Epilepsy is a group of clinical syndromes characterized by sporadic brain malfunctions caused by recurrent abnormal neuronal discharges during the long-term course of the disease. There are two main types of epilepsy: primary epilepsy and secondary epilepsy. In daily life, the patient’s diet should pay attention to the following aspects.
In principle, the diet of epilepsy patients is no different from that of normal people, as much as possible to diversify food, eat more nutritious, easy-to-digest food, such as pasta, beans, lean meat, eggs, fish, milk, etc., especially should eat more beans, fresh vegetables, fruits, dairy products, these foods rich in high protein and phospholipids, help the recovery of brain function and reduce the number of seizures. The food should be less fatty, goose, mutton should be less; some stimulating food, such as chili, onion, garlic, also to eat less, otherwise, is not conducive to the recovery of the disease. In addition, we should also pay attention to diet in moderation, to overcome the habits of partial food, omnivorous food, binge drinking, overeating, uneven hunger, especially in children, over-eating can often induce seizures.
You can eat more acidic foods during the day.
Scientific studies have shown that food has an effect on primary epilepsy, alkaline food can induce seizures, while acidic food can inhibit seizures (referring to primary epilepsy). Therefore, patients are usually advised to eat acidic foods, such as peanuts, walnuts, pork, beef, fish, shrimp, eggs, etc. However, secondary epilepsy is not effective when treated with acidic foods, and the primary disease must be actively treated to reduce or avoid seizures.
Water and salt intake should be controlled.
Epilepsy is prone to develop when too much water is accumulated in the body, why is this? In recent medical research, it is believed that seizures start in this part of the brain center, the mesencephalon, and stimulation of the mesencephalon can cause seizures. The mesencephalon is the body’s water regulation center, and a large amount of liquid food and salt entering the body can increase the burden on the mesencephalon, which can lead to seizures. Therefore, epileptic patients should try to eat less water and salt, including fruit juice, cola, watermelon, pickles, salted fish, salted meat, etc.
Alcohol and tobacco can increase neuroexcitability and induce seizures.
Patients with epilepsy should be absolutely prohibited from drinking alcohol and limit the intake of stimulating substances such as tobacco, tea and coffee to avoid affecting disease recovery. There are many clinical lessons about seizures induced or aggravated by drinking alcohol or ingesting other stimulating substances, which should be taken as a warning.
More acidic food and less salt
The traditional foods that are acidic are: peanuts, walnuts, pork, beef, chicken, duck, goose, fish, shrimp, eggs and so on.
The most important thing is to have a good understanding of the situation.
It has been shown that legumes and cereals (such as soybeans, lentils, wheat, etc.) are rich in the trace element manganese, which can supplement the intake of manganese in epileptic patients. In addition, research shows that normal brain cells have a certain amount of phosphatase material, but the brain of epileptic patients is seriously lack of this enzyme, and bean sprouts are rich in nitrophosphatase material, so eating bean sprouts can supplement the phosphatase deficiency and relieve the disease.
Control of water consumption
Some people with epilepsy often have a sudden onset during the process of holding their urine, probably due to overfilling of the bladder after drinking too much water, which generates strong electrical impulses and induces abnormal neuronal discharge.
The most common cause of epilepsy is a chronic syndrome of the brain characterized by transient central nervous system malfunction caused by abnormal neuronal discharge in the brain.
The patient should not stop, change, or increase or decrease the amount of medication in the middle of the treatment period to avoid aggravating the disease, and the anti-epileptic drugs will have an impact on the digestive system, leading to a lack of nutrients or metabolic disorders such as vitamin K, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin D, and calcium, magnesium and other substances. Fresh vegetables, soybean oil and egg yolk contain a lot of vitamin k; vitamin D, calcium, magnesium, and the growth of bones and teeth, calcium deficiency is likely to aggravate seizures, so childhood should be supplied with adequate amounts of vitamin D, calcium and magnesium. Fish, eggs, animal liver, beef, and green vegetables contain folic acid; rice, wheat bran, beef liver, and fish contain large amounts of vitamin B6.
Epileptic patients should not be too hungry or too full, do not overeat, after consuming a lot of sweets at one time, a lot of sugar into the blood, will stimulate the pancreas to secrete too much insulin, accelerate the metabolism of glucose, blood sugar levels first high and then low, fluctuating greatly, can induce epilepsy. Starvation can lower blood sugar, and lowering blood sugar often triggers epilepsy; overeating and overdrinking can overstress the stomach, which can also easily trigger epilepsy. When patients have abdominal distension and vomiting, after a large amount of fluid loss, water and electrolytes should be replenished in time to maintain the water and electrolyte balance to avoid triggering epilepsy.
Beverages such as tea, coffee, cola, etc. contain more or less central excitatory substances that reduce the ability to resist seizures to induce epilepsy, so note that stimulating beverages should be lighter and in moderation.
The nicotine in cigarettes has a significant effect on the brain and vasodilation, which can also induce epilepsy, so epileptic patients should not smoke. There is a clear relationship between alcohol and seizures, and long-term heavy drinking can directly produce alcoholic epilepsy.
All epilepsies can be treated medically. In fact, eighty percent of patients who take medication stop having seizures. However, because of the side effects of certain medications, more and more physicians are advocating diet in conjunction with medication to manage the condition.
Some studies have shown that in some rare cases, vitamin B6 and vitamin D deficiencies contribute to seizures. Vitamin B6 is found in meat, whole grains and legumes; vitamin D is found in oily fish and some animal products, especially cheese and nutrient-added milk. Patients should take vitamin supplements only under the supervision of a doctor.
Certain minerals are helpful for some patients, magnesium; zinc and calcium in helping some people prevent convulsions.
According to preliminary evidence, congenital epilepsy may be associated with a lack of manganese in the mother’s diet during pregnancy, but this claim is still much debated. The main sources of manganese are rice, whole wheat bread, malt, buckwheat, lima beans, nuts, mescaline, sardines, blackberries, figs and pineapples.
In a few cases, nutritional deficiencies and hypoglycemia have been associated with seizures. Therefore, patients should eat regularly and be aware of balanced nutrition to maintain normal blood glucose levels.
Some non-traditional practitioners believe that mixed salads and raw fruits may reduce the number and extent of seizures.
Excessive alcohol consumption can accelerate the onset of the disease in people who are susceptible to it. Evening primrose oil can also cause seizures in some people and is best avoided.
The person with epilepsy should limit the intake of carbohydrates appropriately.
The calories and proteins needed by epileptic patients are the same as those of normal people, while carbohydrates need not be too much, not more than 300 grams per day; appropriately increase the supply of fat, which should account for about 60% of the total calories; limit water, not more than 1000 ml per day; salt not more than 3 grams per day; adequately supply vitamins and minerals, especially iron, calcium and other elements; prohibit the consumption of foods containing more sugar and The patient should not consume food containing more sugar and stimulating food.
The actual fact is that you can be able to get a lot more than just a few of the most effective and most effective.
The patient with epilepsy caused by traumatic brain injury and long-term sedative drugs are prone to dehydration, anemia, leukopenia, malnutrition, etc. Serious patients may have electrolyte metabolism disorders (hyperkalemia). When the diet contains too much potassium, it will increase the patient’s blood potassium level, so the potassium intake of epilepsy patients should not exceed 3 grams per day.
Foods with low potassium salts include rape hearts, baby carrots, white radishes, celery, pumpkin, tomatoes, eggplant, scallions, cucumbers, winter squash, loofahs, zucchini, duck pears, apples, grapes and pineapples.
3, epilepsy patients should increase the intake of magnesium.
Epilepsy patients often lack magnesium, especially patients who need long-term drug therapy, such as long-term use of sodium phenytoin, prone to osteoporosis, in addition to giving a high-calcium diet, should also pay attention to the intake of magnesium. Adult body contains 20 to 25 grams of magnesium, about half of the set in the bone, the magnesium in the bone can not supply the body cells. If magnesium deficiency, in addition to the impact of bone formation, but also can lead to muscle tremors, mental tension.
Magnesium-rich foods are millet, corn, red lentils, soybeans, dried tofu, green vegetables, celery, beef liver, chicken and so on. Adult men need 350 mg per day to maintain magnesium balance.
4, epilepsy patients should not eat more food containing high zinc.
The blood zinc concentration of epileptic patients was measured and it was found that almost all epileptic patients had a significantly higher average blood zinc content than normal people. In patients treated with long-term antiepileptic drugs, blood zinc concentrations decreased significantly compared to pre-drug levels, and some even showed certain symptoms of zinc deficiency. This suggests that the occurrence of epilepsy is closely related to the increased zinc levels in the body, especially in the brain. Experts believe that antiepileptic drugs or other metabolites can effectively complex with zinc ions to reduce the blood zinc concentration of epileptic patients, thus controlling seizures. Therefore, in addition to paying attention to medication, epileptic patients should try to eat less or no zinc-rich foods in their daily lives.
5, epileptic patients should avoid foods that induce epilepsy.
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The most important thing is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you are getting into. The calcium-rich foods include celery, potherb mustard, rape, small white tea, capers, squash, red fruit, dried sour dates, fried almonds, fried pumpkin seeds, hazelnuts, pork kidneys, milk, cheese, salted duck eggs, egg yolks, small yellow fish, snails, green clams, sea cucumbers, shrimp skin, sesame paste, etc.
Dietary modifications during the treatment period for epileptic patients
The recipes during the treatment period of epileptic patients can refer to the general dietary arrangement. However, on this basis, carbohydrates should be reduced, the amount of fat should be increased, and water should be limited. Foods that can be used are: millet, sesame, wheat, dates, black beans, cut beans, pecans, pig heart, honey, yam, turtle nails, eggs, green vegetables, green beans, carrots and peas.