IMPORTANCE OF NUTRITION IN SICKLE CELL DISEASE

Nutrition! What has food got to do with my red blood cells? I’m sure you’re probably wondering what the big fuss is all about, but nutrition plays a very significant role in our lives. It is important for growth and development and a strong immunity against infections. In patients with Sickle Cell Disease, appetite and immunity are greatly affected which results in poor growth, poor sexual maturation and increased susceptibility to infections. This affects the quality of their lives and will often be sickly if basic proper care is not given.

Therefore dear warrior, keep in mind that you have extra requirements for nutrients such as energy, protein, water, folate & zinc. It is recommended that you take extra vitamins and minerals in order to replenish those being lost or those on higher demand by your body due to the nature of the disease. Extra protein and energy are required to promote growth & maturation especially if you are a child or adolescent with Sickle Cell Disease. Folic acid is needed in extra amounts so that it can aid in the increased production of red blood cells needed to replace the destroyed ones, while zinc is needed to increase oxygen affinity and perform its functions in skeletal & muscle growth and sexual maturation. While these are important we will also discuss other nutrients whose increased intake aid in management of Sickle Cell Disease. These include Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Vitamin C.

Hearty Nutrition for Sickle Cell

Food choices in Sickle Cell Disease have great health benefits to you and even go beyond providing nutrients only –they can affect how frequent your symptoms occur, imagine that! Most foods that have been implicated with triggering crises are animal protein sources due to iron overload and their complexity in digestion. Vegan diets have been associated with less frequent and severe episodes (yes contrast to common thought, being a VEGAN aids in much more than just weight loss). Your dietary intake may be low because of abdominal pain crises caused by some certain foods, but at the same time you need a high caloric intake because of hyper metabolism caused by the constant inflammation. Therefore, it is very essential for a healthy Sickle Cell diet to avoid trigger foods. Your diet should be low in:

• Sodium –a component of salt. If you’re one of those people who grab the salt shaker right away before tasting your food, keep note! Salt leads to dehydration by ‘sucking’ the water out of our body cells leading to painful crises episodes.

• Added sugars –such as those found in sodas, processed juices, sweets & candies cause dehydration in the same way as salt does.

• Solid fats – include saturated fat and trans fatty acids which adversely raise the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)/ bad cholesterol and lower the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)/ good cholesterol in the body. They cause abdominal obesity, inflammation and insulin resistance. In the long term, consumption of trans fats raises the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression and many more diseases.

• Refined grains and products –such as white baked foods (bread, cake, mandazi and donuts), white rice and white refined flour are easily digestible & release glucose quickly. This causes a rapid spike in blood sugar, followed by a surge of insulin in the blood, typically followed by reactive hypoglycemia –a low energy feeling caused by over-secretion of insulin. This is why we feel so hungry & weak after eating such foods. Such foods also lack some nutrients present in their counterparts –whole unrefined grains.

Watch Importance of Nutrition Video , a short pictorial on cheap available foods that are easy to source within Kenya

Nutrition is irrefutably very important in managing Sickle Cell Disease. Don’t you agree? And this is just a tiny drop from an ocean of health benefits. Log on to see the nitty gritty details of how each nutrient we have talked about helps in managing Sickle Cell Disease & discover their richest sources. But before you do that remember that power is gained by sharing knowledge, feel free to comment below on how nutrition is so important to you. Until then, eat healthy & stay strong.

Love Life!

Sharlene Mule