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Do you cook certain meals for your Parkinsons patient?
One obstacle that many Parkinson’s patients experience is trouble with swallowing. I’ve heard my Dad cough excessively because his coffee went down the wrong pipe. And he hasn’t had to make many dietary changes, yet. But I wonder if there are some meals that are easier to consume than others? Do you cook certain meals for your loved one? Have you found ways to simplify the eating process?
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10 Replies
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No, but always have lots of liquids available to help with swallowing. Take a bite, have a drink….
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What has helped me most with trouble swallowing.
or feeling like something is stuck in my throat
is brachs starbrite peppermint cand y. Suck on it
till throat is better.
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Lee ann, thank you for that piece of advice. My Dad is a big candy fan, so maybe I’ll encourage him to add those to his arsenal.
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How do you cook for a loved one that has no sense of smell, is depressed knowing there is no cure for the loss of control and is losing visual dexterity? There is little concern for her nutrition only medication by her doctors. I realize they receive little education in this area but it doesn’t help.
The info on dietitians and nutritionists I find on web sites leans more toward weight control rather than nutritional health. I can cook almost anything but I need help. Since I retired 5 years ago I’ve become the chief cook. The planning skills are sorely lacking and I have little to none understanding of how we process our vitamins and nutrients.
Parkinson’s in my wife’s body depending on medications efficiency produces either tremors or dyskiniesia , the inability to identify odors and the loss of visual acuity. These are needed for cooking and eating to fuel the body, awaken the mind and lift the spirit. All the senses are involved if we think about it and we think little of it most of the time. When we do think about it , it’s an absent minded urge , a craving or an image problem set off by cultural definitions. We are feeding our skin, eyes, neurological systems , other organs and now we’re starting to learn needs of our microbiome. If these systems do not have the proper fuel they soon start to break down even though we may not see it or feel it . Humans adapt consciously and then unconsciously in a very short amount of time. By the time these little adaptive tweeks fail our systems have been damaged. We heal miraculously when we are young and growing but not so much as we age. We seem to need a more and more refined fuel to keep our systems working and healing as we age.
Finding foods that she will eat throughout the day is always a problem. She’s never been a big eater beginning with an overbite, digestive upsets and lets not forget about the fact that her sense of smell hasn’t worked very well or not at all for the past 19 years. The kids are gone so eating because they have to be fed is a non-starter. Her tremors and medication restrictions (protein inhibits medication uptake) also impact cooking for herself. Oh, her meds are on a 3 hour schedule so she only has a 90 min window for any protein. Her tremors fire muscle activity enough so that i think of her as a long distance runner so muscle loss is always a factor. Thank god she is sleeping better so that some healing can be accomplished but even that requires nutrition and timing.
Needing help to come up with a long term plan and a structure to access it’s impact is important to her quality of life. What can i look for in choosing a dietitian or nutritionist ? Can i afford one while on social security? Do I need this professional monthly, yearly , semi-annually or just as needed?
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Kenneth, I’m sorry that you’re going through this. I can imagine the difficulty that’s associated with watching your wife’s abilities change. My Dad was diagnosed in 2013, and he has always had a compromised sense of smell and taste, as far as we can remember. He consulted a holistic doctor to talk about some of his symptoms when he got diagnosed with PD. And the holistic doctor told him that they needed to detox his body from heavy metals. While his symptoms haven’t changed a whole lot from this experience, he does swear that he has a better sense of taste and smell.
Have you been able to talk to a nutritionist or a doctor about some of your concerns yet? I wonder if they might be able to help you to create a plan for your wife.
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Ken, Since my husband’s diagnosis, we have been on a ketogenic diet — high protein and fat and veggies.
We eat chicken, fish, veggies, 1 fruit per day.
I make a morning smoothie with lots of supplements poured in.
No carbs (grains/sugar), good oils/fats, ALL ORGANIC. No pesticides. We also detoxed for metals and glyphosate.
We found a keto bread and occasionally have a cheat day with quinoa or yams.
Latest news: neurologist reported no deterioration in Neil.
Long and winding road before us….
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Not only does my partner have PD, but was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease 35 years ago. She enlisted a nutritionist (NP) who believes the Parkinson’s meds are not being absorbed properly. She recommended several supplements to help, along with a special diet of only meats, fish, veggies, fruits. Avoiding fats, dairy, sugar and carbs. It is a challenge cooking and I’m trying to be creative. I know she misses cakes, cookies and ice cream – so do I! We’ll see if there is any improvement in the coming months.
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Bill, I’m very sorry to hear as much. But I think I might be able to relate a bit. My Dad has ulcerative colitis and Parkinson’s. And I’ve always been of the opinion that it isn’t a coincidence he has both. He seems to do okay with the absorption of levodopa. But every day is different, and I think not having a colon might be one of the contributing factors for those differences.
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I’ve recently learned about brining chicken before cooking it. It’s basically putting the raw chicken (I usually use boneless, skinless breasts, but other parts would also work) in a salt solution for at least 10 minutes. This makes the chicken juicier and more tender when it’s cooked. It’s much easier for my husband to chew and swallow.
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I have had similar challenges with chocking, swallowing and lack of taste and smell. I was refered to a speech language pathologist who gave me excercises to help strengthen muscles as well as tips. Try to eat smaller bites and have liquids close. Eat without distractions and facing forward. I find if I look sideways (toward someone else) I will have greater risk of choking. I use « Pür Gum and Mints » as there is no sugar nor chemical sweetener to help with saliva as my issue is that I do not produce enough saliva and the food gets stuck going down.
As for the lack of taste, I tend to add herbs and spices that will enhance the taste. Mint helps as well to enhance taste and is often suggested for cancer patients who lose taste with treatments.
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Swallowing problems are very common and serious for this type of disease, I can recommend these medications that can make the process easier
https://supplementfirst.com/products/optimox-employee monitoring-pmt?variant=15728554213442
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