Teens and potassium

[carrie]

It's been a long while since I have participated on this site - but all these years I have held the advice here as Golden and have checked in now and then to research as a guest. My son Ben will be 12 in Dec. We noticed he had issues with food starting at 4 months when we introduced baby food. He has been diagnosed with Fructose Malabsorption, and while some dr's have insisted his issues are NOT HFI, they cannot explain his vomiting or hypoglycemia, or the fact that he does not tolerate the smallest bite of food containing fructose, or why his reactions last a week. We recently moved to another state. Our new team of Dr's finally agree that his symptoms are more that of HFI. SO .... We manage like we have all these years and it's all good -- I mean it is what it is and I know what he can have and where to buy it or how to make it. But something I have done when I cook is make food 'Ben friendly' for all of us. I use his breadcrumbs, soups, etc because it is just easier for me to do it that way... And of course the more I read labels the more 'his' seems the healthiest !! BUT this has recently backfired on me. My oldest son (Charlie) turned 13 in April and has been going thru a massive growth spurt- and he has fainted twice since we have entered the teen years. The first time resulted in a concussion. Dr's said to increase his fluid intake and maybe increase salt. His potassium levels were really low but a re-test a few days later showed he was fine and they said that low was probably a fluke. Last week he fainted again ....and when he wakes up from these fainting episodes he has a seizure- which puts him back to sleep for a few hours. So now I have numbers to reach every day : 80 oz fluid, 2300 mg sodium and 4700 mg potassium. That much potassium is in about 11 bananas. It is a struggle -- for my non fructose intolerant child. As I do the math of what we have been eating -- the sugar-less foods I buy are also very low in salt. This weekend I figured it all out for Charlie- but what will get him there is fruit, yogurt and coconut water added to Gatorade powder instead of just water or in a smoothie with milk and fruit. I got English Muffins which Ben cannot have- they have more sodium than the bacon I buy ! So as I am feeling a tad more confident in Charlie's new diet I worry and wonder how to reach these numbers for Ben when he hits the crazy teen growth spurts ! And that got me back on this wonderful site. Charlie runs cross country- and Ben hates exercise. I have always considered Ben the most active kid on the planet --- but am realizing he has short bursts. He is impulsive - sprints across the house and maybe leaping over the sofa to get what he needs. He never sustains exercise and when we do go for a long bike ride or hike, Ben moans and groans the whole time. So maybe his electrolyte demands won't be as much ?? Did anyone experience these extra issues in the teen years ? I have not researched coconut -- but am assuming coconut milk or water is NOT okay - is that correct ? Thanks so much to anyone that reads this and has some words of wisdom to help guide me forward !

[colormist]

I did research on coconuts a while back and they do have fructose.

I had growth pains in middle school and I didn't like participating in sports or gym at all. However, I was always out in the woods at my house exploring, finding mushrooms, picking blackberries, building dams or tree houses. I also loved riding my bike and walking everywhere.

Have you tried Ben's diet with Cronometer (cronometer.com/)--or a similar nutrition tracking application? I'm also wondering if you use potatoes in your recipes at all? I craved potatoes like nobody's business as a child and would eat an entire bag of potato chips. I think potatoes were my primary source of potassium when I was a kid.

Do you bring food or drink for Ben when you go for hikes or bike rides? I usually bring myself some food and take a break every hour to rest and eat something so my blood sugar levels don't drop too low. I'm not sure if Ben knows how to tell his blood sugar levels are low, but an easy test would be to ask him to hold his hands out flat and see if they shake. I get pretty irritable and whiny when my sugar levels get low. If it's not his blood sugar, I'm not sure what low-electrolytes feels like, but Smarthingyer (www.coca-colacompany.com/brands/glaceau-smarthingyer) has electrolytes. You could try that to see if it helps his activity levels.


EDIT: For some odd reason my browser changed "Smarthingyer" to Smarthinger. I updated the links.

[carrie]

Thanks SO much. I will check out those websites. A nutrition app would be helpful ! And an electrolyte drink would make ME feel better. Ben is always in the woods too -attaching a wagon to his bike and finding sticks/bricks etc then building things for hours. He loves hiking, but complains and drags if it's a long or hilly hike. He doesn't want to play sports and I do wonder if he doesn't feel well with those activities, but doesn't know how to explain that. Checking for shaky hands is a great idea ! I do bring snacks on our adventures, but perhaps not enough - one bag only goes so far with 4 kids. I guess my oldest - Charlie has had NO issues all these years. He grew 7 inches and gained over 20 lbs in less than a year. Dr's say the body's chemical reactions drag behind growth like that and blood pressure can drop suddenly. It has me stressed and on edge - especially since he got a concussion that took weeks to recover. I really don't want this issue with any of my younger kids - and Ben seems more at risk with his diet. But - You are right about potatoes - we eat them 2-3x/week, but I always have potato chips in the house. I am making sure the ones I buy now have the 300mg potassium on the label and will start serving Ben potatoes every day - for dinner, lunch and snacks. Milk is good too with 400ish mg. 4700 mg seems a tad unattainable, but Ben does LOVE potatoes and chips so I will just always have them. Leafy greens are good too … but I'll probably only get 300 mg out of that - because he's a typical kid when it comes to eating salads. Perhaps Ben won't have this blood pressure issue when he gets those massive growth spurts. But, the 4700 mg is recommended for all teen boys - so I want to at least try. Thanks again for your advice !! :-)

[colormist]

4700mg of Potassium is way higher than I would have guessed. I'm trying to think of other foods I really liked as I kid. I was always eating mushrooms, mushroom soup, and tuna noodle casserole (mushroom, mushroom soup, and pasta). Looks like white mushrooms have 200mg of potassium. Tinned tuna in oil contains almost 600mg of potassium. Smart water contains some potassium, but only a couple grams.

Good luck!

[carrie]

4700 was making my head spin ! I didn't know that about tuna and they all had tuna for lunch, so they got a little more potassium today than calculated. Yay! 1/2 can tuna in salted water is only 100-130 (I have 2 brands here) but if oil is that much more I will switch !! I was getting tuna in unsalted water until last week and just switched to up the sodium in our diet, which was lacking by 1000 mg/day (good for adults - not for kids !) My mushroom soup doesn't list potassium - but I added mushrooms to the crockpot yesterday as I realized that was a good source. I have another container of mushrooms that will go in tonights dinner. I am more hopeful I can reach these numbers and HOPEfully prevent these boys from fainting … thank you !!

[Tammy]

Hi Carrie, Great to hear from you again. I often think of you as Ben and Regina had things in common with how they react. I too make things mostly "Regina safe" but for my older son I've always just had other food around that he could eat himself. I guess he just ate enough outside of mealtimes to get enough of what he needed. He was always a potato chip/Doritos/pizza junk food junkie anyway.
I have always struggled with low potassium. I now just take a potassium pill. It has to be prescribed and I'm sure for a teen boy they would rather he finds ways to eat enough but as a last resort it's something you could check into.

I remember you being in NJ. What state have you now moved to? Closer or farther away?

[carrie]

aw Tammy - you are sweet. I often think of Regina and you too - you definitely helped pull me forward with Ben's diet !! We got financially squeezed out of NJ. We were stuck in a great little house for 1-2 kids ... but we had 4. Taxes kept rising so our little house was becoming hard to afford. Fort Monmouth where my husband worked was shut down - so his unemployment didn't help either. Then Sandy hit - we were evacuated for 2 weeks, and thankfully our home was spared, but it hit too close for comfort. Sadly so many of our friends are STILL out of their homes today!! So - suddenly we wanted to be away from the coast! Jason works from home with his new job, so we could live anywhere. Our neighbor randomly offered to buy our house one day- so we agreed with no clue where to go. We ended up in SC - near Clemson Univ/Lake Hartwell. It's far from everyone - my parents are in upstate NY so that is hard. But, here was best for us. We've taken 2 road trips north and I flew last spring with 2 kids - so we'll make it work. We've been here a year and I have finally figured out where to shop for different things. I guess I thought I was being 'healthy' not buying things full of sodium - but have learned quickly that a teens diet is quite different than an adults ! My charlie is a huge fruit eater/milk drinker - and I often give him a multivitamin. I just assumed he was getting enough of what he needed, but he was probably 1500 mg shy of potassium most days. My mom takes Rx Potassium too - but I think it is flammable ?? so it isn't over the counter and yes, they prefer kids get it thru food. It just seems like a LOT, and had me concerned for Ben -- because I am struggling to handle just one child that faints and Ben's diet seemed to put him more at risk. It is great to have all of you still on this site, because I am hopeful now. Nice hearing from you - and as always I appreciate your words of wisdom ! Hope all has been well with you !! :-)

[ukbill]

Ahh you bring back memories of my teen years.. not good ones at that.

OK I suspect its not so much electrolyte levels as level of fructose in diet.

When I was an undiagnosed teen I was eating far too much fructose (energy drinks are likely to be highly contaminated with Fructose)

So long as I had enough to drink (water milk tea) I was fine otherwise I went Hypo very quickly.

If you know he is going to have an active day ahead of him then steak and eggs (beef pork chicken lamb) for breakfast is a good option.. the more low GI calories you can stuff into him the better.

High protein low GI index foods are best for slow energy release.

Frequent meals will be needed too.. I remember going Hypo as a result of exercise frequently and as a child had some seizures as well.

These were all diet related.. too much Fructose.

The high Fructose intake will cause kidney problems (along with liver problems) and I suspect our kidneys try to flush out the Fructose phosphate leading to lower salt levels in the body.

Please bear in mind if we convert body fat back into blood sugar we also make some fructose and poison ourselves in the process, so if our level of exercise is greater than the amount of food being digested can supply we initially call on our reserves of Glycogen (stored in the liver.. if our liver is damaged maybe less there to be released than normal) once that is depleted we switch to reducing body fat and release fructose into our system.

If I have a bad day and eat more Fructose than I should then the following days I can me very thirsty and need frequent visits to the loo to get rid of excess water.

Hope this helps a bit?

Keep smiling

[carrie]

Yes, ukbill -- it is always helpful to read similar experiences. Ben's tummy aches have been MUCH better. My neighbors grow everything green in their garden and give us bag fulls of produce. I was giving him a variety of lettuce as well as kale, spinich and chards. We cut back on dairy and gluten as his Dr. suggested, but I think he was having too many greens. He wasn't having a lot, barely a 1/2 cup a day, but too much for him. Probably most likely the regular lettuce and maybe swiss chard. Kale/spinich is okay to have daily or every other day ?? (if he is willing to eat it that frequently

We went skiing last weekend and as always, playing in snow was too much - he snowboards which is more tiring, I think. I packed a lot of food as I've learned to do, but we had to take a shuttle from the parking lot to the slopes, so of course I left too much in the van. He was very thirsty the next day and the tummy aches returned this week. In a way set backs are good as I want HIM to learn to manage his diet - and he's had worse reactions from snow days - like such low blood sugar I am unable to wake him. So I failed a little with his intake amount -very interesting that body fat reverts to fructose !! .. but we're making progress towards setting him 'free' in the world in a few years. Time sure goes by quickly ....

Thanks again for sharing your experience.