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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

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Published on: October 14, 2021
Increased Intake of Fast-Acting Carbohydrates in Patients with Parkinson's Disease
Eva Schaeffer1, Alina Schermann2, Florian Zirbs3
1Department of Neurology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
Background:
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) regularly report an increased desire for food or beverages with high sugar content.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis of an increased intake of fast-acting carbohydrates in PD patients.
Methods:
This study investigated the consumption of high-sugar content food products in 221 PD patients compared with 184 healthy controls using a self-administered questionnaire.
Results:
Male PD patients reported a significantly more often high consumption of chocolate (p = 0.005) and other sweets (p < 0.001) than healthy controls. Moreover, PD patients with a high intake of these products showed a significantly longer disease duration (p = 0.002).
Conclusion:
Our study confirmed changes in intake of fast-acting carbohydrates derived from sweets in PD. Future studies should address the observed association with disease progression to understand underlying pathophysiological mechanisms leading to this behavioral change.
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