Normally, during digestion, nutrients from food are absorbed by the small intestine, carried into the bloodstream, and reach tissues, muscles, and organs to assist in the performance of life-sustaining, building, and growing functions. However, in some people, no matter how adequate the diet is, the body still has nutritional deficiencies, affecting health.
Why do we have malabsorption syndrome?
Malabsorption syndrome is a condition in which the body fails to absorb nutrients, vitamins, and minerals from food. This can be the result of many different conditions contributing to it, most of which are rare. Therefore, most patients cannot determine the cause of this syndrome. Some medical conditions that can cause malabsorption include: Diet poor in nutrients; Pathologies of the pancreas, liver, gallbladder, gastrointestinal tract; Food allergies; Parasites; Excessive use of alcohol; The effects of drugs…
Recognizing signs
The most common symptom of malabsorption syndrome affects the digestive system, especially diarrhea. However, this is not the case in all cases. The disease can also affect different organs in the body: Mental state decline; Muscle weakness or cramping; Dry skin, easy to appear bruises due to bleeding; Dry, brittle hair; Impaired vision, especially at night. Not only that, people with malabsorption syndrome are often tired, lose weight or slow in physical development because of nutritional deficiencies.
For young children, it is necessary to be wary of malabsorption syndrome through milk intolerance in children, including lactose intolerance due to lactase deficiency, milk protein allergy. In addition, it may be due to an unbalanced diet, intestinal dysbiosis or because the child does not have enough digestive enzymes, making the food metabolism become poor. Especially in children of weaning age, this syndrome appears due to a sudden change in diet when starting to switch from milk to other foods.
Overcoming malabsorption syndrome with diet
This is the best solution for people with malabsorption syndrome. To do this, make sure your diet is low in fiber, fat, and dairy. On the other hand, a diet rich in fluids, vitamins and minerals effectively supports symptom improvement and overall health.
You can eat low-sugar yogurt supplements, preferably hand-fermented at home, or take probiotic supplements to boost gut microflora. Divide your meals into smaller meals throughout the day. Do not eat too much at each meal because it can lead to decreased motility and affect the digestive and absorption capacity of the intestine.
In summary, malabsorption syndrome is very complicated, so in addition to trying to improve their own nutrition, patients should go to a general doctor to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment according to the specific cause. for better results.
Source: Go Vap Hospital