CPT2 Deficiency

[SusanLiana]

Hi! 

My husband has a genetic disorder called CPT2 Deficiency.  Our understanding of the condition is that his body isn't able to swap from burning sugar for energy to burning fat for energy, during prolonged exercise (10 to 20 minutes) or stresses, like it is supposed to.  When he does too much aerobic exercise, or gets cold, or sick, his body begins to breakdown muscle instead of fat and that results in muscle pain and weakness. We've been doing the Whole 30 for almost 4 weeks now, and his muscles have been tired most of that time.  We had never considered how diet affected his muscles, but thought that exercise was the main trigger.  Looking into diet suggestions for people with CPT2 deficiency, I'm seeing suggestions for low fat/high carbohydrate diets, since they get most of their energy from sugars.  I feel like he should be able to eat healthy foods and still be able to accommodate his condition.  Do you have any suggestions for ways to adjust the Whole 30 meal plan, or specific foods he could eat more of for higher carb intake?  We've been trying to follow the Whole 30 meal template and focus on protein, veggies, and fats. Thanks for any suggestions!

[ShannonM816]

During a whole30, to go higher carb would mean eating more starchy vegetables. These include root vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, and rutabaga, winter squashes like butternut, acorn, or kabocha squash, and plantains.  Fruit will also have more carbs. If he knows a specific range of carbs he needs, he could plug in numbers in something like My Fitness Pal or other calorie/macro calculators to see how these foods are adding up. If he doesn't know a particular amount to aim for, he may just have to try different amounts and see how he feels. It might be that he needs starchy vegetables at every meal, and that is fine. I mentioned vegetables first because they are less likely to cause blood sugar issues than fruit, but I don't know if fruit versus vegetables will make a difference for how he feels,  it's something he'd need to talk to a doctor or nutritionist familiar with his condition about, or he'll just have to try different things and see what works best for him.

Once he's done reintroductions, he may find that rice or corn or some other grains or beans work ok for him, and he can add those in to add carbs. Since you ate almost through your 30 days, if he can stand to stick it out to do reintroductions, I'd encourage that, just so he can see if anything does bother him.

[SusanLiana]

Thank you so much, Shannon!  That is very helpful.  The list of good starchy vegetables helps a lot.  We were getting kind of stuck in a rut with carrots, sweet potatoes and potatoes.  I'll try cooking more of those others you mentioned and making sure he is getting some at every meal.  He has been adding more fruit for snacks, but I've been a bit worried that would adversely affect blood sugar, so we'll try to keep more of these starchy veggies on hand.

[priti108]

wow i think i have cpt2 and this is very helpful, i was diagnosed 14 yrs ago with FMS but i reckon its cpt2