Celebrating the Nutrition Road to WPC 2026
A personal story from WPC Kyoto 2019 to WPC Arizona 2026 — plus how we're scaling evidence-based nutrition support for people living with Parkinson's.
My WPC story
After keeping my diagnosis private for two years, I decided to attend the World Parkinson Congress (WPC) in Kyoto in 2019 to connect with other women with young-onset Parkinson's and to learn more about how diet and nutrition can influence Parkinson's.
By then, I had been a dietitian for more than 12 years and had advocated for people living with a range of chronic conditions, including as a past president of my professional body, the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute and as a board member of the Coeliac Society of Ireland.
With my training and science background, I assumed there would be clear, evidence-based guidance on using diet and nutrition to help manage Parkinson's symptoms. I was genuinely surprised to find only two presentations on diet and nutrition, and just one research poster that I could locate.
The WPC also offered breakout sessions for health professionals, which I attended in the hope of finding a dietitian networking session — only to discover there wasn't one, because too few dietitians were there. That moment prompted me to seek out Eli Pollard, the wonderful orchestrator of WPC, and I promised I would return for the next congress — and that there would be a dietitian networking session.
I'm delighted to say that four years later, at WPC Barcelona, there was a dietitian breakout session — led by me and my dietetic colleague Assistant Professor Fiona Lithander. This year, we're leading the dietitian networking session again, and we hope to see even more dietitians, nutritionists, and nutrition researchers in attendance on Monday 24th May in the evening.
From advocacy to research
My dietetic background has shaped my research and advocacy over the past seven years since Kyoto, as I've worked to improve access to practical, evidence-based nutrition information. During this time, I've been honoured to co-author several papers on nutrition in Parkinson's.
One paper — co-authored with dietetic colleagues Dr Carly Rusch and Assistant Professor Fiona Lithander, alongside MDS Professor Indu Subramanian — was selected as a Hot Topic presentation at WPC 2023: "A missing piece of the Parkinson's puzzle: The critical role of the dietitian in the care of people living with Parkinson's disease."
Why we created Nutrition PD
90%
of people with Parkinson's do not have access to dietetic care
Research suggests that up to 90% of people with Parkinson's do not have access to dietetic care, and the reality is that this is unlikely to change quickly. Globally, the average ratio is estimated at around two dietitians per 100,000 people.
This gap in access to nutrition care is why we set up Nutrition PD: to deliver tailored nutrition programmes for people with Parkinson's and their care partners where public health dietetic services are limited or unavailable.
Our programmes
Mediterranean diet for Parkinson's
Research to date suggests that a Mediterranean-style pattern of eating may help with Parkinson's symptom management. Early studies also indicate a potential role in slowing disease progression, though more research is needed. When people ask which diet is best for Parkinson's, the evidence consistently points to an overall healthful dietary pattern. The Mediterranean diet is one of the most practical, well-studied approaches — and one that many people can adopt sustainably.
Gut health for Parkinson's
We have also developed a suite of gut health nutrition programmes focusing on the conditions that can affect people with Parkinson's — from swallowing difficulties and drooling to reflux, slow stomach emptying, constipation, dyssynergic defecation, and other gut-related issues such as H. pylori and SIBO. People with Parkinson's may experience one or several of these issues. They can significantly affect quality of life and medication effectiveness and may also influence the gut microbiome — which could play a role in symptom control and, potentially, disease progression.
How the programmes work
These programmes are built on the latest evidence and have been designed by dietitians. They are delivered using avatars — life-like representations of dietitians presenting the content. We chose this approach so we can scale access over time and, ultimately, tailor delivery to different needs and preferences (for example, by age group, language, or cultural context). They include an Ask the Dietitian chat support group and downloadable resources and are designed to help people adopt eating patterns that will help living with Parkinson's.
Research collaborations
We were delighted to receive grant funding in collaboration with Queen's University Belfast nutrition researchers led by Dr Claire McEvoy, who has extensive experience researching the Mediterranean diet and cognitive health. This funding was awarded by Parkinson's UK through their non-medical grant programme for a pilot trial of our Mediterranean programme. The UK study will begin enrolling people with Parkinson's in August 2026.
We have also contributed to a research trial led by Professor Helene McNulty in the NICHE at the University of Ulster, Coleraine, where I completed my master's in dietetics. We are now awaiting outcomes from this first-of-its-kind pilot trial, funded by the Ripen Hub.
With my friend and colleague, Assistant Professor Fiona Lithander, I've also been delighted to co-author several research projects she has led over the past year, which we will link on this website once published. These include studies on gastric emptying in Parkinson's, the efficacy of supplements, and — most recently — a paper on what neurologists need to know about diet and nutrition for Parkinson's.
I'm delighted to see there are many more diet/nutrition-related talks and posters in the WPC 2026 programme, which I'm looking forward to reading and learning about. We look forward to collaborating with other professionals, researchers and people from the community interested in diet/nutrition for the management of Parkinson's and research into nutrition to slow progression.
Richelle Flanagan
WPC Ambassador Alumni · Co-Founder of My Moves Matter
Interested in our research?
Learn more about the MediPD study and our evidence-based approach to nutrition in Parkinson's disease.
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