What dietary taboos should be noted for pneumonia?

The core of the dietary taboos for pneumonia is not to put extra burden on the respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract. The first thing to avoid is overly nutritious food that is high in oil and sugar. Don’t believe the old saying that you need to take a lot of supplements when you are sick, as this can easily delay recovery. Last week, I accompanied my nephew who had mycoplasma pneumonia to the pediatrician for a follow-up consultation. I happened to meet Aunt Zhang in the same clinic. She was about to be discharged from the hospital after 3 days of fever reduction. My daughter was worried that she was exhausted due to illness, so she specially brought the fat old hen soup that had been simmered all afternoon and added a lot of longan and brown sugar for seasoning. As a result, she drank two large bowls and coughed all night. I didn't sleep, the phlegm stuck in my throat and I couldn't cough it out, and my blood oxygen dropped by 0.5 percentage point. The doctor shook his head and said that such a high-fat and high-sugar food would directly increase the viscosity of the sputum. During pneumonia, the respiratory mucosa is already edematous and has poor phlegm discharge ability. Now it is even more congested, which makes recovery more difficult.

In addition to not filling it up blindly, it is also best to put raw and cold food just out of the refrigerator before touching it. Last month, a high school student at my colleague's home was greedy for half a box of iced watermelon the next day after his pneumonia subsided. The fever returned to 38°5 that night. He went to the hospital to check the inflammation index and it came up again. During pneumonia itself, the airway is in a high-response state. When the cold stimulus comes, tracheal spasm and cough aggravation are mild. The cold in the stomach and intestines weakens immunity and can easily lead to repeated infections.

As for the rumor that many people say "you should not eat eggs, fish, shrimp and other foods with pneumonia", there is actually no unified clinical conclusion. If you are not allergic to these high-protein foods, eating them in moderation can supplement your body with raw materials for repairing mucous membranes. My neighbor, an old man in his 70s, had pneumonia every day during his hospitalization. A steamed egg and a small bowl of steamed fish a day was discharged from the hospital three days earlier than the old man in the same ward who only dared to drink white porridge every day. However, if you are allergic, you will easily get rashes and coughs if you eat fish, shrimp, and eggs. You must avoid it during pneumonia, otherwise triggering an allergic reaction will only aggravate the discomfort of the respiratory tract.

Another taboo that is easily missed is not to eat foods that are easy to choke, especially the elderly and children. During pneumonia, coughing is frequent and the swallowing reflex is weaker than usual. Things like jelly and whole peanuts and melon seeds can be accidentally inhaled into the airway when coughing. In severe cases, it may even cause suffocation. Previously, the pediatric department admitted a 5-year-old child who choked on jelly when he had a severe pneumonia cough. It took a lot of effort to take it out, and he suffered a lot. In fact, there aren’t that many strict taboos. Generally speaking, it’s just about choosing foods that are digestible and non-irritating. They are nutritious enough and don’t cause trouble to the body. It’s not necessary and you don’t dare to eat or touch that. On the contrary, if you lack nutrients, you will heal more slowly.