Updated on April 7, 2023

Article Summary

• The connection between Parkinson’s disease and GI dysfunction has led some researchers to focus on targeting the gut-brain axis to manage both neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Although there is interest in developing a microbiome diet for patients with Parkinson’s, nutritional supplements designed to normalize the gut microbiome and to maintain the gut’s normal inflammatory response, such as butyric acid and curcumin, also offer exciting possibilities.
• Although more research will be needed to clarify the role of the gut microbiome in Parkinson’s, patients and practitioners might want to integrate high-quality nutritional supplements as an nutritional support option now.*

Patients and families have long known about the connection between Parkinson’s disease and the GI tract. That’s because gastrointestinal dysfunction is one of the most common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and like so many of these symptoms, it often goes unaddressed. 

However, as research in the field is advancing, there is a growing awareness of the importance of gastrointestinal function in the etiology of Parkinson’s disease. Many researchers now recognize the role of the brain-gut-microbiota axis in the onset and development of the condition. 

Not only might changes in the microbiome be responsible for gastrointestinal dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease patients, they might also be linked to some of the characteristic neurological symptoms of the condition, including tremors, visual problems, and dementia. 

This has led to calls for the development of a microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease that might help ameliorate symptoms and slow the progress of the condition.

The Connection Between Parkinson’s Disease and the Microbiome

Multiple studies suggest the microbiome in individuals with Parkinson’s disease is compositionally different from that of healthy patients. For instance, in 2018, researchers from the University of Luxembourg reported statistically significant differences in the type and abundance of the bacterial species in the GI tracts of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, as compared to healthy controls. This association was also true for individuals with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, a condition seen as a red flag for the future development of Parkinson’s disease. This further suggests the composition of the microbiome plays a role in both the onset of the disease and its progress over time.

When considering the possibility of a microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease, it is important to look at which types of bacteria are different in the GI tracts of individuals with the condition, as well as the functional impacts of these changes. 

A particularly insightful study addressing these topics was conducted in 2015 by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The researchers collected fecal samples from 38 individuals with Parkinson’s disease and 34 healthy controls and found that the abundance of butyrate-producing bacteria from the genera Blautia, Coprococcus, and Roseburia was far lower in patients with Parkinson’s disease than their healthy counterparts. 

Moreover, the Parkinson’s cohort was found to have higher levels of bacteria known to promote inflammation, including bacteria from the genus Ralstonia. These distinctions were associated with higher levels of colonic inflammation in the Parkinson’s cohort. This suggests that dietary strategies designed to maintain a normal inflammatory response in the gut, possibly including butyrate supplementation, might be a component of a future microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease patients.*

Another study out of Saarland University in Germany supports this notion. Like the researchers who conducted the first study, they compared the gut microbial composition of 34 individuals with Parkinson’s disease with 34 healthy controls. Once again, they found the abundance of bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids like butyrate was far lower in the gut microbiota of the Parkinson’s cohort. 

They also extended the study to include measurements of the actual levels of short-chain fatty acids produced by the bacteria remaining in the gut to evaluate whether the lack of these bacteria was actually having an impact on short-chain fatty acid levels. Indeed, the lack of bacteria ultimately meant lower concentrations of short-chain fatty acids in the GI tracts of the Parkinson’s cohort. This deficiency might be playing a role in the dysfunction of the gut-brain axis and the exacerbation of debilitating symptoms.

Preliminary Dietary Intervention Attempts for Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Given the potential connections between gastrointestinal dysfunction and the motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease might prove to be an effective management option. However, scientific studies on this possibility are still in their infancy. One of the interventions that has been proposed involves increasing the intake of probiotics, either through supplementation or the consumption of fermented foods, because this strategy directly introduces beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. 

In 2011, researchers at the Parkinson Institute in Milan, Italy, explored this idea by testing the efficacy of milk fermented with the probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota for managing patients with Parkinson’s who were also experiencing constipation. There was a statistically significant decrease in constipation symptoms among the 40 Parkinson’s patients who took part in the study. The researchers did not extend the study to include an evaluation of how the dietary therapy might have impacted the patients’ neurological symptoms via the gut-brain axis; therefore, additional research in this area is warranted.

Another relevant study from 2012 examined the potential neuroprotective benefits of curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, a spice that is commonly used in Indian food.* As a polyphenol, it makes sense that curcumin might ameliorate some of the symptoms associated with dysfunction of the gut-brain axis, given its well-established role in helping to maintain a normal inflammatory response throughout the body.*

As previously mentioned, colonic and neuronal inflammation have both been observed in Parkinson’s disease, and multiple studies suggest that curcumin intake (either in the diet or in bioavailable supplements) might have potential as a nutritional support therapy.*

In 2017, researchers from Bastyr University Research Institute in Washington adopted a much broader approach to early research on the development of a microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease patients. Instead of evaluating the impacts of a specific type of food, the researchers conducted a survey of more than a thousand individuals with Parkinson’s disease to determine which foods were associated with slower progression of the condition and which foods were associated with faster progression. 

They found that the foods that were significantly associated with slower progression of the disease included fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, non-fried fish, olive oil, coconut oil, wine, fresh herbs, and spices. There were also two nutritional supplements that provided benefits: coenzyme Q10 and fish oil.* 

At the same time, the researchers found statistically significant associations between faster Parkinson’s disease progression and canned fruit, canned vegetables, soda (diet and non-diet), fried foods, beef, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, and iron supplementation. Although it is not clear how clinically relevant these associations might be, the findings provide a basic foundation for a microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease in the future.

The Bottom Line: Making Dietary Changes for Parkinson’s Disease

Given the relative lack of clinical studies on specific dietary interventions, there is not yet a single microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease that can be recommended for all individuals. 

However, anti-inflammatory foods and supplements like butyrate and curcumin that help maintain the body’s normal inflammatory response might play a role, so it could be worth considering how they could support symptom management through their mechanisms of action and their beneficial impact on the gut-brain axis.* Nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, as well as probiotic foods, also appear to have positive effects, as they do for so many health conditions. 

However, the field is still wide open for researchers, and it will be exciting to see where the data leads in the future. As the research progresses, patients and practitioners will be able to gain a better understanding of the connections between nutrition and Parkinson’s disease, which can ultimately lead to the development of a more specific microbiome diet for Parkinson’s disease patients.

The power of Tesseract supplements lies in enhancing palatability, maximizing bioavailability and absorption, and micro-dosing of multiple nutrients in a single, highly effective capsule. Visit our website for more information about how Tesseract’s products can help support your neurological health and gastrointestinal health.*

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