It’s funny; when you hear the words “diet” and “nutrition,” you tend to think salads, vegetables, fruits, and all that good, healthy stuff. But for people with cystic fibrosis, eating healthy, green stuff is the OPPOSITE of what they want.
30,000 people in the U.S. are living with cystic fibrosis (CF).
People with CF have to eat a higher fat diet than the average person. You may envy these sort of people, who HAVE to eat cheeseburgers and butter to stay healthy, but most of the time, they feel too sick to eat. What’s the point of the “perk,” then, right?
Cystic fibrosis can be a bit complicated.
For those who don’t know about it, I’ll try to keep it simple. (For a deeper explanation, visit here) CF is inherited and leads to a thick, sticky buildup of mucus in the body. As you’d expect, this can cause clogs, which can result in infection.
But why do people with CF have to eat fattier foods?
You’d think it would be the other way around, right? It all comes down to that darn mucus. The mucus buildup prevents the intestines from soaking up an adequate amount of nutrients from food.
People with CF need to overcompensate by eating larger amounts of fat (for instance) to keep from being underweight.
Not to mention, the extra fat helps to ward off infections from the body.
This all especially applies to kids living with CF—being growing vessels and all.
The more you know…
What do you think of this lifestyle? Can you imagine eating an all-fat diet? Leave a comment below!
