Cirrhosis is a common chronic disease that can be caused by one or more causes of liver damage, with progressive, diffuse, fibrous lesions in the liver. The specific manifestation is diffuse degenerative necrosis of hepatocytes, followed by fibrous tissue hyperplasia and nodular regeneration of hepatocytes. These three changes are repeatedly interlaced, resulting in the resultant gradual alteration of liver lobular results and blood circulation pathways, forming pseudobullets, which, after a considerable period (years or even decades), deform and harden the liver and lead to cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis seriously affects human health and life expectancy. In daily life, improper diet may aggravate the disease, while dietary treatment can enhance appetite, improve digestive function, control the development of the disease; increase the body resistance, promote liver cell repair as well as liver function recovery. Therefore, the diet of patients with cirrhosis should follow the following principles.
Reasonable use of protein
The liver is the site of protein synthesis, with 11~14 grams of albumin synthesized by the liver every day. When cirrhosis occurs, the liver is not able to synthesize protein very well. It is then necessary to rationalize protein intake to prevent the occurrence of hepatic encephalopathy. Protein foods consisting of multiple sources can be chosen. To make the patient better adapted, one can eat a casein-based diet, mixing cheese into moderate amounts of chicken, fish, lean meat, and eggs, with a little each day to balance the protein diet.
Supply the right amount of fat
Some patients suffering from cirrhosis are afraid to eat fat, but in fact, fat should not be restricted too strictly. The pancreatic gland is not fully functional in cirrhosis. Bile salt secretion is reduced, lymphatic vessels or liver portal congestion, etc. Nearly half of the patients with cirrhosis have steatorrhea and malabsorption of fat. When the above symptoms occur, the amount of fat should be controlled. However, if the patient does not have the above symptoms when and can adapt to the fat in food, fat should not be restricted too tightly in order to increase calories. In case of biliary cirrhosis low-fat, low-cholesterol diet is used.
In addition, sufficient carbohydrates can make the body adequate storage of liver glycogen to prevent damage to liver cells by toxins, and 350~450 grams of starchy foods can be eaten daily.
Limit dietary water and sodium
When there is edema or mild ascites patients should be given a low salt diet, the daily intake of salt should not exceed 3 grams; in severe edema it is appropriate to use a salt-free diet, and sodium should be limited to about 500 mg. For example, do not use alkali when steaming steamed buns, but use fresh yeast to make the noodles instead, or eat salt-free bread. Hanging noodles contain more sodium and should not be eaten. Secondly, a variety of pickles and sauces sodium content is also very much, patients with cirrhosis should be absolutely limited. Meanwhile, MSG in condiments is dominated by monosodium glutamate, which will increase the burden on the liver’s metabolism of water and sodium.
Nowadays, the market facilitates all kinds of customers and also supplies various low-sodium salt, low-sodium soy sauce and salt-free soy sauce. When cooking dishes, pay special attention to the cooking method, otherwise it will aggravate the sodium intake instead. For example, some people are used to soak fish and meat with salt or soy sauce first, and then wash off the salty taste on the surface with water, although it does not taste salty, but the excessive sodium ion is far too much. When making various dishes, do not put salt or soy sauce first, and put salt or soy sauce last when frying the dish, or put vinegar, soy sauce and salt to eat after frying.
This has both taste and limits the intake of sodium. Other foods with high sodium content, such as seafood, ham, puffed eggs and meat pine, should also be strictly controlled. Daily water intake should be limited to 1000~1500ml.
Eat more foods containing zinc and magnesium
Patients with cirrhosis generally have lower blood zinc levels, increased urinary zinc excretion and lower zinc content in liver cells. When alcohol is consumed, blood zinc will continue to decrease, and alcohol should be strictly prohibited, and appropriate food containing more zinc such as lean pork, beef, eggs and fish should be consumed. In order to prevent the lack of magnesium ions, such as more green leafy vegetables, peas, dairy products and cereals and other foods.
Vitamin C supplementation
Vitamin C is directly involved in liver metabolism and promotes liver glycogen formation. Increasing the concentration of vitamin C in the body can protect the resistance of liver cells and promote the regeneration of liver cells. The concentration of vitamin C in ascites is equal to that in blood, so large amounts of vitamin C should be supplemented in ascites. fruits should be peeled or squeezed into juice for drinking when eating.
Diet should be small and many meals
The diet should be light, soft, easy to digest, non-stimulating and small meals.
Patients with cirrhosis often lose their appetite, so they should be given food that is easy to digest and assimilate, with small and frequent meals, soft and non-stimulating food, fine workmanship, and avoid hard and rough food, such as fried food and hard fruit food. When combined with esophageal varices, we should pay more attention to forbid the consumption of fried foods and hard and dried fruits, because these foods can puncture the esophageal veins and cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding, which can be life-threatening. Patients with cirrhosis should not lose their precious lives to satisfy the pain and psychological needs of the momentary taste.
Attachment: example of a day of recipes for cirrhosis of the liver
Breakfast: rice porridge (50g of rice), steamed bread (75g of flour), meat floss (15g of pork floss)
Additional meal: sweet milk (250g fresh milk, 10g sugar), 150g apple
Lunch: rice (rice 150g), roasted scallop (scallop 200g), stir-fried vegetables (oilseed rape 150g)
Extra meal: Punch lotus root powder (30g lotus root powder, 10g sugar)
Dinner: rice (150g rice), roasted chicken pieces (100g chicken pieces), fried tofu with tomatoes (50g tofu, 100g tomatoes)
25g of oil for the whole day.
The above recipe contains 2422 kcal (10120 kJ) of caloric energy.