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    Nutrition and COPD: What You Need to Know (Part 2)

    Posted on: March 30th, 2015 by BrevardBlogger No Comments

    Nutrition and COPD Part 2

    Nutrition and COPD: What You Need to Know (Part 2)

     

    In part one of this two-part blog post, we discussed the importance of good nutritional choices for people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Solid dietary habits can help these individuals maintain good energy levels and ideal weights, which can both aid in comfortable, efficient breathing.

    Today in our blog post, Brevard Medical Equipment offers suggestions on foods to include and avoid in your diet, along with some nutritional tips that you might never have heard!

    Tip #1: Control the sodium (salt) in your diet. High sodium intake can cause the body to retain too much water, which often makes breathing more difficult and uncomfortable. Here are some tips for reducing your sodium levels:

    • Remove the salt shaker from your table, and don’t add salt to foods when cooking.
    • Instead, try flavoring foods with herbs, spices, or salt-free seasoning blends.
    • Check food labels! Avoid foods that have more than 300 mg of sodium per serving.
    • Ask your doctor before using salt substitutes. Often, they contain ingredients that can be just as harmful as salt.

     

    Tip #2: Include high-fiber foods in your diet. Fiber helps to move food along the digestive tract and control blood glucose levels, which can both affect your energy level. Some high-fiber ideas:

    • Vegetables and fruits
    • Legumes, which include dried peas, peanuts, alfalfa, and beans
    • Whole-grain foods, such as rolled oats, whole-wheat bread, brown rice pasta, and barley

     

    Tip #3: Avoid overeating, and limit foods that have been linked with gas or bloating. Both conditions can make breathing uncomfortable. Such foods include:

    • Carbonated beverages, such as soda and sparkling water
    • Fried, greasy, or very spicy foods
    • Surprisingly, some produce is on this list, too! Examples are apples, avocados, melons, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, and soybeans.

     

    Finally, some interesting nutritional tips you might never have heard:

    • Always try to eat while sitting up – this will help take pressure off of your lungs and make meals more comfortable.
    • Try having five to six smaller meals a day, instead of the traditional three larger meals. Smaller meals don’t require your stomach to expand as much, reserving plenty of space for your lungs to expand and contract.
    • Try drinking your beverages after you’re finished eating. Drinking before or during a meal can make you feel full or bloated, which makes breathing uncomfortable.
    • Talk to your doctor before drinking alcohol. In addition to having no nutritional value, alcohol can slow your breathing and make it difficult to cough up mucus when necessary.

     

    These tips are intended to provide information, but they are not meant to take the place of a doctor-supervised eating plan. Please talk with your doctor and/or nutritionist to create food guidelines specific to your condition and situation.

     

    Thanks for letting Brevard Medical Equipment share these tips with you! And, as always, if we can be of any assistance, give our medical equipment experts a call at 321-453-3370. We’d be happy to chat with you.

     

     

    Nutrition and COPD: What You Need to Know (Part 1)

    Posted on: March 25th, 2015 by BrevardBlogger No Comments
    Learn more about the connection between nutrition and living with COPD.

    Learn more about the connection between nutrition and living with COPD.

    Nutrition and COPD: What You Need to Know (Part 1)

     

    Often, when we consider nutritional choices, we weigh outcomes like our overall health, our weight, and our waistline. But did you know that for those living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, nutritional choices can actually affect their breathing efficiency and comfort?

     

    Food fuels our bodies, similarly to how gasoline fuels our cars, and so the food that we choose directly impacts the energy that we have and the way that we feel. In this two-part blog post, Brevard Medical Equipment explores the connection between nutrition and COPD.

     

    Simply put, the food that we eat and the oxygen that we inhale are converted into energy and waste products (such as carbon dioxide) during a process called metabolization. That energy is used for all of our activities – walking, talking, sleeping, and breathing.

     

    For those living with COPD, breathing requires more energy than it does for a person living without the condition. In fact, for those individuals, the muscles used in breathing can require 10 times the number of calories to do their jobs! It seems obvious, then, that for people living with COPD, food choices are incredibly important.

     

    In addition to giving you the energy you need, good food choices can help you maintain a healthy body weight. If you are living with COPD, being overweight can require your heart and lungs to work harder, which, in turn, makes breathing more difficult. In contrast, being underweight can open the door to fatigue, weakness, and lowered immune response. Talk with your doctor to determine your ideal weight and to decide how many calories you should be consuming each day to maintain that weight.

     

    Stayed tuned for part two of our blog post, where we’ll share some specific suggestions for foods to include and avoid in your diet, along with some nutritional tips that you might never have heard! Brevard Medical Equipment cares about your health, and we’re excited to share this information with you. And, as always, if we can be of any assistance, don’t hesitate to give our medical equipment experts a call at 321-453-3370!