Diet for bronchial asthma

Bronchial asthma is characterized by a chronic course, so the treatment of the disease usually lasts a long time, sometimes even a lifetime. The emphasis in the treatment of asthma is on the fight against infection and allergic reactions, as well as on increasing immunity, and for this, not only competent therapy but also proper nutrition is very important. Diet for bronchial asthma - what is it? Is it possible to cure the disease with the help of changes in nutrition?

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The essence of the diet for bronchial asthma

For bronchial asthma, treatment table No. 9 is prescribed, the purpose of which is to normalize metabolic processes, relieve symptoms and prevent new attacks of the disease.

Diet No. 9 should ensure that the body receives all the necessary nutrients.

The energy value of the daily menu is within normal limits, easily digestible carbohydrates are excluded, and the use of spices and seasonings is allowed in very small quantities.

It is recommended to cook food in a steamer, boil it, or bake it. Stewing of products is allowed.

Diet No. 9 implies frequent consumption of food, approximately up to five times a day.

A hypoallergenic diet for bronchial asthma should have the following composition and caloric content:

• proteins – from 100 to 130 g;
• lipids – 85 g;
• amount of complex carbohydrates – 300 g;
• average daily energy value – from 2600 to 2700 kcal;
• amount of liquid consumed – from 1.5 to 1.8 liters;
• the amount of salt consumed per day is up to 10 g;
• The recommended temperature for consumed food is from +15 to +65°C.

The proposed method of nutrition stabilizes carbohydrate metabolism and has a positive effect on general metabolic processes in the body. It can be used not only for bronchial asthma, but also for other diseases associated with allergic manifestations or metabolic disorders.

Diet for bronchial asthma in adults

Combating the body's allergic predisposition with the help of diet involves a complete rejection of sweetened dishes and products.

You should consume less table salt, because sodium increases the hypersensitivity of the bronchi to external irritants when the body is allergic. For this reason, you should not eat salty foods or add salt to ready-made dishes. In addition, sodium, which is able to retain moisture, can create all the conditions for the development of edema of the mucous tissues of the respiratory system, which will negatively affect the respiratory function.

Patients with bronchial asthma should limit the use of spices, vinegar, sauces. Even banal phytoncides, which are contained in onions and garlic, can provoke an attack of the disease. Therefore, onions and garlic should be thermally processed before adding to dishes.

Salty and smoked foods are considered extremely harmful for asthmatics, as they can cause inflammation of the pancreas and gall bladder. It is also advisable to exclude various exotic fruits for our region: citrus fruits, pineapples, mangoes, etc.

You should be very careful when choosing tea and coffee - such drinks should only be of high quality, since various flavors and other additives that are present in drinks can cause an asthma attack. For your own safety, it is better to replace tea or coffee with rosehip decoction, Sudanese rose or herbal infusions.

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Diet for bronchial asthma in children

The diet of a child diagnosed with bronchial asthma should not include products containing substances such as histamine and tyramine, as they are the ones that provoke an allergic reaction. The greatest amount of these substances is found in hard cheese, beef sausage (including boiled), smoked meats, canned goods, and sauerkraut. Such products are not recommended for children even during remission.

A diet for an asthmatic child should include the exclusion of allergens from entering the digestive system, as well as the creation of obstacles to their absorption. It has been proven that all kinds of food additives in the form of spices and seasonings accelerate the entry of substances into the blood that are unnecessary for the child's body.

If it is quite difficult to determine the product that causes an asthma attack in older children, since the diet at an older age is already quite varied, then in children under 1 year old it is relatively easy to do. Complementary feeding is introduced to the baby gradually and in several stages, therefore, based on the child's reaction, it is possible to detect a potential allergen and subsequently exclude it from the menu.

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Diet for aspirin-induced asthma

An attack of aspirin-induced bronchial asthma can be caused by taking acetylsalicylic acid and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. As a rule, once hypersensitivity to aspirin and similar drugs appears, it remains with a person for life.

In addition to the fact that patients are strongly advised to avoid medications based on aspirin and other non-steroidal drugs, diet is also of great importance for them.

Tartrazine (E 102) is a coloring agent that gives a yellow tint to many food products and medicines. It is added to carbonated drinks, juices, ice cream, caramel, confectionery, cookies, chips, croutons, muesli, store-bought sauces, packaged soups and semi-finished products, canned goods, cheeses, noodles and chewing gum.

For asthmatics, consuming products containing tartrazine can cause an asthma attack within a few minutes. For this reason, you should carefully study the packaging before buying products. If the product's composition is not indicated on the label, then, first of all, you should be wary of its yellowish color, which can have varying degrees of saturation - from pale yellow to poisonous yellow.

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Diet menu for bronchial asthma

• The first breakfast may consist of cottage cheese dishes, with the addition of sour cream, fruits, and butter. Occasionally, you can allow cereal porridge, both on water and on milk (with normal tolerance). At the end of breakfast, you are allowed to drink tea (with milk, cream), rosehip decoction, freshly squeezed fruit juice diluted with water.
• Fruit salad, pudding, and yogurt are great for a second breakfast.
• At lunchtime, you can prepare vegetable soup, borscht, any first course in a weak broth. Supplement the lunch with vegetable stew, a piece of boiled meat or fish fillet, steamed vegetable cutlets, casseroles. As a drink, you can prepare compote without sugar, tea, herbal infusion.
• Fermented milk products, fruit mousses or jelly without sugar, and fresh fruits are suitable as an afternoon snack.
• For dinner you can eat salads of fresh and stewed vegetables, steamed meatballs, and meat casseroles.
• Before going to bed, it is recommended to drink 100-200 ml of fresh yogurt or kefir.

Diet recipes for bronchial asthma

Steamed cutlets with apple. Ingredients: 0.5 kg minced turkey or chicken fillet, one not very sweet apple, 1-2 onions, 2 tbsp semolina, a little salt.

Grind the minced meat in a meat grinder or blender together with chopped apple and onion. Salt the resulting mass, add semolina, mix, leave for about an hour (for the semolina to swell). After an hour, mold the cutlets and distribute them on the steamer grate. Cooking time is 25 minutes.

• Zucchini cream soup. We will need: 1 l of any broth, 200 ml of cream, 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, one onion, one clove of garlic, one carrot, one potato, 4 medium zucchini, salt, dried bread cubes.

Peel the vegetables, cut them and stew them in a thick-walled saucepan together with chopped onion and garlic. Stir occasionally. After 6-7 minutes, add the broth and stew until the vegetable component is fully cooked.

Heat the cream a little, pour some of the broth into a container. Puree the stewed vegetables using a blender, add cream and, if necessary, broth. Stir, heat and remove from heat. Serve with dried pieces of bread.

• A quick and healthy soufflé. We will need: one sweet apple, about 200 g of cottage cheese, one egg.

Grate the apple, mix with cottage cheese and egg. Distribute into microwave-safe molds. Place in the microwave for 5 minutes at maximum power: check for doneness by the condition of the top crust, it should be creamy. When serving, you can pour sour cream or fruit juice on top.

• Mini Cabbage Casseroles. Ingredients: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, two eggs, 100 ml milk, 3 tablespoons rolled oats, 400 g fresh shredded cabbage, salt.

Simmer the cabbage with butter and a little water for about 15 minutes. Pour in rolled oats, add a little salt, milk and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add eggs to the cooled cabbage, mix, and distribute among the molds. Place in the oven at 200°C for half an hour. Serve with sour cream. Enjoy!

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What can you eat if you have bronchial asthma?

• Dark bread products, possibly with added bran, whole grain bread, diabetic baked goods.
• First courses with weak broth.
• Not too fatty meat (veal, rabbit, turkey) boiled, steamed, or baked; chicken meat with restrictions.
• Sea fish in the form of boiled or steamed fillets, or baked in foil in the oven.
• Vegetable side dishes, a small amount of porridge.
• Fermented milk products, soft homemade cottage cheese, whole milk – if well tolerated.
• Dishes with chicken and quail eggs - with caution, if well tolerated.
• Vegetable salad, jellied meat, aspic.
• Fresh fruit and berry dishes, no sugar.
• High-quality black and green tea, with milk added. Herbal decoction or infusion, freshly squeezed juices without sugar (diluted with water), mineralized water.
• Natural butter, high-quality unrefined oils.

What should you not eat if you have bronchial asthma?

• Fried foods, as well as baked foods with a crust.
• Bakery products made from white flour, pastries.
• Products and dishes with added chocolate, cocoa powder, coffee.
• Confectionery products, dishes with jam, preserves, honey.
• In most cases, it is not recommended to consume exotic fruits such as citrus fruits, dates, figs, as well as potential allergenic products - strawberries, grapes, raspberries.
• Fatty meats (including poultry with skin), lard, and liver products.
• Culinary fat mixtures, spread, margarine.
• Strong, rich, fatty broths.
• Salted, dried fish and meat products.
• Smoked, canned, pickled products.
• Spices and herbs, vinegar, mustard, horseradish, ketchup, mayonnaise, and other store-bought sauces.
• Sweetened sodas and alcoholic beverages.

Reviews of the diet for bronchial asthma

The diet for patients with bronchial asthma is used not only for preventive and therapeutic purposes, but also to detect and exclude those products that cause an asthma attack in the patient. The patients themselves have noticed that with full compliance with the rules of dietary nutrition, you can sometimes allow yourself some of the prohibited products. The absence of a reaction of the body to this product may indicate that its use is safe and does not cause hypersensitivity of the body. Each component of the menu is introduced separately from the others, and the resumption of the first symptoms of exacerbation of the disease indicates an allergy to the product.

By this method of “trial and error”, many patients determine for themselves their own list of products and dishes, from which they then make up their daily diet.

For our part, it is worth noting that such experiments should be carried out only under the supervision of the attending physician, who will be able to provide timely assistance and redirect the treatment in the right direction. Independent adjustment of the diet, without the consent of a specialist, is not welcomed.

A diet for bronchial asthma is mandatory, and often patients have to adhere to it for life. However, many nutritionists compare such a diet with one of the varieties of normal healthy nutrition, so a new diet can help patients not only relieve asthma symptoms, but also improve the health of the body as a whole.