MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), MNAMS, FACS (USA), FICS (USA), FUICC
Lung transplantation is an equally exhaustive surgery for both your body and mind. The recovery phase after the surgery can be challenging. A balanced diet and good nutrition plays a crucial role in the length of your recovery period. Adequate amounts of proteins and calories are required for proper wound healing. There is an increase in the nutrient requirement to lower the possibility of side effects of the anti-rejection medicines as well. Thus, these concerns have made it mandatory for the surgeon to not only perform the surgery but also monitor your diet after the surgery with the help of a qualified dietician. In this article, let us talk about the importance of diet in lung transplant patients, their nutritional requirement, mindful eating, and what you should and should not eat after lung transplantation.
Diet plays an important role after you get a lung transplantation. Your body’s nutritional needs increase significantly after a transplant to accomodate for the recovery. This is because of the extreme trauma that your body goes through due to the extensive surgery. There are several metabolic changes that occur in your body after transplantation. Thus, adequate nutrition is important to meet the metabolic demand of the body and support the survival of the graft. The major reasons for which you need a balanced diet in the post-transplantation phase are:
Nutrition plays an important role during the recovery phase for a lung transplant patient. Therefore, it is always advised that you consult your dietician and surgeon about what you should and should not eat after a lung transplantation surgery. Some of the healthy food choices that you can include in your daily diet after a lung transplantation are:
A balanced diet is extremely important for lung transplant patients. Your diet post-surgery must contain all macronutrients. This is because all macronutrients play different roles during your recovery phase.
Protein is a very important nutrient during the first month after your lung transplant surgery. This is because in the first month you need to recover from the stress that the surgery has caused you. Adequate amount of protein helps heal your wounds and helps in overcoming the muscle breakdown as well. In general, 1.3 to 1.5 g of protein/kg body weight is required in lung transplant patients. However, in case of malnutrition, the daily requirement of protein can reach to around 2.5 g/kg.
Lung transplantation can affect the way in which your body uses glucose. In case of normal glucose metabolism, your doctor might recommend to you the acceptable macronutrient distribution range (AMDR) for carbohydrates, that is, 45% to 65% of total calories. In case you are hyperglycemic, that is, have high blood sugar levels, a close monitoring of blood glucose levels is required along with nutritional and medical therapy. Therefore, in such a case, it is recommended that you increase the intake of low glycemic index food in your diet to control your blood sugar levels appropriately. It is also advised that the intake of added fructose and sugar must be limited to not more than 10% of the daily total calories requirement.
If the results of the lipid profile test done after lung transplantation are normal, then your lipid intake can be as per the AMDR for lipids, that is, 20% to 35% of the total calorie intake. Dietary and lifestyle modifications are made in case of diagnosis of dyslipidemia after the transplant surgery. Dyslipidemia refers to the imbalance in the lipid levels in the blood including high-density lipoproteins, low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, and cholesterol.
Now that we have discussed what a lung transplant patient should eat after surgery, it is very important to know how a patient should eat post lung transplant. Doctors advise the lung transplant patients to practise mindful eating. Mindful eating is an act of keeping in track about the food and drinks as well as the time at which you consume post-surgery. It is a form of dieting where you have food with mindfulness and consciousness. This way you need to pick up food items that provide nourishment to your body and give you a feeling of fullness and satisfaction. Mindful eating also requires you to eat only when you are hungry and not due to any emotional signs of boredom, sadness, loneliness, and stress. Some of the major characteristics of mindful eating include:
Mindful eating is extremely important and it can help you in your recovery phase in the following ways:
Your body is not the same after a lung transplantation. A lot of metabolic processes are affected after the surgery. Therefore, your diet should be the one that supports the metabolic changes in your body and does not cause any side effects or health complications. So it is advised that you stick to the diet plan provided by the dietician and avoid unhealthy food.
The steroid medicines that are given post surgery decrease your body’s ability to use sugar for energy. Thus, the sugar that you take through food increases the blood sugar levels in your body causing steroid-induced diabetes or more commonly referred as hyperglycemia. Therefore, to avoid the complications of steroid medicines, you must decrease your intake of concentrated carbohydrates. These foods include chewing gums, honey, soft drinks, syrups, fruit yoghurt, cookies, ice cream, puddings, and sweetened condensed milk.
The lung transplant medicines can also increase the retention of sodium and water in your body ultimately increasing blood pressure. Thus, to restrict the intake of sodium, a “no added salt” diet is recommended after lung transplant surgery. Food that contains high sodium includes processed meat, commercial soups, processed vegetables, and beverages like buttermilk and vegetable juice.
Certain drugs used in lung transplant patients can increase the blood potassium levels. Abnormal levels of potassium hinders the heart and muscle functioning. To maintain normal potassium levels you need to avoid fruits and juices (like orange, banana, avocado, melons, apricot) vegetables (like potato, tomato, pumpkin, and lentils), nuts, chocolates, milk, and dairy products.
Proper nutrition and a balanced diet plays a crucial role after lung transplantation surgery and facilitates proper recovery and better quality of life. It is mandatory to avoid certain food items in order to reduce side effects and risk of rejection of the graft. You can prevent infections and lead a long and good life by following a healthy diet plan and avoiding food that can be harmful for your body and cause a problem during your recovery phase. Mindful eating is thus an effective way that can achieve your health goals as well as help you recover better. Now that you know about mindful eating, food that you should include in your diet, and food that you should avoid, make sure that you plan your daily diet accordingly. It is always better to consult a qualified dietician and your surgeon for better results.
Certain fruits that you should avoid post lung transplantation are pomegranate, papaya, starfruit, and all other fruits that have potassium content.
Adequate amounts of protein can be found in several vegetarian and non-vegetarian food options. You can meet your daily protein requirement from fish, eggs, meat (seafood, poultry, pork, beef), nuts, soy products, tofu, peanut butter, dried beans, and pasteurised dairy products like yoghurt, cheese, and milk.
It is normal to gain weight after lung transplantation. This is due to the following reasons:
You can prevent the extra weight gain post surgery by following some simple tips:
Copyright @ (Prof.) Dr. Arvind Kumar. All Rights Reserved / Thoracic Surgical Oncologis
License Number: U.P State Medical Council (India) No. 27637