Diet therapy for pulmonary fibrosis

A person's lungs and respiratory tract are connected together, so changes in lung disease can affect a person's normal breathing function. There are many manifestations of lung disease, and one of the more serious forms of lung disease is pulmonary fibrosis. Pulmonary fibrosis is also difficult to cure medically. It also affects a person's normal breathing. Patients with severe pulmonary fibrosis will experience difficulty breathing. So what kind of dietary therapy should be adopted when suffering from pulmonary fibrosis?

Pulmonary fibrosis is a relatively difficult disease to treat, and it requires cooperation in other aspects during treatment to achieve better treatment. Here are some dietary considerations for patients:

How should patients with pulmonary fibrosis eat?

Patients with more severe pulmonary fibrosis can be given soft or semi-liquid food: this can alleviate the difficulty in chewing and swallowing caused by shortness of breath, which is beneficial for digestion and absorption and prevents food reflux.

Patients should drink more water on a regular basis: Patients with severe pulmonary fibrosis often lose water due to mouth breathing, sweating a lot, and eating less, and their sputum becomes thick and difficult to cough up. Therefore, timely replenishment of water and increased fluid intake are very important for correcting or preventing water loss. Encourage patients to drink plenty of fluids. If the patient is unable to eat or drink, intravenous fluids can be used to dilute the sputum. Patients with heart failure should drink water in moderation.

It is important to eat small and frequent meals, and eat foods that are high in high-quality protein, calories, and vitamins: for example, eggs, animal liver, brown rice, cornmeal, buckwheat noodles, fruits and vegetables, etc. You can also give more fungus, seaweed, kelp, mushrooms, etc. These can help patients supplement nutrition and reduce the burden on the body.

Eat less spicy, fried and other irritating and greasy foods: It is better to eat light food at ordinary times, especially for obese patients, the fat supply should be low. It is better to eat lean meat to achieve the purpose of removing phlegm and dampness and properly controlling weight. Spicy, fried and other foods can easily produce phlegm, which leads to heat helping the evil to flourish. The evil heat is trapped inside the body and cannot be relieved. Over time, it can cause severe fever to attack the lungs and worsen the condition. Therefore, for pulmonary fibrosis, doing so will not hinder the treatment effect.

Certain foods that are known to cause allergies and induce pulmonary fibrosis should be avoided. For example, some people with allergies often experience worsening coughing and wheezing after eating seafood such as fish, shrimp, and crab. Therefore, patients with pulmonary fibrosis should follow a strict diet according to their actual conditions. This can not only prevent worsening of cough and wheezing due to careless diet, but also prevent the body's absorption of various nutrients from being affected due to excessive dietary restrictions.

Be sure to avoid smoking, drinking, and eating too salty food: Most patients with pulmonary fibrosis are accompanied by a state of airway hyperresponsiveness. The stimulation of smoking, drinking, and eating too salty food can easily trigger bronchial reactions and aggravate symptoms such as coughing and asthma.