Nicky Clark is a nutritional therapist in Australia who provides personalized nutritional advice to parents of children with Down syndrome.
For example, she spoke about nutrition for Down syndrome when the World Down Syndrome Congress came to Brisbane and at the Optimum Nutrition Institute’s Nutrition Talks series.
Clark also has a son named Michael with Down syndrome. he said news week He said he has received “requests for information and insight from around the world” about nutrition for people with the condition, and has shared some of that information with people. news week.
Down syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a condition in which people are accidentally born with an extra chromosome and, as a result, have a type of learning disability.
“There’s actually not a lot of research on diet and Down syndrome,” Clark said. news week. “But if you start connecting the dots, you can start to come up with ideas that are really worth pursuing for people with Down syndrome.”
Clark said most of the advice she gives parents is standard nutrition education that applies to every child; however, there was also some specific focus on Down syndrome. For example, picky eating is common.
“Everyone has problems with kids being picky eaters,” he said. “Perhaps this situation is exacerbated by Down syndrome because parents are constantly afraid that their child will choke or not be able to breastfeed.
“This is an added layer of anxiety, and I think it means parents are tending to the child’s needs even more, which creates a child who is a pickier eater.
“But you also have all the sensory characteristics that accompany disability. So they may not like the taste of fruit, or all their food needs to be smooth.”
Nutritional advice for picky eating involves providing the food the child will eat, but also finding ways to increase its nutritional content and gradually encouraging him to eat slightly different things.
For example, if a child eats chicken nuggets and fries, parents can try to eat carrot sticks along with the breaded chicken and fries.
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People with Down syndrome have lower muscle tone, with relaxed muscles being looser than in people without the condition, Clark added, which can make chewing more difficult.
“Chewing can be a problem,” he said. “Foods are not chewed very well and they are chewed too quickly. This leads to digestive problems, and the prevalence of digestive problems seems to be high.” [among people with Down syndrome]—but in saying that, there’s actually very little research.”
Therefore, just as every child shoves food into his mouth, eager to get up from the table and play, children with Down syndrome may not chew their food properly, which can cause digestive problems such as abdominal pain, burping, diarrhea and constipation.
The solution is a matter of encouraging slower, more mindful eating during seated mealtimes by focusing on chewing food properly before swallowing.
Another area that can affect anyone, but more severely in people with Down syndrome, is oxidative stress, Clark said.
“When I dove into the research and tried to make something out of it, what I found wasn’t much, but I did find things related to oxidative stress,” he said.
“People with Down syndrome can look old at a fairly early age and develop Alzheimer’s around the age of 40. This is because they develop oxidative stress more quickly.”
Oxidative stress is a normal process that occurs in the body when byproducts of chemical reactions called free radicals damage cells (often referred to as “internal wear and tear”), which has been linked to aging and chronic diseases such as heart disease, dementia, and obesity. .
However, foods containing antioxidants are believed to neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress in the body.
“Oxidative stress is a real thing,” Clark said, adding that one of his main messages is that eating antioxidant-rich foods can help.
Antioxidants are found in many plant foods, especially fruits and vegetables such as berries, citrus fruits, and leafy greens, as well as nuts and seeds, oily fish, extra virgin olive oil, dark chocolate, and tea.
Clark said she recommends eating plenty of brightly colored fruits and vegetables and limiting sugar intake because too much sugar can cause extra oxidative stress, as well as increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Down syndrome
“It’s not just sugar, it’s carbohydrates,” Clark said. Refined carbohydrates such as white rice, white bread, pasta, mashed potatoes and fruit juice are all converted to glucose (sugar) in the body, so they can have the same effect nutritionally.
Clark said reducing intake of both high-sugar foods and refined carbohydrates is an important piece of advice she gives to parents of children with Down syndrome to reduce oxidative stress, risk of Alzheimer’s, and risk of insulin resistance and weight gain. gain – which is also higher in people with Down syndrome.
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“The other thing is that methylation doesn’t seem to be quite right in people with Down syndrome,” Clark said.
Methylation is one of the ways the body interacts with, reads and interprets DNA. When methylation goes wrong, it can change the way a gene is expressed, potentially increasing the risk of some diseases.
“There is research showing that methylation is slightly impaired in newborns,” Clark said. “And there’s a lot of research on methylation and B vitamins. Another recommendation I have from a dietary perspective is to include B vitamins.”
B vitamins are a group of nutrients found in meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, as well as some legumes, seeds and green leafy vegetables.
Clark said there are supplements that target methylation and oxidative stress for people with Down syndrome, but he wouldn’t necessarily recommend them.
“These are very high doses of B vitamins and antioxidants like selenium, so they fit those two molds and make sense, but they’re really high doses, and I have huge concerns that these are being pushed on all these parents who don’t know about it.” Not necessarily knowing better,” Clark said.
“High doses of supplements are dangerous to anyone without a considered, educated reason. It is not a smart way to administer supplements.”
“When I look at my Michael, I see that he is the healthiest person physically. Why would I give additional support to a beautiful, perfect child? It makes no sense.”
When it comes to specific nutrients, Clark also recommends focusing on zinc, a mineral found in meat, shellfish, dairy, nuts and seeds.
“People with Down syndrome often suffer from immune issues and thyroid issues,” he said, implying that zinc could help with both. “And zinc supports antioxidant systems.”
Finally, he emphasized the importance of proper nutrition for people with Down syndrome.
“I think that’s the most important thing,” he said. “For people with Down syndrome, there’s swimming therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, nutritional therapy; you have to consciously think about doing all these therapies, but food is just a given.
“There’s something out there that you have to do three times a day that has implications for physical and mental health, so you better do it right.
“And when you talk to parents who are invested in this and are already doing everything a nutritionist is supposed to do, their kids are really healthy and really good and really independent, and you think there must be something to that.
“Anecdotally, you hear families say: We changed our diet, added this, did that, and now they’re better, and you think food is medicine. It’s so powerful.”
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