A sweet poison for my son (Part 1)

How many of us love desert, candies, chocolate and sugary food. Well, I personally don't look at "refined sugar" as a sweet taste. Sugar is poison for our health, specially for my son who has a genetic disorder (Trisomy 21).

My interest for my son's nutrition started when I discovered he is high risk for juvenile diabetes because of the Trisomy 21 and family health history. This interest have brought me to discover that "refined sugar" is not good for a person who also has hypotonia (low muscle tone) and hyperthyroidism (unbalanced Thyroid hormone), which is my son's case.

Why sweeten foods are not good for a person with low muscle tone?

According to Kelly Dorfman, M.S., L.D.N., "In hypotonia, a big gap exists between what a child consumes and healthy cellular nutrition. While neurologists often attribute hypotonia to imbalances in the parts of the brain that control tone, low tone always has a nutritional component. Muscles suffering from nutrient deprivation remain underdeveloped, or if adequately developed, fatigue easily. Whether a youngster is born with low tone, or acquires it through cellular malnutrition, good nutrition can improve the condition, while the tendency toward hypotonia often remains. Eating the perfect diet is only the beginning in low tone. The nutrients must get to the cells, which must then convert them into usable energy.

Three basic strategies can improve inefficient energy delivery and boost output: increasing available nutrients, enhancing nutrient delivery, and improving energy production. All of these can be achieved with specific nutritional supplements. Nutritional therapy for low tone is a long term management plan, not a quick fix.

Increasing Available Nutrients through Diet

The first step is to control the intake of concentrated refined sugars, such as candies, sweetened drinks, and desserts, while increasing the amount of protein in the diet. People with hypotonia tire easily so they often reach for sweets and starches as quick sources of energy. Protein foods tend to contain more concentrated nutrients than sugary items, which have many calories and few vitamins and minerals. Improving nutrient density is critical because inefficient energy production result is loss of nutrients."

Why sweeten foods are not good for a person with hypothyroidism?
Several of the hormones of the endocrine system are involved in controlling the rate and direction of metabolism. Thyroxine, a hormone produced and released by the thyroid gland, plays a key role in determining how fast or slow the chemical reactions of metabolism proceed in a person's body.

Hypothyroidism is a metabolic disorder. According to Steven Dowshen, MD, Hypothyroidism is caused by an absent or underactive thyroid gland and it results from a developmental problem

or a destructive disease of the thyroid. The thyroid releases too little of the hormone thyroxine, so a person's basal metabolic rate (BMR) is low. Hypothyroidism slows body processes and causes fatigue, slow heart rate, excessive weight gain, and constipation. Kids and teens with this condition can be treated with oral thyroid hormone to achieve normal levels in the body.

In the book, Eat Right or Die Young, Dr. Cass Ingram explains that high sugar intake can indeed adversely affect the thyroid:

"At (a high) level of sugar intake, there is a risk of damaging or even destroying the adrenal and thyroid glands. These delicate glands must work overtime to help the body deal with excess sugar. After awhile under the pressure of constant bombardment of refined sugar, these glands literally burn out. To be sure, the glands are capable of regenerating and their function can return if you make the appropriate dietary changes and get off the sugar. There is a risk for permanent damage if you continue your sugar consumption. The more sugar consumed over the years, the more likely it is that you will have burned out a portion of your adrenal and thyroid glands."

You can imaging how much work have to do the thyroid glands of a person who has Hypothyroidism to process the "refined sugar" in a piece of cake. Because hypothyroidism usually leads to excess weight, people with the metabolic disorder need to follow a low-calorie diet, limit sugar, fat, and cholesterol.

Why refined sugar is poison?

Robert H. Lustig, MD, UCSF Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology, explores the damage caused by sugary foods in the population. You can imaging how major damage it can cause in a person that has a genetic disorder. Below is the video where Dr. Lusting tell us why sugar is poison.

The best we can do for our son is to provide him with a healthy diet, including items from all 5 food groups: fruits, vegetables, breads, dairy products, meat and fish and a lot of water. Eat whole grain food; limited the processed food; read the food labled to look for low sugar percentag, get label food as "Sugar Free" and limit the consumption of sugary food. We keep a healthy diet for our son, which I think, it's one of the reason he has a good health. As his parents, we try to set the example for him and eat healthy, too.

Eat healthy, it is a good thing!