Effects of food–drug interaction‐oriented nutritional education on quality of life in Parkinson's disease: A pilot quasi‐experimental study

Abstract Background This pilot study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutritional counseling/education interventions focusing on levodopa food–drug interactions on the physical and mental quality of life of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods A quasi‐experimental pre–post design was used. Thirty participants with PD for at least 1 year were selected from pharmacies in Konya, Türkiye. Participants completed an ad hoc, unvalidated questionnaire that included the Short Form‐12 (SF‐12) quality‐of‐life evaluation as well as other questions regarding socio‐demographic data, general eating habits, and 3‐day food consumption records prior to nutritional counseling/education intervention. After baseline data collection, each participant received one‐on‐one nutritional counseling/education. Four weeks post‐intervention, participants were surveyed for 3‐day dietary records and repeated the SF‐12 evaluation. The dietary data were processed using the Nutrition Information System Software (BEBiS 8.1). A registered dietitian performed all nutritional analyses. Results The mean age of participants was 66.8 ± 7.2 years, and the mean body mass index was 27.5 ± 3.3 kg/m 2 . The intervention resulted in statistically significant enhancements in physical and mental SF‐12 scores ( P < 0.05). Participants showed decreased protein intake (from 0.87 ± 0.4 to 0.78 ± 0.3 g/kg), lower consumption of large neutral amino acids (phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine), and decreased total daily energy intake. Conclusion Short‐term nutritional counseling/education targeting food–drug interactions can improve quality of life and dietary habits in people with PD. To further validate and expand upon these promising findings, the long‐term efficacy of such targeted nutritional interventions should be demonstrated in future large‐scale, randomized controlled trials.