I enjoyed the book Pioneers of Recovery and am at present trying lots of different modalities and really feeling major changes are happening. What do you know about Mucuna as a treatment for Parkinson’s?

Is it available over the counter in Australia ?? or America ? Hoping to hear from you.

Best wishes.

Shylie

Many people have reported back to me that Mucuna as a treatment for Parkinson’s has provided sustained relief from their symptoms. Some people use it in conjunction with Sinemet as a way of reducing the Sinemet they take. Of course, any such treatments must be carefully prescribed and followed by your doctor.

We know that mucuna helps some people with the symptoms of Parkinsons. We know that Sinemet helps some people. We also know that combinations of the two help some people. Of course – results depend on the person. Much of what I know about Mucuna is documented in my recent book, Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease which is available as a download or as a print book.

The problem with Mucuna is finding a reliable source. Various companies sell Mucuna on the internet. Just when I think I may have found a company that provides a high quality source of mucuna, I get a report from someone that reports they just received a batch that fizzled.

Here is the real deal. If you decide to use any herb as a treatment modality, you want to find a source that harvests their herbs in the wild. This is what gives the herb the “punch” you need. Most companies do not harvest their herbs in the wild. They grow them commercially.

In some cases, a person may have tried Mucuna they purchased from a commercial source and it did nothing for them. This is probably because the source was from a commercial growing field which stripped the Mucuna of the energy (or punch) that is needed. Manufacture of Sinemet (which is a synthetic) seems to be more standardized but because it is a synthetic, side effects are involved.

I know of some herbalists who do not prescribe Mucuna for their patients because they cannot find a quality source of it anywhere. If anyone out there has found a reliable source, please comment here!

There is another herb some people are using with wonderful results which is derived from fava beans. You can see updates from a farm that grows fava beans by visiting :

www.favabeans.parkinsonsrecovery.com

Robert Rodgers, Ph.D.
Founder 2004
Parkinsons Recovery
Road to Recovery from Parkinsons Disease
Pioneers of Recovery
Five Steps to Recovery