Anyone who has experienced a shingles attack knows the burning pain.
Many people think that as long as they take medicine according to the prescribed time and apply ointment, it is enough. However, they find that the recovery process is very slow, and even neuralgia remains after the condition improves.
In fact, the problem often arises in the mouth, that is, eating the wrong food. This situation is like adding oil to a fire while putting out it. This is the situation.
Traditional Chinese medicine classifies the disease called herpes zoster as a condition where "dampness, heat and poisonous evil" break out outside the skin. During the treatment period, dietary control is as important as the use of drugs.
Next, we will conduct a detailed analysis of the foods that are easy to fall into traps and explain them clearly, so as to help you control your mouth during the recovery stage and reduce the pain.
The greasy and thick taste is the most addictive to evil. The more poison you eat, the harder it is to eliminate it.
Many patients after illness want to replenish their bodies, so they stew pig trotters, drink pork rib soup, and eat cream cakes. However, these fat, sweet and delicious foods are exactly the "excellent ally" for dampness and heat in the body. Traditional Chinese medicine refers to "moist viscosity". When greasy food enters the body, it will increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, leading to abnormal water and moisture metabolism. Moisture and heat mix together and stick to the skin, causing redness, swelling and blisters that will not subside for a long time. Clinical observation found that patients whose disease course lasts for more than one month often have the habit of eating braised pork, fried foods, and full-fat dairy products. Especially sweets, many people ignore their ability to "generate moisture". The high sugar content in cakes, milk tea, and chocolate will aggravate the inflammatory response. During the recovery period, it is recommended to change cooking methods to steaming, boiling, and stewing. For meat, lean meat and skinless poultry are preferred, and milk is replaced with low-fat or plant milk. If you are really greedy, eat steamed fish at least once a week, and never touch fried or creamy products.
Hot and spicy substances add fuel to the fire and make the pain worse
Many patients have a misconception that they should eat ginger and drink chicken soup to induce sweating when they have a cold or fever. So, does it also need to "send out" herpes zoster? Never do this! The cause of herpes zoster is stagnation of fire in the liver meridian, which is already in a state of blazing fire. If you eat spicy and warm food, it is equivalent to pouring alcohol into the fire. In outpatient clinics, we often encounter patients who had a spicy hot pot meal or drank a few taels of white wine. As a result, their neuralgia worsened that night and they could not sleep. There are far more than just chili peppers and wine that need to be avoided. Foods that are hot and spicy include ginger, garlic, leeks, mutton and dog meat; in condiments, the amount of pepper, pepper, star anise and cinnamon should also be reduced; foods that have been processed at high temperatures, such as fried peanuts and fried dough sticks, have stronger hot properties. Some patients think that "drinking some red wine is good for activating blood circulation." In fact, alcohol will dilate blood vessels, aggravate local inflammation and leakage, and lead to an increase in blisters. It is recommended to use only a small amount of salt and light soy sauce when cooking, and then slowly return to mild seasoning when the disease enters the scab stage.
The sourness astringes and blocks evil pathways, and pain easily leaves sequelae.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) adheres to the concept of "giving evil a way out" when treating herpes zoster. Traditional Chinese medicines such as Bupleurum and Curcuma Curcumae are often used to soothe the liver and regulate qi. The purpose is to promote the dispersion of stagnant fire and dampness. However, if you eat too much sour and astringent food while taking the medicine, it will be equivalent to blocking evil spirits in the body. Such foods are sour or astringent, such as pomegranates, lemons, green plums, and vinegar-soaked foods; there are also vegetables containing a large amount of tannic acid, such as spinach, taro, and unripe bananas. In particular, peas need to be reminded. Many people think that peas are light and healthy. However, they are astringent and tend to be astringent. If the patient eats too much during the acute attack stage, it will easily cause the pain to persist and be difficult to recover after the blisters subside. Clinically, some patients develop postherpetic neuralgia. In addition to insufficient timely treatment, it is also related to excessive "convergence" in diet. This does not mean that you should never eat it, but you should strictly avoid it during the week or two when the herpes is oozing and the burning pain is very obvious. Wait until the skin is completely healed and there is no pain when pressing, and then gradually return to a normal diet.
The fishy smell of seafood arouses wind and allergy aggravates the course of the disease
Herpes zoster is essentially a viral infection and not an allergic disease. However, the body's immune system is highly sensitive in an inflammatory state. At this time, eating fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish and other seafood, as well as "hair products" such as shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots, can easily induce the body to release histamine and other pro-inflammatory factors. Originally, there were only a few local blisters. After eating a seafood meal, rashes may appear all over the body and the blisters may expand. In addition, goose meat, rooster and carp are classified as "things that stimulate the wind" in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. The accumulated experience among the people also proves that this kind of food has the characteristics of easily causing the recurrence of old diseases. It is recommended that patients completely avoid seafood and mushrooms before the scabs fall off. If there is a real need to supplement protein, you can choose eggs, tofu, and skinless chicken legs, steamed or boiled, to avoid braised, barbecued and other strong-flavored methods.
Three-step scientific diet to speed up recovery without stepping into pitfalls
After knowing what not to eat, it is more important to know how to eat correctly. First, ensure adequate hydration. Drink more boiled water, tea made from bamboo leaves or soup made from mung beans to help the dampness and heat in the body be excreted through urine. Second, add ingredients that can clear away heat and reduce dampness. Boil barley into water and use it as a substitute for tea, use the skin of winter melon to stew soup, blanch fresh purslane and serve it cold (if it can be purchased). These are all natural "anti-inflammatory agents". Third, moderately supplement B vitamins. Vitamins B1, B6, and B12 used for nerve repair serve as coenzymes. You can eat more brown rice, oats, a small amount of pork liver, and green leafy vegetables. Here is a simple recipe, 30 grams of barley, 20 grams of mung beans, and 50 grams of rice are cooked together to make porridge for breakfast; for lunch, have winter melon and pork ribs soup, but remove the fat from the ribs; for dinner, steam pumpkin with stir-fried lettuce. After a week of such a diet, most patients will find that the blisters dry up faster and the pain is significantly reduced.
The dietary taboos of raw snakes may sound complicated, but they are not particularly complicated. The key is that they are "bland in taste, not nourishing, and not irritating."
During the acute phase, you should avoid the four major categories of food: greasy, spicy, sour, and seafood, so as not to provide "nutrients" for dampness, heat, and poisonous evils. During the recovery phase, you should slowly increase high-quality protein and B vitamins to promote nerve repair.
Please don’t have the kind of lucky mentality that “eating a meal will be fine”. Many patients with post-neuralgia, when they look back, will regret not being able to restrain themselves from eating when the pain attacks.
If the pain persists for more than a month and does not heal, or if it occurs around the eyes or ears, you must go for a follow-up visit in time.
Remember: your chopsticks hold half of your recovery.
