Case Studies

Proteins or any supplements should be administered only after checking if they can be digested.

There were 2 boys of age 8 and 10 years. Their father owned a chemist shop, and he had access to quality supplements that were normally used by sports persons.

The father brought these kids to me for frail health. Their weight would not increase, they did not have a good appetite and they had constant complaints of irritability. They would not eat food in school, and were reluctant to have food even after returning home in the evening.

When we went into details of their daily routine, the father revealed that he was administering the kids, high protein supplement and in spite of the high protein, they were not responding.

I said this was precisely the cause of their problems. High proteins are difficult to digest and that means they spend all their energy trying to complete its digestion. I asked them to stop the supplements for a month and wait to see how they respond before committing to any treatment.

In a month’s time, the boys were back to their energetic self and had no further complaints.

Proteins or any supplements should be administered only after checking if they can be digested. If the digestion is weak, the supplements consumption should be re-looked. Kids of young age need not be given supplements if they are doing well at school and are perfectly healthy.