Research published in the scientific journal Annals of Neurology reveals that Solanaceae, a family of flowering plants that produce foods that are an edible source of nicotine, may help prevent Parkinson’s disease. Thus, foods such as tomatoes or peppers, which contain small amounts of nicotine, could reduce the chances of developing Parkinson’s disease.
At present, Parkinson’s disease affects more than ten million people worldwide whose body movement is altered by a loss of brain cells. Although there is no known cure, symptoms such as tremors, loss of balance and slow movements can be treated with drugs or brain stimulation techniques.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington (USA), sampled 490 patients recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the Neurology Clinic of that institution and other regional clinics. The researchers used questionnaires to assess the patients’ lifetime diet and tobacco consumption. It was determined that the intake of vegetables does not reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, but that an increase in solanaceous foods does reduce the chances of contracting the disease. In particular, peppers are the vegetables most likely to achieve this effect.
Does smoking reduce the risk?
With regard to tobacco consumption, previous studies had indicated that the nicotine present in tobacco reduced the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. However, experts have not yet been able to confirm whether the nicotine components provide protection against the disease or whether it is a consequence of the lower propensity of Parkinson’s disease patients to use tobacco, due to the brain changes they undergo at the onset of the disease.
The recent study points out that both men and women with greater protection against Parkinson’s disease did not use tobacco, whose nicotine doses are higher than in the proposed foods. Our study is the first to investigate dietary nicotine and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease,” says Searles Nielsen, one of the researchers. Like the numerous studies indicating that tobacco use may reduce the risk of Parkinson’s, our results also suggest a protective effect of nicotine, or perhaps a similar but less toxic chemical in capsicum and tobacco.”