Open AccessDietetics After Spinal Cord Injury: Current Evidence and Future Perspectives
Author(s) -
Gary J. Farkas,
Alicia Sneij,
David R. Gater
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
topics in spinal cord injury rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1945-5763
pISSN - 1082-0744
DOI - 10.46292/sci20-00031
Subject(s) - medicine , spinal cord injury , obesity , physical therapy , environmental health , intensive care medicine , endocrinology , spinal cord , psychiatry
Following spinal cord injury (SCI), individuals are at high risk for obesity and several chronic cardiometabolic disorders due to a deterioration in body composition, hypometabolic rate, and endometabolic dysregulation. Countermeasures to the consequences of an SCI include adopting a healthy diet that provides adequate nutrition to maintain good body habitus and cardiometabolic health. A proper diet for individuals with SCI should distribute carbohydrates, protein, and fat to optimize a lower energy intake requirement and should stress foods with low caloric yet high nutrient density. The purpose of this article is to present available evidence on how nutritional status after SCI should advance future research to further develop SCI-specific guidelines for total energy intake, as it relates to percent carbohydrates, protein, fat, and all vitamins and minerals, that take into consideration the adaptations after SCI.