Nutrition plays a huge role in combatting TB

TB patients are encouraged to eat a healthy varied diet. Pulmonary disease often adversely affects nutritional intake, due to poor appetites, making patients at risk for malnutrition.

You need a strong body to fight the tough tuberculosis bacteria

• Getting cured of active tuberculosis can take up to a year of daily antibiotics.
• To help your body fight the disease, you need to make sure that you’re getting the right nutrition.
• Many of the TB medications have side effects like loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramping.
• People who are malnourished or underweight are more likely to get TB; are more susceptible to reinfection; or relapse after treatment.
• Malnutrition leads to decreased immunity.
• Poor nutrition leads to the persistence of the disease, and active tuberculosis leads to worsening malnutrition.

This creates a vicious cycle

To help your body fight TB feed it right

• Leafy, dark-coloured greens like kale and spinach, for their high iron and B-vitamin content
• Plenty of whole grains, like whole wheat pastas, breads, and cereals
• Antioxidant-rich, brightly-coloured vegetables, such as carrots, peppers, and squash, and fruits, like tomatoes, blueberries, and cherries – think of buying produce in a full rainbow of colours
• Unsaturated fats like vegetable or olive oil, instead of butter
• Drink high-calorie protein shakes between meals.
• Patients who have TB have low circulating concentrations of micronutrients, such as vitamins A, E and D, and the minerals iron, zinc and selenium. These should be supplemented.

Foods you shouldn’t eat and substances you shouldn’t use

• Skip tobacco in all forms.
• Don’t drink alcohol — it can add to the risk of liver damage from some of the drugs used to treat your TB.
• Limit coffee and other caffeinated drinks.
• Limit refined products, like sugar, white breads and white rice.
• Avoid high-fat, high-cholesterol red meat and instead load up on leaner protein sources like poultry, beans, tofu, and fish.

Make every effort to give your body the nutrition it needs to maintain a healthy weight and build up strength to destroy the tuberculosis bacteria and reduce your risk of a relapse. Eating a varied, healthy diet, and staying away from unhealthy habits, will help you feel better, faster.