Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
www.parkinsonsdisease.me

The farm is doing well.  We finally had rain…what a blessing …it had been a dry start to the summer.  Things have really perked up after three good rains.  We are having our support group picnic the third Saturday of July.  Hopefully the garden will be producing well by then.

Just had a new grand baby and made a trip to Indiana.  What a wonderful , perfect child God has blessed us with.  Something else to keep me going in the fight against PD.

As far as the instructions for making the fava tincture…here you go.

You have to grow the plants  to have the material to work with (or know someone who can grow them for you).  This is the only difficult part.

Once you have the plants, you collect the “tops” (the small ball of immature , unopened flowers and leaves that grow at the top of the stem. )  The plant will later make these unopened balls at the base and on the stems as the plant matures..these also can be used.

Once you collect the “balls” , dry them in a dehydrator til completely dry. 

Place them then into a clean jar with a lid ( glass peanut butter jars work fine). Pour brandy over the tops until they are covered completely. Put the lid on and place it in a dark cupboard.  Shake the tincture one to three times a day for a month.

Now the tincture is ready to be strained.  I use a stainless steel tea strainer and press the liquid out of the leaves.  Let the tincture stand at least a day in a dark cupboard, and then decant off (this means to pour very slowly, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the jar). Now you are ready to pour the tincture into small dropper bottles . 

The tincture tested out at 2 drops = 1 mg l-dopa. (Of course this may vary with the type of soil the favas are grown on/ weather/etc. the amount of brandy used…should just cover the tops in the jar). Also the fava plants should be grown organically so it is safe for food.

If you are going to use fava beans for supplementing l-dopa for PD….be sure to have aG6pd blood test done to make sure you are not deficient in a specific enzyme that is necessary to metabolize fava.  There is a genetic disorder called favaism that you should research before using any product of the fava plant or bean.  If you have inherited this disorder…favas can be fatal to you.    Favas can also react with certain PD Meds and you must consult with your doctor and do your research before you use yourself as a guinea pig like I did. 

I took a big chance taking it the first time myself. And if you try using favas for supplementation, you are taking a risk too…..everyone’s PD is different, different causes, different symptoms, different reaction to meds, different progression.  What helps one person will not help another.   God is good and blessed me with just the thing that I needed to take care of my symptoms.. If you try the tincture…it is at your own risk, like me.

I started out taking 2 drops in the morning / 2 drops in the afternoon / 2 drops at bedtime. My symptoms have progressed, but the tincture still makes them disappear.  I now take about 6 to 8 drops of tincture, 4 to 6 times a day. Basically about 1 1/2 teas tincture daily. I also make fermented dried papaya and take it every morning….it is amazing too.

Well, that is all I have time to write now.  I hope this helps someone. 

God Bless You

Aunt Bean