Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Peppers Seem To Protect Against Parkinson's

Posted by Unknown on from the mmm-tomacco dept.

DavidHumus writes "A recent study indicates that consuming vegetables from the Solanaceae family, which includes tomatoes and peppers (as well as tobacco), decreases the risk of contracting Parkinson's disease. Earlier studies had shown that smoking tobacco seems to provide protection against the disease and the newer one seems to confirm that the key ingredient is nicotine, which is present in some vegetables like peppers."

3 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. Re:nightshade family by macraig · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Insects are anything but addicted to it. It' kills 'em dead. That's the entire reason the nicotine is flowing through plants' veins in the first place: it's their natural insecticide.

    Now why anybody would wanna smoke insecticide.... ;-)

  2. Aha! by JimtownKelly · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This article solves a mystery that has puzzled my family for years. My dad suffered Parkinsonism for many years, and most of his life favored bland food. In the last couple years of his life, when the disease was at its peak, he had an intense craving for peppers that we all thought were signs of dementia. He would not only eat peppers but sometimes eat salsa and drink hot sauce directly from jars in the fridge. So perhaps his body was craving the nicotine in the peppers, who knows. RIP.

    --
    -- Jimtown Kelly
  3. Re:Tobacco...right by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe his predisposition to get Parkinson's caused the desire to smoke..

    Nicotine ameliorates some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, and nearly everyone with schizophrenia smokes. So it is possible that a similar phenomenon may occur with parkinson's