Metabolic diseases and disorders occur when your organs and tissues, such as the pancreas, liver, kidneys or muscles, become damaged or dysfunctional, causing abnormal chemical reactions that induce too much or too little of one or more biological substances. Under normal conditions, your body digests food into fats, amino acids and sugars and uses these substances immediately or stores excess amounts in the liver or muscles. Diet can help you manage metabolic diseases.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by insufficient insulin production by the pancreas that results in high blood sugar levels. You can manage diabetes through diet. Consuming foods that with a low glycemic index, such as pears, carrots, lentils and soy beans, can reduce or minimize fluctuations in blood sugar, enabling steadier insulin requirements. Foods with healthy fats, such as fish, nuts and avocado, may reduce your risk of cardiovascular complications, such as coronary heart disease.
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions, including high blood pressure and high blood levels of insulin, cholesterol and fat, that occur together and increase your risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Although any one of these conditions is a significant risk factor for a life-threatening disease, the combination of these risk factors increases the intensity of risk. Metabolic syndrome is especially common among people who are overweight or obese. A low-calorie, low-fat, low-sodium diet aimed at helping you lose weight can reduce your health risks from these conditions and more serious complications.
Glycogen Storage Disease
Type 1 glycogen storage disease, also called von Gierke's disease, is an inherited metabolic condition that is characterized by an inability to produce glucose-6-phosphatase, a liver enzyme that breaks down glycogen into glucose, the sugar molecule your body uses for energy. Glycogen is a large molecule that stores excess glucose from carbohydrates in your diet. The livers of normal people are able to break down glycogen into glucose when blood glucose levels are low. However, people with glycogen storage disease are unable to do this, resulting in prolonged periods of low blood glucose levels called hypoglycemia, which can cause chronic hunger, fatigue and irritability. As storage of glycogen builds up, your liver can become enlarged. You can treat glycogen storage disease by consuming small, frequent feedings of uncooked corn starch mixed in water or soy milk. The corn starch is digested slowly, releasing a steady amount of free glucose that your blood can absorb, even in between feedings.
Metabolic Myopathies
Metabolic myopathies are inherited diseases that interfere with energy-generating processes in muscle cells, particularly the inability to produce adenosine triphosphate, ATP, from dietary sugars and fats. Muscle myopathies are characterized by weakness, fatigue, pain and rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which your muscles break down, which in turn can cause kidney failure. A high-protein diet may benefit you if you have muscle myopathies that interfere with carbohydrate metabolism, and a high-carbohydrate diet may help you if you have muscle myopathies that interfere with fat metabolism.
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