In the clinic, Xiao Bao’s mother was anxiously asking the doctor: “My son was just fine with a cold and fever a few days ago, the family has been very careful, but for some reason, today he is feverish again for no reason”. So, what exactly is the reason for the little baby to start a fever again? Pan Yueli, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
After careful examination and questioning by the doctor, it turned out that the grandmother thought that Xiaobao had been tossed around for several days with injections and medication, and that the fever had easily subsided and her appetite had improved, so she had to make up for it, so she made several meals of fish and meat, and cooked them for Xiaobao in different ways, and as a result, Xiaobao started a fever again without any signs.
In fact, this phenomenon is recorded in ancient medical books, and there is a special disease called “food complex”. The earliest discussion of eclipse is found in the Emperor’s Nei Jing. The Nei Jing says: “If you are healing from a fever, eating meat will bring back the disease, but eating more will cause you to lose it, which is also prohibited.” Later people further described the symptoms of food recovery, for example, “the source of all diseases Hou Lun” said “the newly recovered disease, the spleen and stomach is still deficient, grain gas has not been restored, if you eat fat, sweet, fish, biscuits, dates and corn, it is not digested, stop accumulating in the stomach and intestines, so that fullness and solid, because of more fever, again for the disease, called food recovery.” From this, it can be seen that the food is a disease that has recurred due to careless eating after the initial recovery.
How does “food relapse” happen? As we all know, when people are sick, especially when they suffer from acute infectious diseases such as cold and fever, the digestive and absorption functions of the spleen and stomach are reduced accordingly, showing a lack of appetite or not easy to digest after eating. When the disease is first healed, the spleen and stomach function has not yet fully recovered, at this time if the one-sided emphasis on tonic, to be high protein, high fat diet will increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, is not conducive to recovery. This is especially obvious in infancy and early childhood, because children’s internal organs are delicate and their spleen and stomach functions are not yet complete, but because of their rapid growth and development, they need more nutrients than adults, and their spleen and stomach burdens are heavier than those of adults. Therefore, children are more prone to the phenomenon of “food recovery”. Therefore, when a child is recovering from a cold and fever, if parents just let the child eat and drink more, and one-sidedly emphasize the so-called high nutrition, it will further increase the burden on the spleen and stomach, resulting in the accumulation of stagnant food and other diseases or the recurrence of the original disease.
“So, what can you give your child to eat when the fever is gone? After all, the child has consumed a lot from being sick.” Xiao Bao’s mother asked eagerly. First of all, we should pay attention to the reasonable allocation of diet after the illness in order to facilitate the recovery of the spleen and stomach functions. The diet should be warm, soft, small meals, nutritious and easy to digest; cooking method is preferable to steaming. For example, initially thin rice, steamed taro, fruit and vegetable porridge are all good choices. Later, as the child’s health recovers and his appetite increases, he can gradually add some foods with higher energy and calories. For example, dairy products, lean meat, eggs, etc. However, for children who usually suffer from asthma, eczema and other allergic diseases, it is not advisable to consume fish, shrimp, seafood and other foods too early after the disease, in order to prevent the recurrence of old diseases due to allergies after eating. In addition, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, fever is prone to the depletion of yin, so after recovering from the disease, you can also eat some foods with the effect of nourishing yin, such as watermelon, pear, sugar cane juice, lotus root, water chestnut, duck, lean meat, turtle, etc.
In addition, in the pediatric clinical practice, “food complex” is not only found in diseases like cold and fever, but also in other diseases. The clinical manifestations are not only fever, but also “food redundancy” can aggravate the disease, make the existing disease recur, and even lead to other diseases. Therefore, when children often have a cold and fever for no reason, cough repeatedly does not heal, eczema sometimes light and heavy, parents should consider whether there is a “food” factor, and pay appropriate attention to adjust the diet structure, so as to help children recover as soon as possible.