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A healthy balanced diet is recommended to all Lupus patients to improve their immune system. Most physicians would recommend an increased intake of oily fish such as mackerel, sardines and salmon and perhaps a little less red meat. The only food that should be avoided is alfalfa sprouts as this may cause a lupus flare-up.
Research shows that high fat diets promotes the progression of Lupus and weakens the immune system hence a low fat diet is recommended.
According to studies conducted on women affected by SLE, a vegan diet of fruits and vegetables helped in improving their condition so much so that 95% of her facial lesions disappeared.
Other low fat diets that are recommended are beef and diary products that are rich in phenylalanine and tyrosine.
The recommended calorie intake for Lupus patients are approximately 1900 calories per day for women and 2500 calories for men. Lupus patients also have the risk of becoming obese and are susceptible to heart attacks, cancer and strokes hence it is important for them to maintain a healthy weight. Some physicians also recommend a new low glycaemic diet such as fish, meat, vegetables and fruits such as strawberries. This would help in weight loss for those patients who are obese.
In a nutshell, the following diet guidelines are normally recommended by dieticians:
- Must avoid junk food
- Must increase the food choice variety and to ensure that the patient ingests a wider range of essential vitamins, minerals and fatty acids
- Must avoid diet with artificial ingredients, additives and chemicals
- Must avoid caffeine, sugar and as many unnecessary drugs as possible
- Eat small meals throughout the day as often as every three hours.
If certain types of foods are increasing the Lupus flare-ups the patient should immediately stop imbibing these.
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