The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Huynh Thi Diem Thuy - Vaccine consultant - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital.
Mumps is a benign disease but can cause dangerous complications if not detected and treated promptly and properly. To ensure the best health, people with mumps can refer to the foods to avoid and eat below.
1. What is mumps?
Mumps is an infectious disease caused by a virus, the characteristic symptom is swelling of the salivary glands. The time from when you are infected with the virus and the disease lasts from 12-24 days. This disease is quite common in young children, if not treated promptly and properly, it will leave some complications that affect health as well as life.
Mumps is very easily transmitted through saliva, however, the disease is not as contagious as chickenpox or measles. The infected person will be most likely to be infected from 2 days before the symptoms appear until 6 days after the symptoms end. Mumps is common in children from 2 to 14 years old. For children under 2 years old, or less than 1 year old, it is very rare to get the disease because the child still has good antibiotics from the mother.
2. What should you eat to get well soon after getting mumps?
When you have mumps, in addition to choosing the right treatment method, you need to apply a scientific and reasonable diet. The recommended foods that patients should include in their daily diet are as follows:
2.1 Choose liquid foods
When you have mumps, the patient will have a high fever, the body will have difficulty absorbing solid foods and often feel loss of appetite... Therefore, it is best to prepare liquid foods for the patient but still contain enough nutrients. Some foods to choose from are: rice, lotus root, egg soup... to help the body absorb nutrients more easily.
Advice for patients during this time is to eat a lot and divide into many meals. Note that the digestive system is quite sensitive during this time, so you need to pay attention to adjusting the dosage accordingly. In case of signs of improvement, you should not switch to eating hard foods but maintain the old diet so as not to affect the digestive system.
2.2 Should eat dishes made from beans
Dishes made from beans have a fairly high nutritional content. Therefore, it is considered a medicine to help the body fight diseases. In particular, beans also have the ability to increase resistance for people with mumps.
Folk medicine is also applied by many people that when you have mumps, you should use soybeans and green beans in equal amounts and cook them until soft to eat every day. Or you can stew green beans including the shell, then add green vegetables. Apply this menu for 3-5 consecutive days, the disease will quickly subside.
2.3 Should add dishes from green vegetables
Green vegetables contain high levels of vitamin A, so they are very good for the digestive system. For people with mumps, the digestive system is very important, so adding more green vegetables is one of the very necessary things. Along with that, you need to add more fruits that are good for health.
Patients can use bitter melon to prepare nutritious dishes for the sick. These dishes ensure nutrients and increase the body's resistance.
3. What should mumps patients avoid?
During the illness, patients need to avoid some foods that can cause the jaw gland to swell, making the disease worse, such as:
3.1 Sour foods
Foods with a sour taste will stimulate the salivary glands to secrete more, causing pain.
3.2 Chicken
Chicken is a favorite dish of many people, but if you have mumps, you should avoid chicken because it is a hard dish, causing the jaw to work a lot, causing pain, and it is also a difficult-to-digest food that is not good for the patient.
3.3 Sticky rice
Dishes made from sticky rice are also foods that people with mumps should avoid because they will also cause the jaw to swell more, causing pain for the patient.
Sticky rice is one of the foods that people with mumps should avoid because it will make the jaw swell and hurt more
3.4 Spicy and raw foods
Foods such as chili, pepper, and seafood are difficult for the stomach to digest, the body will absorb less nutrients, making the patient feel hot inside, and the body will be more tired.
4. Notes when treating mumps
In addition to the food groups that people with mumps should avoid, patients need to avoid many other things in their daily life such as:
Mumps is a very contagious disease, so to avoid an outbreak into a pandemic, as soon as you discover you have mumps, you need to isolate yourself from people around you, do not go to places with many people such as schools and hospitals. In case someone in your family has mumps, you should isolate yourself by using separate personal items, and wear a mask when bringing food to the patient.
People with mumps must remember to avoid wind and cold water; because these are risk factors that make the mumps area swell and become more painful. However, patients should bathe and practice personal hygiene normally because cleanliness also helps kill bacteria. During the treatment period, you should bathe with warm water, bathing for a shorter time than usual.
During mumps, patients should avoid strenuous activities, stop sports activities until they recover, and rest a lot to reduce pain. In particular, when the testicles are swollen and painful, patients need to seek medical help and rest in bed, otherwise complications such as orchitis, testicular atrophy, and infertility may occur.
Mumps, like other diseases, should absolutely not be used on their own, using oral medications or topical medications on the swollen and painful area without a doctor's examination and prescription.
The above information hopefully provides you with useful knowledge about mumps, as well as questions about what to eat and what to avoid to recover quickly from mumps. In addition, as soon as you see symptoms of the disease, quickly go to a medical facility for doctors to examine and have specific treatment.
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