Diet taboos for children with bronchitis

First, there are high-sugar, high-salt, and oily foods that can increase the amount of phlegm. Second, there are allergenic foods that may induce respiratory allergies. Third, there are raw, cold, spicy foods that can irritate the airway mucosa. The rest of the normal light diet can basically be eaten without excessive dietary restrictions.

Not long ago, my best friend's 3-year-old baby just got bronchitis. After three days of infusion, the cough was relieved. My grandma felt sorry for the baby's lack of appetite, so she secretly bought a strawberry sundae to comfort the baby. As a result, the baby coughed all night and could not sleep. The next day, he went for a follow-up examination. The doctor said that the airway edema that had almost disappeared had returned. Think about it, let alone babies with inflammation, our healthy people's throats will tighten up if they eat something too cold. Babies' inflamed airways are already in a state of high reactivity. When cold, spicy, or overly acidic things are irritated, the mucous membranes will shrink and spasm, and the cough will naturally worsen. Cold yogurt, iced watermelon, and even hot foods just taken out of the refrigerator are best served warm before serving, otherwise the already swollen throat mucosa will be burned, which will aggravate the discomfort.

Another pitfall that many parents fall into is that they always feed their children "complementary" and "flavorful" foods. When their children are sick and have no appetite, they buy candied fruits, cream cakes, fruit purees with a lot of sugar to whet their appetites, and even make lean meat porridge with half a spoonful of salt added to enhance the taste. In fact, if you eat too much sweet food, there will always be a layer of phlegm stuck in your throat, and you won’t be able to cough it out for a long time. Not only will the baby suffer, but the phlegm will block the trachea and the inflammation will slowly subside. ； Eating too much salt will increase the osmotic pressure in the throat, making edema more difficult to eliminate, and the frequency of coughing will also increase. When I took my child to see the respiratory department, the director specifically said that children under 6 years old should not consume more than 2g of salt per day, and should eat lightly when they are sick. Don't believe the old man who said "eat salt to build strength." If you really need to supplement nutrition, steamed lean pork and seabass are much better than salty pickled products.

Regarding the hotly debated question on the Internet about "can hair be eaten?", in fact, there is currently no unified clinical taboo standard, and the core still depends on the child's own tolerance. Some schools of thought believe that high-protein foods such as eggs, milk, and seafood are "fatty foods" and will aggravate inflammation when eaten during illness. However, another view is that as long as you are not allergic, this type of high-quality protein can help repair the respiratory mucosa and speed up recovery. My neighbor's child is allergic to dust mites. When he had bronchitis, he accidentally ate a mouthful of dried mango. He started wheezing and was sent to the emergency room the same day. However, my child usually eats shrimp and drinks milk with no problem. When he had bronchitis last time, he drank warm milk twice a day, and his cough did not get worse. So there is really no need to apply one-size-fits-all. If your child does not have rashes, coughs, or diarrhea after eating this kind of food, it is perfectly fine to eat a small amount. If your child is allergic, or has really felt uncomfortable after eating it before, then just avoid it temporarily while he is sick.

Oh, by the way, there is another point that many parents ignore: don’t feed your baby slag-like food that is too broken or too fine, such as fried melon seeds, fried peanuts, and nuts that have not been crushed into purees. When the baby is sick, the cough reflex is already weak. If the baby accidentally chokes on the trachea, it will aggravate the inflammation in a mild case. In severe cases, it may cause foreign body blockage, which is particularly dangerous.

In fact, there is really no need to make dietary taboos too complicated. To put it bluntly, "don't add trouble to the already inflamed airway" and don't overdo it. I have seen some parents who had bronchitis for half a month and only had white porridge for their children. In the end, the inflammation was cured and the baby lost two pounds, and the immunity was so low that it relapsed soon after. As long as the baby doesn't cough more violently and has no uncomfortable reactions after eating it, the normal-temperature apples, steamed pumpkins, and soft noodles that he usually likes can be eaten normally. Even if the baby is really greedy and wants to eat two bites of a less sweet cake, it's not a big problem to give him two less bites. After all, the baby is already uncomfortable when he is sick. If he eats more comfortably, he will be in a better mood and recover faster.