As the snow and ice finally leave with the temperature rising I can get back to walking the Parkway Trail with my dogs. I like to do a 5 km loop which seems to get my whole body loosening up and gets me into a better frame of mind. Although using Nordic walking sticks is a better work out, there is a feeling of guilt leaving my dogs at home. Changing from winter hiking boats to summer runners is also a big improvement making my feet quite happy.
This year I am also going to go one step further to improve my diet. After consultation with a nutritionist, my vegan diet will now be adjusted to eliminate foods not compatible with my blood type of “O-”. It has been proven that various foods can produce inflammation in the joints and cause a number of other body stresses. The biggest change will be the elimination of coffee as my morning beverage and substitute a variety of teas. Today was the second day without my java and definitely brought on a bit of a headache. There are a number of other foods to avoid which should be simple to delete or replace in my Forks over Knives food plan.
A change in supplements was also required as my B6 was not compatible with my medication. New supplements added include Astaxanthine Plus (4 mg), Curcumin the active ingredient in Tumeric and Ginkgo Biloba for the brain. The disadvantage of making all these changes at once is that it will be difficult to identify which of these has the biggest impact.
Another change will be to introduce some yoga into my exercise program. The recommended 5 poses for Parkinson’s will become part of the pre-boxing workout at GoodLife on Chemong. Yoga has been getting a lot of press lately as one of the best overall programs for general health. I have also accepted an invitation to try a Tragar treatment which has been developed specifically for Parkinson’s.
Will report back as I further monitor my wellness and especially measure up in my next assessment with Dr. Lang in June.