World COPD Day 2021: 7 Types Of Food That Should Be Strictly Avoided During COPD

Lung diseases can make it hard for the person to breathe and cause various problems leading to complications. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one such disease that can cause breathing difficulties and make your health worse. As this week is dedicated to COPD, we would like to inform you about dietary measures that need to be taken during this lung condition. Since in this condition you need more energy to breathe, general diet can make it hard for the person to combat with COPD. Today we will tell you about some types of food that you need to strictly avoid in order preventing your symptoms from getting worse.

COPD connection with Diet

Diet is a crucial part of any health disease. This is because different diseases lead to different set of problems that can get inflated because of wrong diet. We talked to our expert Ms. Deepa Sharma, Head Nutritionist and Consultant from Fatima Hospital, Lucknow. She told that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease reduces your ability to breathe thus leading to scarcity of oxidants present in the body. 

Food items that can cause water retention or problem for lung to breathe need to be strictly avoided in this condition. Nutrients such as sodium, gas increasing vegetables or beverages, junk food items, food items rich in caffeine, simple carbs and soda should also be avoided as much as possible. This needs to be followed for the period of recovery and duration of COPD disease. Once the disease gets treated, you can have these foods in adequate amount once again.

7 Foods to Avoid During COPD

1. Salt

Salt is made of sodium which is not good for your health during COPD. In any kind of lung disease sodium can be harmful for the body because it retains fluids in the body that increases the blood pressure. As the person is already suffering from lung disorder, it might become very challenging for him to focus of the oxygen levels and breathing rate while having increased blood pressure. If the blood pressure increases over mark, it can also lead to severe complications and hospitalization. 

It might not be possible to shut down your sodium intake totally as most of the vegetables or food you eat has some amount of sodium in it. The main point is to refrain yourself from taking any kind of additional salt in your diet.

2. Gassy Food items

Foods that have gassy or bloating feeling are not good for people having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It can make you feel sick and increase problems related to your lung function. Having foods such as these need to be strictly avoided-

• Broccoli
• Cabbage sprouts
• Beans
• Peas
• Sauerkraut

All these foods promote gas in the body that can cause problems and make the person more uncomfortable. It hampers the recovery from COPD and hence should be avoided as much as possible. Nutrients that are easier to digest should be given instead of these. 

3. Soda Beverages or Foods

Soda is used in many of the fancy dishes and beverages to add that extra bubbly and refreshing feeling. However soda can be very harmful for people those who are suffering from COPD. This is because soda contains high amount of carbon-dioxide which makes breathing process slower. It might also cause various complications and inflammation inside the lungs that worsens the situation for you. Hence it is recommended to strictly avoid soda containing food and beverages from your diet. Soda also gives you extra calories that are of no good use to the body, hence making it really tough situation.

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4. Caffeine

Caffeine is not particularly hard on COPD but actually hampers the recovery from this lung condition. This happens because caffeine subdues the effect of medications given for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease increase cough and congestion in the chest. Some beverages that have high amount of caffeine are-

• Chocolate
• Coffee
• Tea
• Soda drinks

You need to drink more water instead of any other beverage to ease congestion and problems related to COPD. Try to have atleast 8 glass of water in a day. 

5. Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates may provide you with quick energy but they need to avoid in case of COPD because of their high amount of carbon dioxide. Yes, you heard it right, simple carbohydrate rich foods such as cookies, cakes, pies and sweets have high amount of carbon dioxide in them that makes it difficult to breathe. A person may have increased breathing problems because of simple carbohydrate rich diet. It may make the person less active, more tired and increase weakness in his body. Therefore simple carbohydrates should be avoided during COPD.

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6. Lactose containing Food

Lactose containing food items are mostly dairy products that come as a nightmare for the person going through obstructive pulmonary disease. This is because in this lung condition, dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese increase problems like bloating, difficulty in breathing and calcium intake. Since calcium is important for the body, hence you need to have other sources of calcium containing food items. 

7. Avoid Junk Food

Junk foods are actually very harmful for the body especially when the person is suffering from COPD. Majority of junk food contain high amount of simple carbohydrates, excessive calories, soda, and all the major ingredients that are actually harmful for the body during this phase. If the person is overweight then he might get serious breathing problems during COPD after having junk food such as baked items, processed meats, soda beverage, fried food and fatty meals. 

Instead of having junk food, go for more sensible and healthy choices that contain healthy fats and proteins. It will help the body to produce more energy and boost immunity of the person. Junk food can increase infection of obstructive pulmonary disease thus leading to complications, hence it is strictly prohibited.

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