A dietary pattern intervention may offer some help in reducing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), including both motor and nonmotor symptoms, reports a study.
In addition, diet and dietary supplements provides a very modest but statistically significant effect on the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI) but has no impact on PD symptoms.
A team of investigators performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and crossover studies published between 1989 and 26 June 2022. They searched the databases of PubMed, Embase, Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Library, as well as Chinese records. Twenty-four studies met the eligibility criteria for the review.
The meta-analysis revealed a significant increase in QUICKI with dietary supplement intervention (mean difference, 0.02, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.01‒0.02; p<0.00001). However, dietary supplementation did not have a substantial impact on the total Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) score and 6-min walk test distance.
“We did not find evidence that dietary supplements or food intervention may minimize the UPDRS III score,” the investigators said.
However, results of the systematic review showed that the Mediterranean, low-fat, and ketogenic diets led to significant reductions in the total UPDRS score, while low-protein diets helped in alleviating motor symptoms of PD.
“Diet significantly impacts PD with plausible biological hypotheses,” the investigators said. “Although the thesis has been explored in several human clinical trials, no current meta-analyses or reviews summarize the results.”