Conjunctivitis dietary taboos

Be clear about allergenic foods, foods with high inflammatory reactions high in sugar and oil, and highly irritating foods. The strictness of taboos for different types of conjunctivitis varies greatly. There is no need to blindly follow the trend and avoid all "fat foods".

To tell the truth, I met a sophomore girl in the outpatient clinic last week. Her allergic conjunctivitis had just gone away. She went to the beach with her classmates and showed off three pounds of garlic grilled shrimp. Her eyes were so itchy that her eyelids were rubbed open that night that she came to the emergency room overnight. She was extremely aggrieved, saying that she had been tabooing chili peppers for several days, but why did she relapse after eating seafood? In fact, this was because she did not understand her core taboo: She was allergic to seafood, and she was prone to rashes when eating shrimp. The histamine receptors on the ocular surface in the acute stage of conjunctivitis were already more active than usual, and the heterogeneous protein she ate directly triggered an allergic reaction, which was equivalent to "passing the fire" to inflammation. If you are a patient with ordinary bacterial conjunctivitis and are not allergic to seafood, eating some steamed shrimp to supplement protein will help your recovery and there is no need to avoid it at all.

I was also in trouble when I suffered from viral conjunctivitis two years ago. I had been using eye drops for three days, and the redness had almost disappeared. I was greedy and secretly ate a bowl of spicy Chongqing noodles. The next morning, I woke up with so much secretion that my eyelids were sticky, and they were as red as if I had just stayed up for three nights. It’s not that the pepper itself is “poisonous”, but that the highly irritating food will cause the capillaries around the eyes to rapidly expand, and the circulation speed of inflammatory factors will also increase. The inflammation that has been suppressed will rebound directly. In the same way, white wine, super numb vine pepper hot pot, and sashimi with a lot of mustard, these things can make your face instantly hot and your head sweat. Try to avoid them as much as possible during the acute stage. If you are really greedy, it is okay to take a few bites of mild spicy food to relieve your addiction. Don't go straight to spicy food like me.

Regarding the most controversial topic of whether or not to avoid "famous things", in fact, different fields have different opinions. The evidence-based perspective of Western medicine is that as long as you have no clear history of food allergies, there is no need to deliberately stop eating beef, mutton, eggs, and milk. On the contrary, high-quality protein can help the body improve its resistance and heal faster. I have met many parents who brought their children to the hospital. They said that the elderly said that they should not eat eggs due to conjunctivitis. They drank white porridge for three days in a row. As a result, the children's immunity failed to improve, and the disease that was supposed to be cured in a week was delayed for less than half a month. However, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, conjunctivitis belongs to the category of "storm guest fever". Hot foods such as lychees, durians, peppers, and white wine can aggravate internal heat. It is indeed recommended to avoid exposure during the acute stage. There is nothing wrong with either statement. You can completely follow your body's reaction: if you usually eat three lychees, you will get angry and develop ulcers. Don't touch this sweetness while you are sick. If you usually eat half a durian, nothing will happen. Taking a few bites to satisfy your craving will not be a big problem.

Another pitfall that many people haven’t noticed is high-sugar and high-fat foods. Many people like to indulge in iced milk tea and iced watermelon after getting conjunctivitis in summer, feeling cool and comfortable. In fact, high sugar will promote the release of inflammatory mediators in the body. The original itchiness of the eyes has almost disappeared, but after a cup of full-sugar milk tea, the release of histamine increases, and the itching continues for several days. I also met a young man whose mother decided to take supplements after he got conjunctivitis. She stewed old hen soup with a bunch of longan and wolfberry every day. As a result, his eyes became redder and redder after three days of drinking. This is because the fat and sugar content in the soup were too high, which added extra metabolic burden to the body, and the inflammation went away slowly.

In fact, conjunctivitis is a self-limiting disease in the final analysis. It usually gets better within a week or two. You don’t need to be too strict with your diet. You don’t need to make a long list of taboos to make yourself look like an ascetic. Just avoid eating things that make you uncomfortable. Oh, by the way, many people ask if they can drink coffee. As long as you don’t experience panic or insomnia after drinking it, you can drink it normally without worrying about affecting your recovery - after all, a good mood is the best medicine.