Role of Nutrition

The Role of Nutrition

Over the years, the development of infants and children as they grow into adolescence and adulthood has been studied to get a real picture of how important adequate nutrition early on affects them later in life. Adequate nutrition, providing age-appropriate nutrition, is a cornerstone for good health and wellbeing at any stage of life.

Addressing specific needs through specialized nutrition

We all understand that good nutrition plays a powerful role in everyday health. Overall, providing individuals with the right nutrition, at the right time, will help improve their quality of life.

Research has shown that nutrition can make a difference in a person’s health not only in the short-term, but in the long-term as well.

What is specialized nutrition?

Specialized nutrition is an effective way to help with the dietary management of specific conditions when a normal diet is not suitable for the patient.

Under the guidance of a healthcare professional, specialized nutrition is often a key part of the management besides medication, surgery and/or other interventions, and can be either short term or long-term depending on the patient’s individual nutritional needs. Specialized nutrition often requires the use of specialized formulas specifically designed to meet the dietary requirements of the patients.

Specialized formulas must be used under medical supervision. If you have recently received a diagnosis or you are interested in knowing if a specialized nutrition formula it is right for you, speak to your medical professional.

Whom is Specialized nutrition for and why?

Specialized nutrition can help patients of all ages with the dietary management of specific conditions or diseases. For example:

Refractory epilepsy, and disorders where a ketogenic diet is indicated
Genetic metabolic disorders like. Phenylketonuria (PKU) or Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD)
Food allergies e.g. cow milk allergy where cow milk proteins are not tolerated
Conditions where increased energy is needed

Where we specialize

From birth and through childhood, and on into adulthood, Nutricia provides resources and products that help meet the nutritional needs of many individuals with special dietary requirements.

Allergy is on the rise with cow milk allergy one of the most common childhood allergies, affecting approximately 3% of infants in Canada.

Cow Milk Allergy

Beyond the clinical symptoms, food allergy can have an impact on the quality of life of patients and their families. Cow Milk Allergy (CMA) can be distressing for parents, making it important for them to identify the causes of their child’s discomfort and help them accordingly.
Nutricia has pioneered a range of specialized formulas and products designed to help with the dietary management of individuals with cow milk allergy and related gastrointestinal and allergic conditions.
Nutricia offers a range of hypoallergenic formulas made with 100% free amino acids, which are unlikely to trigger food allergies symptoms. This can help the patients and their families lead a more normal life.

Refractory Epilepsy

For close to a century, the management of drug resistant (or refractory) epilepsy has been enabled through the implementation of the medical ketogenic diet. While most patients with epilepsy respond well to anti-epileptic medication, around 30-40% of patients do not respond. For persons with refractory epilepsy, a medical ketogenic diet can be an option. The medical ketogenic diet should only be used under medical supervision.

The medical ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate, and adequate protein diet. It works by using fat as the main energy source, which can help manage epilepsy symptoms.
As adherence is key, Nutricia developed the Ketocal range of products to simplify and optimize the medical ketogenic diet.

Metabolic disorders (Inborn Errors of Metabolism)

Nutricia is a pioneer in the development of products for the dietary management inborn errors of metabolism (IMD).

IMDs are a group of rare disorders caused by genetic defects that affect the body’s ability to metabolize nutrients in food e.g. amino acids, the building blocks of protein.

IMDs can result in significant delays in mental and physical development if not diagnosed and managed early in infancy. Because of the importance of early diagnosis and management newborn screening is available in all Canadian provinces. An example of inherited metabolic disorder (IMD) is PKU, which occurs in just 1 in 12,000 newborns in Canada.

In persons diagnosed with an inborn error of metabolism a lifelong commitment to a restricted or managed diet is required alongside use of specialized formulas containing essential and non-essential nutrients like amino acids, and other nutrients.

For individuals with metabolic disorders managed through diet, special formulas and low protein foods are available to help them to meet their nutritional requirements.

Nutricia has created a range of products for a variety of IMDs, helping people around the world and throughout their lives.