"Stop Parkin' and Start Livin'" -Reversing Parkinson's disease symptoms

31/07/2025

THE COFFEE CONUNDRUM

We are constantly fed research and advertising that states or implies that drinking coffee is not only good for us, but will prevent disease, brighten our lives and help us live longer.

My perception is that all this publicity has just enough truth to avoid outright deceit, while hiding some dangerous truths that may prompt you to avoid coffee.

PERCEIVED BENEFITS
Claims about the benefits of coffee include:
• Coffee drinkers live longer;
• Coffee drinkers die less often from common diseases;
• Coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other nasty disorders;
• Coffee drinkers live better, brighter, happier lives.

SCIENCE
There is always a claim that “science” proves that coffee is great and that any claims to the contrary are non-science.
But what is science?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, science is “the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained.”
So, are all the claims of coffee’s benefits based on science while the negative claim non-science? Of course not.
Many of the positive findings for coffee are based on studies that deliberately ignored any possibility of negative results while others are cleverly constructed to only find what the researchers were looking for.
For instance, “Coffee drinkers live longer”. These studies give no details of lifestyle, genetic inheritance, occupation, living environment, concomitant illness, etc of either coffee drinkers or non-drinkers.
In a very large study called an “Association of Coffee Consumption with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in Three Large Prospective Cohorts” which examined over 4.6 million person-years of health results, there was a mild positive association between coffee consumption and lower mortality.
That sounds good.
However, when we look more closely, we find that all participants were employed in the medical industry (as nurses, doctors or health system support staff), so life expectancy was already compromised, and there was no distinction made between caffeinated and decaff, or between brewed and instant coffee. We know nothing about the causes of death, pre-existing illnesses, lifestyle choices (other than coffee), dietary choices or family history, cultural background or genetic predisposition.
I have read many similar studies, meta-analyses and epidemiological surveys, and there is one common factor that stands out – all focus on coffee and only coffee.
There is an old adage that western scientific health research can only find what it is looking for or not find it. It can’t actually teach us how to live better or longer.

WHY DO WE DRINK COFFEE?
There are several reasons for drinking coffee:
• The aroma;
• The flavour;
• The social interaction of coffee buddies;
• Because we believe the dogma that coffee drinkers are healthier;
• We don’t care, we just like coffee;
• We love the “hit” we gain from drinking coffee;
• We “can’t start the day without a cup of coffee”.

IS THERE A PRECEDENT FOR THIS TYPE OF PROMOTION?
Yes, there is.
During the 1970s, there was serious research “showing” that those who smoked ci******es were less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease.
There was wide promotion of the “great discovery”, encouraging smokers to keep smoking while other started smoking to prevent chronic disease.
I still receive enquiries from newly diagnosed People with Parkinson’s (PwP) asking if they should start smoking.
The “research” behind the smoking farce was very cleverly constructed to show only what the researchers wanted to find.
We do know that ni****ne can occupy receptors intended for dopamine and anandamide, so creating a “smoke screen” that hides the onset of symptoms until the disease is much more advanced.
So smoking does not prevent or delay PD, it simply hides the onset until it is much more difficult to recover.
Conversely, many smokers did not develop Parkinson’s symptoms because they died from emphysema, cancer or cardiovascular disease.
I was lucky. A heavy smoker from age nine until I was 51, I lived long enough to experience Parkinson’s, cancer and heart disease, and am still experiencing life at 82.

WHAT IS THE “GOOD” STUFF IN COFFEE?
Coffee is high in antioxidants, and that is good.
However, caffeine stimulates our stress response, releasing more cortisol into our system and generating more free radicals.
So all those antioxidants are busy mopping up free radicals created by the donor of the antioxidants.
Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus is generally considered beneficial bacteria in the gut, although there is still a lack of understanding about its full role.
There seems to be some relationship between coffee consumption and the population of L. asaccharolyticus, although that does not hold true for all cultures.
While this seems to be a beneficial relationship, much of the benefit of L. asaccharolyticus may be offset by the exacerbation of the stress response in coffee drinkers.

CAFFEINE “BENEFITS”
I read a study last week purportedly showing that caffeine can slow cellular aging.
This sounded very enticing.
However, on reading the study closely, I saw that they used pure caffeine with cultured cells in a laboratory setting.
Nobody drinks pure caffeine and nobody lives in a pristine laboratory setting so, frankly, this study tells us nothing.
While caffeine in its pure form, in pristine laboratory conditions, MAY have some benefit on cell longevity, we KNOW that it exacerbates the fight/flight/freeze response which is detrimental – especially for those with chronic disorders.

WHAT DOES COFFEE DO TO US?
When we drink a cup of coffee (“to relax or wind down”), we stimulate our adrenal output, bypassing our normal control system that tells us what is safe and what is unsafe.
The caffeine “kick” makes our body feel unsafe, so we produce excessive cortisol, adrenaline, testosterone and others, thus increasing energy but also inflammation, higher blood pressure and heart rate.
In other words, our body is ready to fight, but there is nothing to fight.
If we drink coffee regularly, daily or several times each week, our body remains fight-ready, and reduces energy to our digestion and immune systems, and our nervous system except for our brain stem where our safe/unsafe instincts lie.
Over time, we become more prone to digestive dysfunction, poor resistance to infection, and dehydrated at cellular level.
Therefore, we increase our risk of chronic disorders, including neuro dysfunction and cancer.
The acrylamide formed when beans are roasted and/or ground is carcinogenic, further increasing our risk of cancer.

WHAT CAUSES NEURODEGENERATION?
We now know that neurodegenerative disorders originate in trauma/stress, toxic load and stealth infections.
Given the function of coffee in our system, it becomes an exacerbating risk factor in the stress and toxin categories of causes.

DECAFF?
All decaff coffee still contains some caffeine. In Australia, up to 15 mg per cup (reduced from about 95 mg).
If it is not organically/water decaffeinated, it will also contain residues of the chemicals used in the decaff process – most very toxic.
Acrylamide is also present.

90% DRINK COFFEE
As a note – not formal research, but notes from patient files – 90% of my over 3000 Parkinson’s patients drank coffee regularly before seeing me.

CAUSE?
Does coffee cause Parkinson’s or other neuro disorders.
No. But it is one of many toxic influences we are exposed to on a regular basis.
Some toxins we cannot easily avoid - councils spraying weeds, cleaning compounds used in shopping centres, chemicals in our doctor’s clinic – but we can avoid coffee. Just don’t drink it.

ALTERNATIVES
Rooibos tea has more antioxidant activity than coffee, green tea or white tea, and is naturally free from caffeine and harmful tannins. Most Rooibos tea is organically grown.
Other herbal teas have therapeutic benefits – peppermint, chamomile, lemon balm, cinnamon and a host of other lovely, naturally non-caffeinated teas.

CONCLUSION
Coffee, like ci******es, will not delay or prevent Parkinson’s or any other chronic disease.
You may choose to consume coffee because you are addicted, or love it, or think it is socially acceptable, but do not think, for a moment, that it is doing you good.

END NOTE (😊)
Coffee e***as are recommended by many practitioners for detoxification.
However, the fastest way to absorb liquids and chemicals (after intravenous) is via the bowel.
Every time we use a coffee e***a, we absorb more caffeine and acrylamide than if we drink a cup of coffee.
Vitamin C and organic wheatgrass e***as are much healthier and achieve the same or better results than coffee e***as.

John Coleman ND
July 2025
https://www.rethinkingparkinsons.com/

02/12/2024

DO WE NEED A CURE?

My background is pretty typical for People with Parkinson’s – stressful life, poor food and lifestyle choices, some specific trauma and toxic contacts.

Diagnosed with stage 4 Parkinson’s and early-stage Multisystem Atrophy in 1995, I became symptom-free in the second half of 1998.

Since then, I have continued to research the causes of Parkinson’s disease and strategies to recover our health.

I am often criticised because I do not advocate for a “cure” (perceiving such a concept as both unrealistic and unnecessary) and refrain from supporting expensive, usually futile, research proposals claiming to be in sight of a “cure”.

Here is what I DO support, promote and participate in to the greatest extent possible for an 81-year-old aged-pensioner:

Continuing research, examination and testing of the known and suspected causes of Parkinson’s. Before you say, “But we don’t know what causes Parkinson’s disease”, we DO know a great deal about what causes neurodegeneration and chronic inflammation. As Parkinson’s is considered a neurodegenerative disorder, and many medical authorities are now discussing the role of chronic inflammation in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s, anything that causes neurodegeneration or inflammation must be considered among the causes of Parkinson’s; at least as a potential cause.

“But”, I hear you say, “If we know the causes, we can develop cures, can’t we?”.

The concept of “cure” is largely misunderstood by most people, and that misunderstanding is carefully nurtured by those who profit from searching for “cures” for diseases.

The word “cure” can be used as a noun or a verb and both have two meanings that are quite specific:
verb
1. relieve (a person or animal) of the symptoms of a disease or condition.
"he was cured of the disease"
eliminate (a disease or condition) with medical treatment.
"this technology could be used to cure diabetes"
Solve (a problem).
"a bid to trace and cure the gearbox problems"

2. preserve (meat, fish, to***co, or an animal skin) by salting, drying, or smoking.
"home-cured ham"
harden (rubber, plastic, concrete, etc.) after manufacture by a chemical process such as vulcanization.
"the early synthetic rubbers were much more difficult to cure than natural rubber"
undergo hardening by a chemical process.
"the mastic takes days to cure"

noun
1. a substance or treatment that cures a disease or condition.
"the search for a cure for the common cold"
Sometimes translated as restoration to health - "he was beyond cure"
A solution to a problem.
"the cure is to improve the clutch operation"
2. the process of curing rubber, plastic, or other material.

While the vision of being relieved of the symptoms of Parkinson’s “disease” is seductive, all the medically sponsored and publicised attempts to do this are predicated on the principle that this (Parkinson’s) is, in fact, a singular “disease” with a single pathway so we can intervene/interfere with that pathway and “cure” the symptoms (designated as the “disease”).

However, this principle of the single “disease” called Parkinson’s remains unsupported by any medical or scientific evidence. In fact, the more Western Medical Science I read, the more I see evidence showing us that this thing we call Parkinson’s is a broad group of symptoms (a syndrome) that can all be traced back to impacts, events, encounters and influences that cause neurodegeneration and/or inflammation.

When I meet a new patient, or am asked to do an assessment, I ask lots of questions and expect very thorough answers. Then I become a ‘detective’, rummaging through the encyclopedia of their past, digging back into their family background, examining work environments, lifestyle, places they have lived, significant social events through their lives (celebrations, conflicts, political upheavals) and piece together a picture of their life influences – stress or trauma, toxic encounters and toxic food, the possibility of infections.

Once we see the whole picture, we can understand what has caused all their symptoms (their “disease”) and develop strategies to reverse the “illness” process.

This is science and medicine as it should be. As far away as possible from the “this-disease-that-pill” paradigm that has dominated Western Medicine since pharmaceutical companies gained effective control of medical schools and bureaucracy many decades ago.

The basic principle of what is, often derogatorily, called either Complementary or Alternative Medicine (CAM) is to work WITH the person displaying illness symptoms to discover the CAUSES of those symptoms, then reverse those causes. In simple terms, we treat the person, not the “disease”.

Western Allopathic Medicine (WAM) can, and does, save lives, mend broken bodies and relieve symptoms. But it cannot, and never has “cured” anything or made people well.

Parkinson’s “disease” is no different. We can choose the WAM way and reduce some symptoms for some time, seek ever-increasing care and support expensive research into disease modifying treatments, or find the CAUSES of our symptoms (perhaps with the guidance of one of the very rare practitioners appropriately trained in this work), change our attitude, aims, lifestyle and habits, and reverse our illness process.

That is NOT a “cure”; it is RECOVERING our health.

John Coleman
December 2024

28/10/2024

40 YEARS AGO

October 30, 2024, marks the 40th anniversary of the Very Special Kids Inaugural Meeting.
The birth of VSK was fraught with opposition, lack of money, really hard work, frustration and tears, but also, more importantly, excitement, support and love.
1984 was a difficult year but, in the end, VSK was born and all the difficulties meant nothing because of our achievement.
This is the first time that the story has been told by someone who was there – one of the founders. It is a story with a happy ending.
Perhaps, after reading this, you will consider supporting my “other baby”.
https://www.returntostillness.com.au/post/40-years-ago-the-birth-of-very-special-kids

24/09/2024

PARKINSON’S DISEASE – CAUSES, RECOVERY & BOWEN

Here, below, is a link to a YouTube video of a short presentation delivered at the 2024 Bowen Therapists Federation of Australasia Conference in Hahndorf, South Australia, in August 2024.
I had only 40 minutes to cover 25 years of experience and research, so skipped through many parts.
If this video interests you and you want to know more, I am happy to email a PDF copy of the slides. Just email me on pdfree@bigpond.com. There is no charge.

“Celebrating those with vision, determination and courage”

Parkinson’s Disease is one of a cluster of diagnosable disease states considered progressive, degenerative and irreversible.
The Western Medical Model considers the causes to be largely unknown although there is extensive research into interim symptoms thought to be causes of diagnosed symptoms – for instance, single pathogenic bacteria in the gut, dysregulation of certain enzymes, etc.
In this presentation, we will discover the underlying causes of Parkinson’s and similar disorders; causes that have been known for decades but never medically associated with Parkinson’s.
We will explore ways to find the causes for each individual and how to develop recovery strategies.
We will discuss where Bowen fits into the journey from illness to wellness.
Along the way, we may meet some surprising heroes with vision, determination and courage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfkUlwGl8kU

25/07/2024

REVERSING PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Dr George Ackerman, founder of Together For Sharon, a Parkinson’s awareness organisation, was gracious enough to interview me for his podcast.
In a short time, we covered many topics including strategies to help us recover our health when diagnosed with Parkinson’s, my own story of recovery, and why mainstream Parkinson’s organisations won’t support research into recovery protocols or those who develop them.
Please forgive the untidy background and my less-than-formal attire, but I thought it was intended as a voice only broadcast. It was also very early morning, so I am chugging down Rooibos tea to give me the energy to chat with George.
Despite my looks and sleepiness, I hope you enjoy our conversation.

By August 1995, John Coleman had lost his power of speech and was wondering how he could go on living. Suffering symptoms of stage IV Parkinson’s disease an...

29/06/2024

Hello FB Friends.,
I might have been hacked so please don't open any friend requests.
I have updated my security.
Thank you :)

07/05/2024

SEMI RETIREMENT.

As my 81st birthday approaches in June 2024, I have spent time considering plans for my remaining years.

It has become clear that I can no longer continue to work full time, 5-6 days per week while preserving reasonable health.

I believe that my work is important; primarily for those diagnosed with Parkinson’s, similar degenerative disorders or stealth infections, but also for the Complementary Medicine community.

My latest book, “Rethinking Parkinson’s Disease” (published 2020) will, I believe, be a valuable resource for patients and practitioners for many years.

However, people with dire diagnoses and prognoses desire, and deserve, personal support from skilled, empathic practitioners.

I have now closed my books to new patients as I am fully booked through the rest of this year, and will slowly pull back from continuing patients when they no longer need my help.

I will continue to be active in promoting recovery from chronic disorders and can offer several services to support both potential patients and practitioners who share my philosophy of recovery:

1. Direct referral – if we receive an enquiry for treatment, we can refer directly to a practitioner who has demonstrated understanding and skill in guiding patients towards wellness by treating the underlying causes of neurodegenerative and autoimmune disorders;
2. Assess and Refer – for a small fee from the patient, I will spend time in discerning the underlying causes of the enquirers state of ill health, create a report with details of causes and a suggested treatment plan, and refer to the most appropriate practitioner;
3. I will continue to offer Mentoring Services for those practitioners who are willing to support patients diagnosed with neuro, autoimmune or chronic infectious disorders.
4. Practitioners wishing to upskill and enter this field, or students of naturopathy wishing to gain knowledge and skills in this area prior to graduation can receive training and mentoring on the causes of neurodegenerative disorders and strategies for recovery.

My hope is that there will be, in time, a network of enthusiastic and skilled practitioners around the globe to support those diagnosed with “incurable” disorders. I am sure you will understand that I feel comfortable referring potential patients only to those who are versed in the causes of and recovery from these disorders.

These services will, of course, only be available while I am alive and functioning as a semi-retired naturopath. After that, I trust that there will be a number of well-known practitioners to support peoples’ ambition to be well.

THE NEED
There are approximately 10 million people diagnosed with Parkinson’s around the world. In Australia, there are about 100,000.
Add to that people diagnosed with MSA, PSP and other “Parkinson’s Plus” illnesses, 30,000 people with MS plus other chronic autoimmune conditions and MND/ALS, etc, and the need is HUGE.
While I have focused primary on Parkinson’s, Parkinson’s Plus and MS, with stealth infections as one of the aetiological pathways, this is mainly because I am only one person.

Western Medicine, while it holds a valuable place in our community, offers only symptom control. I wish to leave a network of skilled practitioners who focus on reversing the underlying causes of these “incurable” disorders and assist people to recover their health.

If you are a qualified healthcare practitioner, or a patient with an interested practitioner providing care, and have interest in receiving mentoring and/or referrals from me, I will be pleased to discuss training and mentoring opportunities. You can email me on pdfree@bigpond.com or visit my updated website on https://www.returntostillness.com.au/.

18/04/2024

WORLD PARKINSON’S RECOVERY DAY

On this first World Parkinson’s RECOVERY Day, we can begin a broad and open discussion of the real needs of those diagnosed, moving beyond the fixation on “incurable”, medication, “must find a cure” dogma.
The notes below are part of a much broader document in “Rethinking Parkinson’s Disease” and may trigger discussion in the Parkinson’s and wider community so we can truly move towards wellness rather than waiting for “experts” to find a “cure”.

WHAT DO WE NEED NOW?

Vision
We need:
• to look beyond the selfishness and self-serving paradigm of cause-disease-cure to explore a broader concept of wellness creation becoming more powerful than disease creation and maintenance.

Research
We need:
• Untied and unbiased research into the known causes of Parkinson’s, shown to be:
o Trauma/stress that may be inherited, personal or social;
o Toxins from food, personal care, home care, industry or agriculture;
o Stealth infections.

Leadership
• Illness has celebrities dedicating themselves to improving lives of those living with Parkinson’s disease and ongoing research.
• We need people of this stature to promote the concept of wellness and to help raise funds for the research above.

Innovation
We need:
• a new look at evidence and new standards for evidence that promotes broad and real-life studies;
• new ways to interpret past and current trials that do not necessarily prove what is claimed;
• innovative ways to reach people at risk of neurodegeneration;
• new Centres of Excellence focusing on wellness strategies.

Discourse
We need:
• open and respectful conversations between Western allopathic medicine and Complementary/alternative medicine practitioners and researchers, exploring the
contribution that all forms of medicine and research can offer to people with Parkinson’s and those in the prodromal period;
• engagement of government agencies like the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia, and similar bodies in other countries, with complementary/
alternative medicine practitioners and researchers as equal partners in the work to improve the health status of all people in our society;

Funding
• We need funding for genuine and clinically supported lifestyle and dietary prevention strategies that is untied.
• National governments have a responsibility to enhance the health of their constituents (a responsibility most governments neglect in favour of illness treatment) and must
allocate a much greater percentage of research funding to prevention research distant from vested interest, with guidance from Western allopathic medicine and complementary/
alternative medicine in equal measure.
• All governments should allocate at least one per cent of their health/illness budget each year to prevention research and education with equal voices from Western allopathic medicine and complementary/alternative medicine.

While these aims may seem Utopian, they are achievable if there are people of good will and determination who are prepared to be strong in the face of vigorous and, often, unjustifiable opposition.
We CAN achieve some or all of these needs if we all focus on wellness and illness prevention, talk openly to our Western allopathic medicine and Complementary/alternative medicine
practitioners, politicians and business leaders. One person is a whisper, a thousand people is a murmur, 100,000 people (1 per cent of those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease) demand attention, and one million people constitute a roar that will be heard around
the world. It starts with you and me.

08/04/2024

PARKINSON’S RECOVERY AWARENESS MONTH

April is nominated as Parkinson’s Awareness Month, and media is inundated with posts, blogs, interviews and appeals for lots of money to find a “cure”. I have received endless emails and social media posts about the tragedy of Parkinson’s, the difficulty faced by those diagnosed, and more appeals for money so that clever scientists can find a “cure”.

I have enormous sympathy and empathy for those who face a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, and for family and friends of those diagnosed. I watched my Father and two close friends suffer through the medical process of diagnosis, medication and misery before I was faced with my own diagnosis in 1995.

The diagnosis and off-hand treatment by Neurologists angered me. I had worked hard since I was 16 years old (I was 52 at diagnosis), had some unfortunate life experiences, and had plans to improve my life. The diagnosis brought those plans crashing down – or so I thought.

With the help of my employer’s hospital library, overseas research and support from very open-minded health care practitioners (including a neuro surgeon and some marvellous General Practitioners), I became symptom-free by late 1998.

This enabled me to finished my naturopathic studies and set up what I thought would be a general health care practice. But, by the time I had welcomed my twentieth patient diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I realised that this was to be my main focus, along with related health challenges.

Through the ensuing 25 years of practice, study and research, I have developed great respect for those few medical professionals who deny the medical dogma of single cause, single medical cure, and have seen the wonderful research showing the causes of neurodegeneration and, therefore, disorders like Parkinson’s.

I have watched in awe as courageous people make “different” decisions about treating their diagnosed disorder and, through hard work and adventure, become well – free from symptoms.

The real tragedy of Parkinson’s disease is that those who claim to care most for us, or are recognised as “experts” in Parkinson’s or movement disorders, will not or cannot tell us that we CAN be well, that we CAN find our individual causes and reverse them.

This information is all “out there” – in libraries, text books, studies, research projects and online. But our “expert” health care professionals continue to insist that Parkinson’s means dead dopaminergic cells and any “cure” must include restoration of those cells along with functional support, even though medical research from many years ago has shown otherwise.

During April, there are a number of “Parkinson’s Summits” or conferences. I was keen to attend, but then I read the programs and the presenters’ details. Not one – NOT ONE – will explore the stories of those who have recovered from diagnosed Parkinson’s. Not one presenter will explore strategies and protocols for finding individual causes and reversal strategies. And yet all this information is available and should be broadcast to every one diagnosed with Parkinson’s.

It’s time for us to stand up and say ENOUGH, tell us the truth! We already know what causes neurodegeneration, inflammation and autoimmune triggers, so we KNOW what causes Parkinson’s disease.

I want to rename April as PARKINSON’S RECOVERY AWARENESS MONTH.

We have the knowledge, the media, the resources to spread the word to all 10,000,000 people around the world with a Parkinson’s diagnoses that they CAN help themselves, be helped and RECOVER.

Surely this is worthy of a new name for April.

April 11th is known as World Parkinson’s Day.

How about we name April 18th as WORLD PARKINSON’S RECOVERY DAY.

On April 11, people can find out about the doom and gloom associated with neurodegenerative disorders, the struggles for patients and families, the ponderings of Western Medical Science.

Then, just a week later, they can explore the Science of Health, Wellness and Recovery. Yes, it is Science – “the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation, experimentation, and the testing of theories against the evidence obtained.“

If just 10% of the $millions spent on “drug targets”, repurposing old drugs and developing new symptom-suppressing drugs was spent on further defining the causes of Parkinson’s and expanding the strategies and protocols for recovery, we could halve the incidence on Parkinson’s in 15 years.

Surely that is a cause worthy of a WORLD day.

My appeal during this PARKINSON’S RECOVERY AWARENESS MONTH 2024 is that we all – patients, families, practitioners, researchers and organisations - open our eyes and minds to the real possibilities of reversing the group of symptoms we call Parkinson’s Disease, and support a concerted effort to lead people to wellness, and develop strategies to prevent the onset of Parkinson’s for many.

Happy WORLD PARKINSON’S RECOVERY DAY.

27/11/2023

Here is a link to a podcast I recently recorded.
This may be of interest for those diagnosed with Parkinson’s and/or those practitioners treating them.

‎Show Health, Happiness & Human Kind, Ep HHHK 460: Parkinson's Disease, Trauma, Toxins & Infections with John Coleman - Nov 22, 2023