The term "protein supplement" has always been synonymous with body-building and Olympic athletics but it is just as appropriate in the treatment of illness and disease.
How do you define illness in an age where almost everyone has an allergy or a sensitivity to foods or environmental factors? Extreme illnesses such as cancer or renal failure are obvious to the layman and to the average doctor. However the early stages of disease, literally uneasiness, may only show as sleeplessness, depression, lack of appetite, loss of memory, low libido or lack of energy. This is the puzzle with which the medical profession is often faced and a patient is more likely to be prescribed anti-depressants rather than the dietary advice they deserve.
The simple truth is that many of us eat a poor diet, suffering the consequences not realizing that the basic building block in our recovery from our sometimes self-inflicted uneasiness is nothing more startling than protein. Many of the symptoms mentioned above could be the early stages of Hypoglycemia, a condition that diabetics will recognize as their nemesis. Protein along with starchy foods, fruit, vegetables and dairy products has an important role to play in stabilizing the body's mechanisms to avoid or prevent such symptoms.
Studies have shown that Fibromyalgia patients, who suffer from muscular pain even if they have not been working out, almost always have a faulty digestive system that cannot properly break down proteins. This has a domino effect on the systems of the body, allowing infections and imbalances to occur.
A common post-operative condition, especially amongst the elderly, is protein calorie malnutrition (PCM). As many as half of all elderly hospitalized patients show signs of undernourishment and PCM is a major cause of fatality in the hospital environment. The elderly are notorious for their fussy eating habits which can be exacerbated by a stay in hospital.
Severe burns cause the body to trigger rapid muscle protein breakdown automatically, a process called catabolism, and it can be difficult to maintain what is called lean body mass (LBM). Our LBM is our total tissue mass (organs and muscles) without storage fat. Higher than normal protein intake for severe burns patients is therefore critical but the correct balance is vital as over-dosing on protein can cause a build-up of urea and ammonia which can, in turn, cause nausea and vomiting. This will obviously reverse any benefit the additional protein might bring, so it is essential that the patient and the carers have a method of assessing protein input accurately.
Malnutrition and cancer often go hand in hand and almost a quarter of cancer patients can be classified as anorexic. To be clear, anorexia is the condition where the patient loses their appetite and as a consequence will shed weight. The anorexia leads to a condition called cachexia where muscle mass is lost and the resulting progressive weakness can cause premature death. There have been some encouraging results from nutrition therapy with these patients where muscle building protein has improved their condition.
Renal Failure, a condition where toxins build up in the patient's body and the kidneys fail to function properly, occurs mainly amongst the elderly unfortunate enough to be hospitalized. Recovery from this condition demands that the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level and serum creatinine level are normalized. Urea and creatinine are both by-products of protein breakdown so this can be partially achieved by careful monitoring of protein intake.
Dementia patients suffer from a number of problems when it comes to protein intake. Firstly, as their condition progresses and they become depressed their appetite may reduce and it is also believed that their taste and smell senses are distorted by misfiring nerve pathways in their brains. They can also find difficulty in using a knife and fork, chewing and swallowing. Failure to recognize that the food in front of them can relieve their hunger will almost inevitably mean they will not eat a whole meal portion. The result of all of this is that it can become difficult to assess whether a dementia patient has had an appropriate intake of protein to maintain their body in a healthy state.
Protein, in the correct form, is unarguably a cornerstone of health maintenance and recovery from illness but the complication for us all is the measurement of protein intake. Protein supplements have been available for many years and generally take the form of powders that are whisked up into the equivalent of a milkshake. A half-pint or pint of shake is fine for those with a healthy thirst and the constitution to swig it back but for the feeble, the weak and the old this can be just as daunting as steak and fries with a side order of onions. The answer seems so simple we wonder why no-one has thought of it before.
The protein complex used in the capsules is Actinase, billed as a natural, hypoallergenic, enzymatically-hydrolyzed formula. It contains all the essential amino acids and 100% heat-stable, short-chain peptide proteins making it more easily processed by flawed digestive systems. Because it is such a concentrated formula and has a neutral taste and smell it should be easier for those with poor appetites to consume significant quantities of protein in line with their needs without feeling that they are being force-fed.
Many of us have digestive systems that we have maltreated for many years, throwing inappropriate "food" like alcohol, chocolate, salt and junk food into ourselves, not realizing that we have damaged our ability to properly break down proteins. The result of this is that the cell-building qualities of our food do not reach the parts of our bodies that need them.
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