Need to supplement Lysine for children with anorexia

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Tran Thi Linh Chi - Head of Pediatrics - Neonatology Department - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Lysine is one of the essential amino acids of the body, especially children are in the development stage. Lysine has the effect of stimulating digestive enzymes to help children eat more delicious. Therefore, for children with anorexia, it is necessary to add lysine-rich foods to their daily diet.

Lysine is an essential amino acid involved in many body functions and activities. Meanwhile, the human body cannot synthesize lysine on its own, but the source of lysine is completely provided from outside through food. Moreover, lysine is very easily broken down during processing, which is why children are susceptible to lysine deficiency.
Lysine deficiency can lead to children showing signs of weakness, anorexia, growth retardation, and a lack of digestive enzymes and hormones. Because, lysine has the function of stimulating digestive enzymes, helping children eat better, increasing metabolism and maximum absorption of nutrients.
Besides, lysine helps absorb calcium and create collagen to help the process of creating connective tissue of skin, bones and cartilage. From there, promote height growth, develop digestive enzymes, stimulate children's appetite. When the body lacks lysine, it will reduce protein synthesis, leading to emaciation, muscle atrophy, slow growth in height, lack of digestive enzymes, anorexia, lack of hormones, decreased resistance and easy sick. Therefore, for children with anorexia due to lysine deficiency, it is necessary to supplement lysine in time, then the weight gain rate will be 40% higher than the weight gain rate without lysine supplementation.

2.1 Signs to recognize lysine deficiency in children Some signs of lysine deficiency in children such as
Hair loss Loss of appetite Children are easily agitated, unable to concentrate Dizziness, fatigue and lethargy. Children with growth retardation may have bloodshot eyes or form kidney stones, anemia,... 2.2 Lysine supplementation Because this amino acid cannot be synthesized by the body, lysine should be supplemented for children by using other substances. Foods that are rich in lysine such as: Legumes, soybean products, seaweed, milk and dairy products, tomatoes, carrots, eggs, fish, beef, pork, meat chicken, shellfish such as shrimp, crab, oyster,... However, lysine decomposes during food processing, so parents need to make reasonable processing.
For children, the need for lysine is twice as high as that of adults when calculated according to 1kg of body weight per day. Children from birth to 6 years old need 99mg, 7-15 years old need 44mg, 16 years old and older need 12mg.
Lysine is abundant in some foods. Lysine in 100g of food, eggs have 1,070mg, beef, lean meat, shrimp, lean fish from 1,400-1,500mg, green beans 1,150mg, soybeans 1,970mg, peanuts 990mg lysine. However, when cooking, a relatively large amount of lysine is lost, for example, when cooking cereals, about 80% is lost.

Lysine is found in breast milk, so breastfed babies usually get enough lysine. When children eat solids, if they do not know how to choose foods rich in lysine, they will lack lysine. Lack of lysine or lack of lysine metabolizing factors will lead to anorexia, growth retardation and weakened immune system. If supplementing lysine for anorexic children, the rate of weight gain will be 2.5 times higher than the normal rate of weight gain of children. Besides, children with anorexia, supplemented with lysine, weight gain rate 40% higher than the rate in the no-supplementation period.
Supplementing lysine for children under 4kg with a daily dose of 250mg, for children over 4kg is 500mg/day. Lysine is not toxic when taken at this dose. However, it should be noted that lysine is also an anti-alkali drug, so if taken in excess and for a long time, it can cause acidosis. Thus, in addition to the common micronutrients such as zinc, iron, vitamins, ... children also need lysine to improve the development of the body. Lysine will be a nutrient that helps children eat delicious, healthy and grow taller every day.
In summary, lysine is one of the essential amino acids of the body, especially children are in the development stage. Lysine has the effect of stimulating digestive enzymes to help children eat more delicious. Therefore, for children with anorexia, it is necessary to add lysine-rich foods to their daily diet.
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