Dietary taboos for tuberculosis patients

You must not smoke or drink alcohol, avoid foods that interact with anti-tuberculosis drugs while taking medication, and be careful about eating highly irritating foods during a cough or hemoptysis attack. In addition, there are no widely applicable "one-size-fits-all" taboo requirements. There is no need to listen to what others say is "fat" and not dare to touch anything, which will delay nutritional supplements.

I really didn’t say this casually. I just saw a 21-year-old sophomore student last week. He was diagnosed with secondary tuberculosis and had only been taking medicine for 2 months. He was stunned to hear relatives in his hometown say, "Chicken, fish, and eggs are fat and should not be eaten."

Let me start by saying that all doctors, regardless of Chinese or Western medicine, will uniformly ask you not to touch tobacco and alcohol. Alcohol itself is metabolized by the liver, and the commonly used anti-tuberculosis drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin almost all have a certain degree of hepatotoxicity. The two together give the liver a double blow, ranging from a spike in transaminase to a direct induction of drug-induced hepatitis. It is really not worth taking this risk just for a sip of wine. Not to mention smoking, the nicotine and tar in the smoke directly irritate the respiratory mucosa. The tuberculosis lesions have already choked the lungs and trachea, making it difficult to stop coughing and sputum. Smoking will only make the mucosal edema worse, and the coughing will only make you unable to sleep. It will also slow down the healing of the lesions. There is no harm in staying away from even second-hand smoke.

Oh, by the way, there are still many people who don’t know that there are several specific taboos while taking medicine. It doesn’t mean that these things cannot be eaten. It means that they should be separated from the time of taking medicine, or not to eat too much at one time. For example, patients who take isoniazid should try not to eat too much stale sea fish, tuna, sardines and other foods with particularly high histamine content. Isoniazid inhibits histamine-metabolizing enzymes in the body. If you eat too much at one time, you may easily develop allergic reactions such as rash, dizziness, and palpitation. ； There is also particularly strong tea. The tannic acid content is too high, which will combine with the drug ingredients to form a precipitate that is difficult to absorb. Do not drink it 2 hours before and after taking the drug. If you take rifampicin or rifapentine, remember to take it on an empty stomach, and drink milk, fruit or juice at least 1 hour after eating. Otherwise, it will directly affect the absorption of the drug, which is equivalent to taking half a pill in vain, which is not cost-effective.

As for the most frequently asked question, "Can I eat spicy food, can I eat beef, mutton, and seafood, is it considered healthy?" In fact, there are indeed differences in the views of Chinese and Western medicine on this matter, and there is no need to argue about right or wrong. There is actually no concept of "fat" in Western medicine. As long as you are not allergic to these things before and do not cough more severely or get a sore throat after eating, you can eat them normally. After all, tuberculosis is a typical wasting disease. You need to supplement high-quality protein to build immunity and make the lesions grow faster. Of course, there are exceptions. If you are currently coughing up blood, or are coughing so much that you can't even sleep, it is best to temporarily avoid food that is too spicy, too salty, or too hot. Otherwise, it will irritate the throat and blood vessels, which may easily aggravate choking or bleeding, and the gain outweighs the gain. Traditional Chinese medicine generally believes that pulmonary tuberculosis is "consumption", which is essentially due to internal heat due to yin deficiency. Eating relatively hot foods such as mutton, dog meat, lychees, and longans may aggravate the symptoms of night sweats, dry mouth, and hot flashes. If you are prone to getting angry and sweat all over when you sleep at night, there is nothing wrong with avoiding them. If you eat nothing, there is no need to completely avoid eating them. You can't skip high-quality protein just because of this uncertain effect, right?

I met an aunt in her 50s before. She also heard others say that tuberculosis requires taboos. She didn’t even dare to eat eggs. She drank millet porridge with pickles every day. After three months, she checked again and found that the lesions had not been absorbed at all. She was hospitalized for a week because of hypoalbuminemia. I eat two eggs, two ounces of lean meat, a cup of milk every day, and occasionally eat some of my favorite boiled fish. I have gained 6 pounds in more than a month. When I came back for a follow-up examination, the lesions were absorbed very well. I said that if I had known better, I would not have suffered this bad thing.

To put it bluntly, the core of the diet of tuberculosis patients has always been to "supplement more nutrients" rather than "not eating anything". The taboos are only a few. The rest, as long as you feel comfortable eating, will not aggravate symptoms, and will not conflict with medicines, you can eat what you should. After all, you can get better quickly if you are in a good mood and have enough nutrition, right?