Can Everyone Follow this Plan?
Some medical conditions cause some children to need a different diet plan then the typical 2,000 calorie diet shown on the food pyramid. Some of these conditions are…
Epilespy:
Seizures — abnormal movement or behavior due to unusual electrical activity in the brain — are a symptom of epilepsy. But not all people who appear to have seizures have epilepsy. In contrast, epilepsy is a group of related disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent seizures. Epilepsy is a relatively common condition, affecting 0.5% to 1% of the population. In the United States, about 2.5 million people have epilepsy. In fact, about 9% of Americans will have at least one seizure during their lives. Epilepsy occurs as a result of abnormal electrical activity originating from the brain. Brain cells communicate by sending electrical signals in an orderly pattern. In epilepsy these electrical signals become abnormal, giving rise to an “electrical storm” that produces seizures. These storms may be within a specific part of the brain or be generalized, depending on the type of epilepsy.
The ketogenic diet is a high fat, adequate protein, low carbohydrate diet. The ketogenic diet has been used for years as an alternative treatment for childhood epilepsy, but how?
Every day our bodies use sugar from foods that we eat to produce energy. When we undergo prolonged fasting or starvation, the sugar can get depleted from the body. Since the body still needs energy, it will turn to fat for its energy needs. Some scientists believe that it is this process that can help manage seizures.
When you haven’t eaten in a while, your body will begin to use fat as an energy source. When fat is broken down in the body, ketones are produced. The ketogenic diet is a special type of diet that takes advantage of this process. Introduced nearly 80 years ago, the ketogenic diet is used as an alternative option for epilepsy in children that do not respond well to anticonvulsants.
Basics of the Ketogenic Diet
Although scientists know that it has something to do with a lack of glucose in the body, they really don’t understand how the ketogenic diet works. They think that, by your body producing a lot of ketones, it can reduce the frequency and severity of seizures. Therefore, the diet consists of strictly little to no carbohydrates and a lot of fat. Some of the common foods seen in the ketogenic diet would include:
- Peanut butter
- Nuts
- Butter
- Creams
- Avocado
Celiac Disease:
Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye, and barley. Gluten is found mainly in foods but may also be found in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins, and lip balms.
When people with celiac disease eat foods or use products containing gluten, their immune system responds by damaging or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike protrusions lining the small intestine. Villi normally allow nutrients from food to be absorbed through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream. Without healthy villi, a person becomes malnourished, no matter how much food one eats.
Celiac disease is both a disease of malabsorption—meaning nutrients are not absorbed properly—and an abnormal immune reaction to gluten. Celiac disease is genetic, meaning it runs in families. Sometimes the disease is triggered—or becomes active for the first time—after surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viral infection, or severe emotional stress.
Symptoms of celiac disease vary from person to person. Symptoms may occur in the digestive system or in other parts of the body. Digestive symptoms are more common in infants and young children and may include: abdominal bloating and pain, chronic diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, and weight loss.
The only treatment for celiac disease is a gluten-free diet. For most people, following this diet will stop symptoms, heal existing intestinal damage, and prevent further damage. To stay well, people with celiac disease must avoid gluten for the rest of their lives. Eating even a small amount of gluten can damage the small intestine.
A gluten-free diet means not eating foods that contain wheat, rye, and barley. The foods and products made from these grains should also be avoided. In other words, a person with celiac disease should not eat most grain, pasta, cereal, and many processed foods.
Sources: http://epilepsy.about.com/od/medicationsandtreatments/a/ketogenicdiet.htm
http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/understanding-seizures-and-epilepsy
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
