We know a cowboy who can smell tornadoes and loves clean eating.
That’s the crazy thing about Oklahoma. People are full of surprises. They are open books down here, even more so than in the Midwest. Ask a question and you’ll get an earnest answer, and maybe one you didn’t expect.
I’ve stereotyped both Cowboys and people who eat clean, obviously. Those who wear the hat must like the rodeo and subsist on streak and butter rolls in between wrestling calves to the ground by the neck, no? Those who eat clean wear “Kale yeah” shirts and name children smug things Apple (taking to you Gwyneth).
I’m wrong, as it turns out.
Our cowboy likes wheatgrass and has espoused its nutritional profile, Mark told me the othe week.
I thought he said whey. Either way, I started thinking about Eli, and Eli’s digestive and lung troubles, and nutrition. The wondering turned to worry. Are we doing enough for him, nutritionally speaking?
OBVIOUSLY NOT, FAILURE! came the answer from my mind.
My son needs 1900 calories a day and my worry is he is growing and turning into a lil string bean, all while picking at his plate and refusing to finish his green smoothie. He’s not even finishing his ice cream.
He has a clinic appointment in September; my hope is he’s gained weight and that his vitamin D levels are at a healthy level. If we can keep Eli robust he is supposed to be better able to ward off infections. Vitamin D is important for his lung development he has been low on that front.
I Googled “whey and cystic fibrosis” and found a study on PubMed that saw people with CF gain a bit of weight after taking “pressurized whey.” Which is…what now?
This is the study abstract:
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by malnutrition, chronic pulmonary inflammation, and oxidative stress.
cheers, thanks
Whey protein is rich in sulfhydryl groups
mmmmk
and is recognized for its ability to increase glutathione and reduce oxidative stress.
no idea no idea …
Previously, we have shown that supplementation with whey increased intracellular glutathione levels in patients with CF.
lost
We have subsequently shown that hyperbaric pressure treatment of whey protein promotes the release of novel peptides for absorption, increases intracellular glutathione in healthy subjects, and reduces in vitro production of interleukin (IL)-8.
Hey who here at the party put my whey in a hyperbaric chamber? very funny guys.
We hypothesized that pressurized whey supplementation…
(eh?)
…in children and adults with CF could have significant nutritional and anti-inflammatory benefits. A pilot open-label study of 1-month dietary supplementation with pressurized whey in CF patients was undertaken to assess the effects. Twenty-seven patients with CF (nine children, 18 adults) were enrolled. The dose of pressurized whey was 20 g/day in patients less than 18 years of age and 40 g/day in older patients.
Anthropometric measures,…
WTF
pulmonary function…
ooh something about lung strength
serum C-reactive protein (CRP), whole blood glutathione, and whole blood IL-8 and IL-6 responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation
5x(WTF)=nope
were measured at baseline and at 1 month.
yar
Three adults withdrew (one with gastrointestinal side effects, two with acute infection).
so a *really*small study with only nine children and 27 adults. Three adults withdrew…OK…
Both children and adults showed enhancements in nutritional status, as assessed by body mass index. Children showed improvement in lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 second)….
yippee kay yay mutha f*ckas
Thus, oral supplementation with pressurized whey improves nutritional status and can have additional beneficial effects on inflammation in patients with CF.
ah ha!
I did what any normal person would do and e-mailed the primary study author as I have questions about what…a lot of this means.
I’m going to e-mail his clinic nutritionist and lung doctor, too.
Next I started googling superfoods and feeling like a failure for not stuffing my 3-year-old full of them. I made a crockpot bean stew, which he, obviously, refused to touch. I’m soaking lentils right now people. No way he’ll touch those either, btw, but I’m not done kidding myself. But will he eat this frozen pizza? How about those Mickey D’s french fries? You betcha!
Eli ain’t gonna willingly ‘eat the rainbow’ as those in the “Kale yeah” shirts might recommend.
This is the stuff keeping me up at night these days.
I hate Googling for facts about his disease because it reminds me that he has one, a thought that makes me want to cry if I linger there too long. Not always, but this week, yes. We lost a reader and my emotions are raw regarding CF.
Anyway, our son is not his disease to us, just a threenager whose eating habits are driving mommy and daddy coo coo.
I wish I had some kind of solution, but what do I know? We’re going to have to do the best we can whilst I judo chop the thought that it isn’t good enough.
