Diet taboos for pleurisy

What you should definitely avoid are alcohol, highly irritating and high-salt foods, and excess gas-producing foods.； However, there are no unified standards for "no hair-raising substances" and "no high-protein foods" spread online. They need to be flexibly adjusted based on personal conditions and body reactions. There is no need to blindly copy the one-size-fits-all list on the Internet.

Let’s first talk about the most controversial issue of “issues”. Traditional Chinese medicine usually recommends that patients with pleurisy temporarily avoid common inflammatory foods such as seafood, beef, mutton, and mango. It is believed that such foods may aggravate the inflammatory reaction, especially for patients in the acute stage where the pleural effusion has not been completely absorbed. Eating it may induce allergies and prolong the absorption period of the effusion. ； However, there is no clear concept of "hair growth" in the Western medicine system. As long as you have not experienced allergies, abdominal pain, or worsening coughs before eating this kind of food, moderate intake can supplement high-quality protein and help repair damaged pleural tissue. Don't believe it, I have been in contact with a 28-year-old patient with tuberculous pleurisy before. He was told by his hometown to stop eating meat and eggs and drink white porridge with vegetables every day. During the reexamination, the albumin was as low as 28g/L, and the fluid absorption rate was twice as slow as that of patients with the same condition. Later, he adjusted his diet and added one boiled egg and two taels of lean pork every day, and the index returned to the normal range in half a month. Oh, by the way, if you are allergic, then no matter what other people say about whether you can eat or not eat food, you must avoid all the things you are allergic to before. Otherwise, the respiratory edema caused by allergies will only make you cough worse, and the gain will not be worth the loss.

Apart from these controversial statements, there are several types of foods that both Chinese and Western medicine recommend to avoid regardless of the type of pleurisy you have. The first thing to suffer is alcohol, and you can't touch even half of it. Whether you need antibiotics for bacterial pleurisy or anti-tuberculosis drugs for tuberculous pleurisy, alcohol will interact with the ingredients of the drugs, which can range from dizziness and panic, aggravating the metabolic burden on the liver and kidneys, to inducing a disulfiram reaction or even shock. There is absolutely no need to take this risk.

There is another category that is easily overlooked by everyone, which is high-salt and highly irritating foods. Think about it, your pleura is already in a state of edema and congestion. Eating spicy hot pot, pickled products, and mustard will first stimulate the respiratory tract and aggravate coughing. Every time you cough, your pleura will rub, causing you to frown in pain. It may also aggravate inflammatory exudation. ； Food that is too salty will cause the body to retain more water, and the absorption of pleural effusion will naturally slow down. I have seen many patients who were about to be discharged from the hospital. After eating a meal of heavy-flavored crayfish, their chest pain and cough worsened that night. After a follow-up examination, the fluid accumulation increased by half, and they were forced to stay in the hospital for an extra week.

There is another little detail that many people don’t know. Eating too many gas-producing foods can also aggravate the discomfort of pleurisy. There was a 62-year-old man who ate a plate full of braised pig's trotters with soybeans at home the day after he was discharged. He was so stuffy that night that he couldn't sit still. He thought it was a relapse of the disease and he rushed to the emergency room. However, a X-ray showed that the fluid had not increased. It was because he had eaten too many soybeans and had flatulence. The diaphragm pushed up into his chest. His lungs, which had not fully recovered, were compressed even more and he could not breathe. After defecation and exhaust, the symptoms immediately disappeared. For example, carbonated drinks, sweet potatoes, excessive soy products, etc., it is best to eat less during the acute stage, and it is not too late to eat again after the symptoms have almost subsided.

Don't overdo it. Many people think that they need to take care of themselves when they are sick. They stew old hen soup and pig's feet soup every day, and drink thick soup with a layer of oil floating on it every time. In fact, it is really unnecessary. Most of the soup is fat and purine, and the content of high-quality protein is pitiful. Drinking too much will increase the metabolic burden. If you really want to supplement nutrition, it is better to eat steamed fish, lean beef fillet, and boiled eggs. Oh, yes, if you have tuberculous pleurisy, you should also be careful not to eat grapefruit as much as possible. The ingredients in it will affect the metabolism of anti-tuberculosis drugs, which will either reduce the efficacy of the drug or aggravate the side effects. There is no need to step on this.

In fact, I have met so many patients, and those who recover quickly are often not those who strictly stick to the taboo list and dare not eat anything, but those who eat everything in moderation and do not feel uncomfortable after eating. After all, recovery from pleurisy requires adequate nutritional support. As long as you avoid those clear minefields, the rest will follow your body's reaction. If you are really unsure, just ask your attending doctor casually during the next review, which is better than searching for random contraindications on the Internet and making random guesses.~