Nutrition for Cystic Fibrosis
10:40 AM
The teen years are both fun and hard, especially for teens
with cystic fibrosis (CF). Teens grow physically, emotionally, intellectually,
and socially, all at the same time. Teens with CF can do almost everything
their peers do, like go to school, go to college, date, and plan careers.
However, as a growing teen with CF, your nutrition needs are high. It is
crucial that you care for your nutrition and lungs. Higher body weights appear
to be connected with better lung function. Good nutrition is needed for growth,
height, weight gain, and puberty. It also promotes health after growth is done.
How you care for your body now affects your health for the rest of your life. CF
is a chronic, inherited disease that
affects mainly the lungs and digestion. CF affects people differently. The
basic problem in CF is an error in the
salt and water exchange in some cells. This causes the body to make thick,
sticky mucus, which clogs the lungs and leads to infection. The body needs more
calories to fight infection. The mucus can also keep pancreatic enzymes from
reaching the intestines to digest and absorb food. Without enzymes, maldigestion
and malabsorption offood can occur. This causes greasy, large bowel movements
and slow growth and weight gain.
Important Nutrients For
Teens With CF
Calories: Many teens with CF need 30–50% more calories than
other teens. This means you need to eat 3,000–5,000 calories daily. Fat in food
is the best source of calories.
Protein: The amount of protein you need is about 15–20% of
your total calories. This means that 600–1,000 of your calories should come
from sources of protein like meat, meat products,
milk, milk products, fish, seafoods, soy products, beans, eggs, and nuts. Foods
high in protein are often rich in vitamins, minerals, and fat.
Iron: You need more iron during puberty, when your muscle
and blood volume increases. Meats, fish, seafood, spinach, beans, oatmeal, and
raisins have a lot of iron.
Calcium: The body needs more calcium when bones are growing.
CF-related malabsorption means less
vitamin D is absorbed, so less calcium is absorbed. You may need 1,300 mg/d of
calcium daily. Milk and milk products have a lot of calcium and vitamin D.
Zinc: Zinc helps immune function, growth, and wound healing.
Meats,fish, seafood, beans, nuts, and seeds have a lot of zinc.
Your Nutrition Plan Eat
a balanced, high-calorie diet with plenty of fat and protein. This will help
you grow and be active.
Nutrition Supplements
You may be eating three meals and three or more snacks daily
and still be having a hard time gaining or keeping weight. Your CF dietitian may
suggest adding high-calorie supplements to drink.
Feeding Tubes
If you have low energy, can’t do the things you want to, or
can’t gain weight and height on the meals, snacks, and supplement drinks you
are taking, tube feedings may help. Tube feedings will help you gain strength, energy,
weight, and lung health. Remember, a higher body weight is connected with
better lung function. Do whatever is needed to keep yourself as healthy as possible.
There are many kinds of feeding tubes including gastrostomy tubes (buttons),
nasogastric tubes (nose-to-stomach), and orogastric tubes (mouth-to-stomach).
Many teens get calories through a feeding tube with a pump all night in
private, and then have normal daytime meals and activities. There are many
tubefeeding products. The CF Foundation or care center can give you a video on how
to use tube feedings to help with weight gain.
CF-Related Diabetes
Some teens and adults with CF also have CF-related diabetes.
If you are older than 10 years, you will have your blood sugar checked yearly
and when you go into the hospital. If your blood sugar stays too high, you will
be sent to a diabetes specialist to decide the best way to care for your CF
diabetes. Lung infections and steroids can make blood sugars go up.
Exercise
Exercise can be fun and is helpful to people with CF when
done safely and correctly. Exercise strengthens lungs and helps to clear lung
mucus, which helps you stay healthy and gives you more energy. It also builds muscles
and strong bones, as well as lowers emotional stress. Choose an exercise you
like. Brisk walking, running, swimming, biking, and jump roping are aerobic
exercises that could help you feel better and build strong lungs. Don’t
exercise too hard! Listen to your body. Rest when you get tired. Exercise about
30 minutes, three times a week. Talk to your CF dietitian or care provider to
learn more about activities that increase energy levels and strengthen lungs. You
will lose more salt when you sweat. Drink plenty of water, fruit juice, or
sports drinks before, during, and after exercise. Eat high-salt foods like
pretzels, chips, salted nuts and seeds and add more salt to your food. Check
with your CF dietitian or care provider before taking body- and energy-building
supplements or power drinks. Some supplements might interfere with your CF
medications.
Excerpts taken from “Nutrition for Teens With Cystic
Fibrosis” by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Be sure to read the full article
and visit the full website if this is a disease that affects you or someone in
your life http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/treatments/Therapies/Nutrition/ForTeen/Nutrition-For-Teens.pdf
Best Teen Diets recommends healthy well balanced eating that
includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and low-fat or fat-free
dairy. We offer nutrition information for teens, parents and educators that
emphasize the importance of healthy eating for teens. For more visit www.bestteendiets.org
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