Forget fibre during typhoid

               (By Lisa Sarah John, Courtesy Bangalore Times, Jul 17, 2006)

 Everyone seems to be down with typhoid, and that’s because people are eating out so often these days. You can get typhoid by consuming contaminated water, milk or food, and it’s a salmonella infection resulting in a high fever for a short duration. In typhoid, the lining of the small intestines are infected and damaged. Sometimes, ulcers are formed, diarrhoea occurs and a stomach ache and fever are common. Absorption of food nutrients is hindered and due to this you will feel hungry, weak and complain of a headache. You want to eat, but feel nauseous and so the weakness continues.

When down with typhoid, stick with a high calorie intake with plenty of carbohydrate, and fruit juices with glucose, coconut water, barley water, porridge, rice kanjee, rava, etc. High protein is also required, so if there is no diarrhoea, milk, custard, fruit milkshake, thin dal, eggs, tender cooked fish and chicken may be eaten. Mashed potato and other wellcooked vegetables and fruits like banana must be given. As there is an intestinal inflammation all fibre is to be eliminated from the diet so that the intestine is not further irritated. Also, a bland diet is to be followed without any spice or masala.

The water balance may be affected because of the fever. So drink plenty of water and fluids. Fat intake has to be as low as possible so that the digestive process isn’t burdened and the fever is kept down. Too much fat in the food during fever causes it to rise. It may also cause vomiting, which leads to a further loss of nutrients and more weakness.

Foods to be strictly avoided are butter, ghee, chillies, spices and all fibre. Also, rich pastries, deep fried snacks, desserts and thick cream soups must be avoided. But as mentioned earlier, much care must be taken to get a high quantity of calories otherwise there is hair-loss and loss of muscle tone. Small frequent meals of juice, fruit, milk or lassi, bread and jam and light biscuits may be tried. Be patient when feeding a person recovering from typhoid. It may take half an hour to 45 minutes to complete one meal.

 

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