by Parkinsons Recovery

Greetings from Bean Acres!

farm update
I hope everyone is staying warm this winter.
I am preparing to start a new pamphlet next week if time allows on gluten free cooking/baking recipes that I am using. People like the egg plant made into a dish prepared like fried green tomatoes the best. I make them into everything imaginable…vegie patties are my favorite to pull out of the freezer for a meal or snack (.making some right now) Just cooked up whole cranberries and apple pieces and thickened them with non-GMO cornstarch with a little stevia , cinnamon and lemon juice and a few drops of almond extract….after cooling ,also added broken walnut pieces on top…YUM.
Soaking beans today to plant more favas in the greenhouse tomorrow. Aunt Bean is well…still on the same supplements that I was using in the summer, but not getting near enough exercise in the cold weather. Just got out my dad’s old rowing machine and worked out for about 15 minutes this morning. It felt good and I will try to do this several times a day if possible. We must get sufficient exercise and super nutrition to fight PD. WE CAN WIN!!!
May God Bless and Guide you all. STAY STRONG
Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Tincture Preparation

fava bean tincture

Question: 

Can the fava bean tincture be made without alcohol? I get migraines from alcohol and also it is processed in the body as sugar which is contraindicated to Lonnie Herman’s protocol.

What blood test did she say to have before using tinctures from fava beans

Thank you,

Lillian

Answer: 

I think the tincture can only be made using brandy,  so it crosses the blood brain barrier, but if you put amount needed in a coffee cup and pour boiling water over it….the alcohol evaporates leaving the ldopa in the water. ldopa is water soluble.

Blood test is called G6PD.

Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Tincture

fava bean tincture

Do you know of anyone that sells the fava bean tincture?  My husband was
recently diagnosed with PD.  He is not taking any prescription meds as he is
concerned over the side effects and has heard the  longer one is on them the
less effective they are.

JoAnn

Answer:

I don’t  know of anyone who sells the fava bean tincture. It gets harder every year to get enough made for myself. My fall crop….5 lbs of fava beans all died in severe heat and very dry weather. So, being a farmer, we are subject to good conditions and poor. Good crops and possibly no crop. There are companies that sell fava dopamine capsules,  but off hand I can’t  think of company names. You can buy organic dry fava beans that are sprout able and follow the recipe in the download -able booklet for sprouting the beans to eat, and for making fava sprout balls. Another option is to try mucuna puriens. You can purchase  them from many sources. They are also a bean that contain natural ldopa. Eating papaya also helps. Fermented papaya does even more…if you can’t  manage to ferment your own…it can be purchased under the brand FPP . It is a dry powder . I hope this helps and I have answered you questions. God Bless and guide you.

 Love,

Aunt Bean

Preparation of Fava Beans for Parkinson’s

fava bean spouts, fava bean tincture
What follows are Aunt Beans answers to questions about fava beans. Questions are at the top followed by answers from Aunt Bean.
Robert Rodgers PhD
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
Questions:

  Ordered five pounds of fava beans online. Now I have separated the beans from the pods and dehydrated the pods. Our questions:

1) Beans: Most are a light green color, others are close to white. Should we try to sprout these beans following your 4-day method, or just cook them via steaming? Does the color of the bean make a difference with respect its ability to sprout?

2) Pods: My plan is to put them in a food processor, chop up, then cover with brandy for a month. My wife wants to put some pods in a Vitamix and mix in some brandy and coconut water and then sip this. She also thought about Vitamixing pods and beans and brandy together. Do you think that will work?

Many thanks,

Carlene and Stan

Answers from Aunt Bean
“Since you have already dried the outside pods….yes, they can be covered with brandy and shook for a month. What I did this summer was skip the brandy and just powdered them in a food processor. This destroyed the non-digestible fibers in the pods so my system could handle them. Keeping this dry powder frozen will keep it’s L-dopa for at least 6 months. Keeping a  small jar in the refrigerator to use daily has worked out well for me. I just put about 1 1/2 teas. in  with my morning supplement bowl of: hemp protein powder, ground flax seeds,  papaya ferment that I have dried and powdered and plain yogurt. Oh, I also made my own grape seed extract this year by juicing the grapes and then drying and grinding the leftover seeds and skins. I put that in my supplement bowl also. Let the yogurt hydrate the contents for about 15 minutes…adding water if necessary as it gets dry as the powders soak up all the liquid. Don’t put this dry into your stomach …hydrate all powders well before eating.  If you put the pods into brandy…it is very hard to squeeze all the brandy back out of them and we had to have a press made to do it sufficiently because much was wasted .So, I suggest powdering them instead. This powder can also be added to foods anytime during the day…be creative with it…Smoothies/ cookies, etc.   
 As far as the inner beans go. The green ones are the best for eating. The ones the are whiter will be harder and less tasty to eat. They might sprout for you if they are mature enough. Try soaking them 24 hrs and then start the rinsing process in a colander 3 times a day until they sprout. If they don’t sprout…cook and eat like the green ones. I would steam and peel them before eating. If they do sprout for you…yes you can give them time to get a one leaf started to grow/ chop and tincture them for a small portable bottle to carry with you. I carry a tincture with me all the time, because my dopamine level can drop suddenly…the tincture gives me a quick recharge within a few minutes and my balance and gait come back to normal again. Sometimes I drop suddenly when playing music out somewhere and have to take some while performing. Not many people ask what I was doing when I take out my dropper bottle and squirt a couple droppers into my my mouth…but if someone does, I just explain to them that I have Parkinson’s disease and that it is my homemade supplement that takes care of my symptoms so that I can function normally.”
Aunt Bean

Grape Seed Extract

grape seed extract
We are harvesting grapes right now and started wondering if we could  make our own grape seed extract. Finally hit on something that was easy. We washed the grapes,  threw them in my vita mix blender. It juiced it, we poured this thru a strainer and let it drip out Put the juice into peanut butter  jars and froze it for future use. The rest (seeds and skins) went into the dehydrator on parchment paper to dry. The dried product was ground into powder and I am taking a half teaspoon a day. Somehow…I think it is making a difference  in how I feel. Actually  woke without pain 2 days in a row.  Just thought it might be helpful for anyone else harvesting grapes right now.    My fall fava did not come up…so 5 lb of beans  were lost. Hopefully , there is enough tincture and bean pod powdered  to get me thru til the spring crop.     May God  Bless you  my brothers  and sisters with PD.
Love ,  Aunt Bean

Fava Beans Experiment a Success

fava beans and dopamine, Fava research mimi-farm
 Success with last experiment.  Harvested fava beans. Shelled the washed beans, and steamed the pods for about a minute til bright green. Then, threw the pods in food processor and chopped them up. Spread them out on dehydrator  mesh trays and turned it on to 125 degrees for at least 14 hours til completely  dry. Next I powdered them in coffee grinder. I have been able to take one and a half teaspoons In the morning and my symptoms didn’t  start showing  up til after 4 pm  and once I was ok until morning. I put the fava powder in with my morning  supplements and let it stand about 20 minutes to  rehydrate. It WORKED  for  me.
Hope this helps someone.
Love, Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Sprouts

fava bean spouts

Hello Aunt Bean.

After some research I’ve decided to grow sprouts from dry fava beans and make a tincture. I think it is better then eating pods every day. For this process I need dry beans, for example from Whole foods. Soak in water 24 hours, plant in soil, grow to 6 inch. If I understand correctly, we can cut off the shoots and they will regrow? ( so it on youtube). Is this correct?
Also, why do we have to dry the shoots in the dehydrator before soaking in brandy for a month? What is the drying time? And is the amount of levodopa greater in the sprouts then the mature pods?

Sincerely,

Laura Vish

 

By the research done by some chemists on the favas in testing for strength of l-dopa. They have a larger amount of l-dopa at 4 days of sprouting. This begins at the time they are put to soak for 24 hrs. Then drain/ rinse and let drain. I let mine stand in a colander then and rinse/ drain 3 times a day. At the 4th day time point , I steamed them and chopped them fine, placing them in brandy / just covered for a month and shaking them each day. (It is better to shake 3 times a  day if you can remember)
Sprouts are not the same as pods. The green pods have different qualities and effects. Small bean pods with little baby bean seeds are said to have about the same l-dopa as green mature pods with full size beans. So, I let the grow to maturity, shell out the beans for steaming and eating, then brake the bean pods and grind them in the food processor to small pieces. Then, I put them in a jar with brandy and do” the shake “for a month .  Hope this helps.
The top bud tincture is better for me at night for sleeping. The pods for day , because in taking them at bedtime my sleep won’t come. My pod and sprout tinctures have not yet been tested for l-dopa amounts…so pray I shall someday have someone who will do this so it can be documented.   Good Luck with your experimenting with favas.
Love,  Aunt Bean

How to Preserve Fava Beans

fava bean tincture

Hello.

If I need to make a tincture out of sprouted beans ( these will be the beans and a little green sprouts coming out of them), do I need to dry them first or mash and cover with brandy.  Do sprouted beans have same amount of levadopa. Also is it possible to make powder from pods using dehydrator. My parents have access to fresh fava beans, but it will only
last for the summer. How do I preserve large quantity for the next 9-10 months?

Yes, you can lightly steam fava pods and dry them in a dehydrator and then  powder them. I like to juice them also after light steam and make chips. The recipe is in the fava pamphlet on this website is downloadable. This is a good way to preserve them for the year.
Aunt Bean

Fava Bean Tincture

fava bean spouts, fava bean tincture, fava beans and dopamine

Hello.

My Dad is currently eating 4 oz of fresh fava beans a day. They store he is buying them will only have them during summer. How can he make it last?

If we are making tincture with pods and brandy ( why only brandy if I may ask), shake it for a month and use liquid. How much of this liquid is equal to the 4 oz he is eating now. He is eating pods and beans. How much pods do I need to last about 9 months? And is it ok to drink alcohol for the rest of
his life?

Also, is there a way to make powder out of pods. The question again how much powder equal to the 4 oz of fresh fava beans.

I couldn’t find any answers to these questions and will appreciate your help
very much.

Sincerely,

Laura

Brandy crosses the blood brain barrier, other alcohol does not do this so well I am told. I hold my extract under my tongue and that seems to make it work very quickly before it goes to my stomach.  You can also put the amount OF EXTRACT IN A COFFEE MUG AND POUR BOILING WATER OVER IT TO TAKE OFF THE brandy. I do  not know how many drops of tincture he will need for a dose.. Start small (10 drops perhaps and check the effect, and go up or down using the minimal amount for symptom relief. You will have to judge this for yourself and experiment. I started with 2 drops 3 times a day for a while.  This is my 7th year on tincture and now I require about 40 drops 4 to 6 times a day. Also eating egg plant and peppers are a great support with the fava  and especially papayas.
Hope this helps.
Aunt Bean

Dopamine from Fava Bean Plants

Uncategorized
Here is Aunt Bean’s response to one of the questions submitted.

Question about Fava Beans

Hello. My parents bought fresh fava beans today. They chopped the pods, but
my dad says he can not eat it like that. Is the tincture of pods has the
same amount as the tincture of flowers like Aunt Bean is making? Also, what
can be used instead of brandy. Or alcohol preserves beans. 

Aunt Bean’s Response

“The mature bean pods are indigestible.  They can be juiced and frozen in ice cube trays to use for dopamine supplementation . What is hard is figuring out the perfect dose for each person’s need. We are all so completely different  and at different  stages of PD. I would suggest trying an ice cube size in a glass of water and taking sips of this to find a good dose.  Taking a few sips and waiting 20 minutes  before trying more will give you an idea of any changes  in your function.  Try finger taping with both hands before taking and after 20 minutes. You are the only one who can judge improvement.  Also , if the problem  is with walking  or balance….test those things before and after. Tincturing pods is a long process  and this will give you an idea if it will work.
To make the fava bean tincture, the bean pods should be chopped very fine and yes, use only brandy because it crosses the blood brain barrier. If the pods are not chopped fine, they are very hard to squeeze the brandy out of…we have to use a strong press. It is not the flowers that I use for tincturing,  but the flower bud that forms at the top of each stem..that is where the ants and aphids congregate…they need the extra dopamine to feel good too perhaps. Also, if the top of the fava are pinched out, the aphids will usually leave the plant alone.
 
Pinching out the top of each stem is also beneficial  in making the plant  bushier….and they send out more stems from the base. Thus, more tops, more flowers  and  more beans. God bless you as you experiment with fava for PD.  I have been using them now since Oct of 2009 and still no side effects. I have had to increase my dose each year, but am still only taking about 40 drops 5 times a day. Thus, I am taking about 20 mg times 5  ,which is  about (100mg per day). I feel eating a good gluten free/sugar free diet and plenty of exercise is so important.  Be active.  Be involved with the people and activities you love.  For me , it is my husband of 13 months, church and music and gardening. God bless and guide you.”
 
Aunt. Bean