Nutritional therapy for patients with tuberculosis

   Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Treatment should be holistic and must increase the body’s resistance while using anti-tuberculosis drugs. Enhanced nutrition can provide patients with sufficient calories and nutrients to meet the needs of tuberculosis lesion repair and enhance the body’s resistance.  High caloric energy tuberculosis is a chronic wasting disease, caloric energy needs more than normal people, generally required to reach 30 kcal per kilogram of body weight supply, the total daily intake of about 2000 kcal. Light manual laborers 40 kcal per kg body weight, about 2400 kcal for the whole day.  High protein because the patient consumes a lot of protein, and protein is an important nutrient for repairing tissues, which is beneficial to the healing of lesions and recovery of the disease body. Therefore, the daily protein intake of patients with tuberculosis should be 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, with a total daily intake of 80 to 100 grams, of which high-quality protein such as meat, poultry, aquatic products, eggs, milk and soybean products should account for more than 50% of the total protein intake.  High vitamins should focus on vitamin A, B, C and D. Vitamin A can enhance the body’s immunity, vitamin D can promote calcium absorption, vitamin C is good for lesion healing and hemoglobin synthesis, B vitamins have the effect of improving appetite, among which vitamin B6 can fight the side effects caused by the use of isoniazid treatment. Fresh vegetables and fruits are also the main source of vitamins. In addition, foods such as milk, eggs and offal are rich in vitamin A. Yeast, peanuts, beans and lean meat are rich in vitamin B6. ii. prohibit smoking and alcohol consumption. Smoking will increase the stimulation of the respiratory and digestive tracts; drinking alcohol can make the blood vessels dilate, aggravating the patient’s cough, hemoptysis and other symptoms.  In addition, TB patients should pay special attention to calcium and iron supplements in their diet. Calcium is the raw material for calcification of tuberculosis lesions, and the amount of calcium contained in milk is excellent. Iron is a necessary raw material for the production of hemoglobin, so patients with hemoptysis and blood in stool should pay more attention to supplementation.