Eating Pepper, Tomatoes Reduces Risk of Developing Parkinson's

A natural remedy has been discovered to fight against Parkinson's disease. According to a study published in the journal Annals of Neurology, eating food that contains traces of nicotine such as tomatoes or pepper helps in lowering the risk of developing Parkinson's.

This study was conducted by Dr. Susan Searles Nielsen and colleagues from the University of Washington in Seattle.

The study suggests that a flowering plant family 'Solanceae', in which a certain species produce foods with edible sources of nicotine, may offer a protective effect against Parkinson's disease.

Report according to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation suggests that one million Americans are victims of the movement disorder. Every year in the U.S., nearly 60,000 new cases are being diagnosed. Worldwide, there are close to 10 million people living with this disease. It is triggered due to the loss of brain cells that produce dopamine. There is no cure for Parkinson's, which causes tremors in the hand, face, leg and arm; stiffness in limb and loss of balance.

Prior to this, studies have cited that smoking cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, including the Solanaceae plant, lowers the risk of Parkinson's disease. But the experts failed to confirm whether it was nicotine or other components present in tobacco that offers a protective effect.

In this new study, the researchers recruited up to 190 patients who were newly diagnosed with Parkinson's. The patients were taken from three places that include the University's Neurology Clinic or a Regional Health Maintenance Organization. They had a control group of 644 people without the condition.

The participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire that was used to assess their lifetime diets and tobacco use. In the study, it was defined as 'ever smoking' more than 100 cigarettes or regularly using cigars, pipes or smokeless tobacco.

They noticed that consuming vegetables didn't really affect the risk of Parkinson's disease. Whereas increased consumption of edible Solanaceae lowered the risk of the disease. They noticed that consuming pepper had a strong correlation with lowering the risk of Parkinson's. This was more prominent in men than in women.

"Our study is the first to investigate dietary nicotine and risk of developing Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Searles Nielsen in a press statement. "Similar to the many studies that indicate tobacco use might reduce risk of Parkinson's, our findings also suggest a protective effect from nicotine, or perhaps a similar but less toxic chemical in peppers and tobacco." The authors recommend further studies to confirm and extend their findings, which could lead to possible interventions that prevent Parkinson's disease.