Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy diet

It is recommended that you have a healthy diet as food is the fuel your body needs for everything you do, including breathing. Your body uses food for energy as a part of a process called ‘metabolism’. This is when food and oxygen are changed into energy and carbon dioxide. Eating healthily also helps the body fight infections. Chest infections are illnesses that can be dangerous for people with PCD. You can reduce your risk of infection by eating well.

General exercise has multiple health benefits but can also be used as part of your mucus clearance routine and will help to improve lung function and fitness.

Exercise

Exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Not only does regular exercise help to maintain overall fitness and manage your weight, but it can also lower the risk of many life-threatening conditions. People who exercise regularly are likely to live longer and enjoy a better quality of life. In fact, studies have shown that being physically unfit is just as dangerous as smoking in terms of lowering life expectancy.

Regular exercise also improves mental and emotional health. The chemicals and hormones that are released in the brain through exercise can help deal with stress and promote happiness.

For children it is important that they take regular exercise to develop muscle and bone strength, help posture, fitness, and lung function. All types of exercise should be encouraged. Trampolines are particularly effective in helping to clear mucus. All these health benefits are the reason why many people are encouraged to exercise. However, many people think exercise is too expensive or simply takes up too much time. As little as half an hour of moderate activity every day, such as brisk walking, can be enough to improve health and fitness. There are many ways to exercise, and it is possible to find something to suit any kind of lifestyle.

Any type of aerobic exercise that encourages you to take deep breaths is good, such as football, rugby, swimming and running. It may also be helpful to try other activities that concentrate on breathing techniques and balance such as tai chi and yoga. If you are unable to get out, then get a Nintendo Wii – they are great exercise for all the family.

More information on exercise can be found here.

Five Essential Nutrients

There are five nutrients that are essential for health and life.

Your ideal weight

If you are overweight, your heart and lungs must work harder to supply oxygen to your body.

Being underweight is not good either. You can feel weak and tired, and you may be more likely to develop a chest infection. It is important for you to eat enough calories to prevent muscle wasting or weakening.

Talk to your respiratory nurse specialist or GP if you are concerned about your weight.

Loss of Appetite

If you feel unwell, if you are producing lots of mucus, or if you are breathless – you may lose your appetite.

Take your medicine with food unless advised otherwise. This prevents an upset tummy.
Vary the colours and textures of your food.
Use colourful garnishes to brighten food and make it more appealing.
Take regular exercise.
Try high-energy drinks – they take less energy to digest.
Having a lung disease can sometimes leave you with a bad taste in your mouth and put you off your food. Try brushing your teeth before meals.

Loss of Muscle Tone

If you are unwell, you may do less exercise. And your muscles may become weaker.

Try to eat a well-balanced diet.

Try to eat more high-protein foods – meat, fish, poultry and dairy products
Add grated cheese to vegetables, soups and casseroles
Use double-strength milk on your cereal, and milk instead of water for porridge (double strength milk is one cup of whole milk with 1/3 cup of non-fat dry milk powder added)
Add hard-boiled eggs to tuna and chicken for sandwiches/salads
Add non-fat dried milk to casseroles, custards and puddings
Keep hydrated
Puddings such as rice pudding, angel delight and blacmange made with double-strength milk are a great way to get lots of extra calories in.

Keeping Hydrated

It is important to keep the secretions in your lungs thin and easy to cough up. If you do not drink enough, your secretions will be thick and sticky and will increase your chances of an infection. Drinking enough liquids also helps with digesting food and avoiding constipation.

Water is your best option.
Drink at least 2.5 litres of liquid a day (juices, milkshakes and water).
When you have an infection or fever or during the hot weather, drink more.

Probiotics

Antibiotics may be effective at eliminating bacterial infections in the body, but they also disrupt the balance of desirable and undesirable bacteria in the gut. This can leave the digestive tract available for pathogenic bacteria to take up residence making it harder for the friendly bacteria to re-colonise to beneficial levels.

The symptoms of an imbalance of gut flora are: bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, indigestion, IBS and food intolerances. Friendly bacteria are found in cultured foods such as live yoghurt, cottage cheese, miso, sauerkraut, tofu, tamari, and kefir.

However, these may not be enough, and a friendly bacteria supplement known as a probiotic may be beneficial. You can research lots of information on probiotic supplements on the internet or you may choose to discuss with a dietician or nutritionist.

Friendly bacteria are crucial to our health and carry out a range of functions including:

manufacture of B vitamins
play an important part in our immune system by increasing numbers of immune cells
increase the absorption of minerals
produce lactase to digest milk
enhance bowel function by promoting efficient passage of waste
help control cholesterol levels
act as anti-carcinogens
produce antibiotics to control levels of bad bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
alter the acidity of the gut to make the environment undesirable for pathogens
break down hormones and build hormones for re-use
contribute to optimal metabolism
help remove toxins

Dietetic Glossary

We know that sometimes there are lots of new words and phrases to learn when speaking about diet, so we've included some of these terms and their meanings to help you.

Allergy: A reaction involving the immune system; these can either be immediate or delayed allergies.

Anthropometry: The taking of measurements of the human body.

Body composition: The anatomical make-up of the body in terms of bone, muscle, water, and fat.

Body Mass Index (BMI): A calculation which takes into account your height and weight, is used to determine whether a person is of a healthy weight.

DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan: A method of measuring bone density based on the proportion of a beam of photons that passes through the bone.

Dietary fibre: A part of plants eaten in foods which is not digested in the small intestine, but rather the large intestine.

Dietary Reference Values: A series of estimates of the amount of energy and nutrients needed by different groups of healthy people in the UK population. There are three types of estimates: Reference Nutrient Intakes, Estimated Average Requirements and Lower Reference nutrient Intakes.

Enteral feeding: A method of ensuring adequate nutrition in patients who have a functioning gastrointestinal tract but are unable to maintain an adequate or safe oral intake.

Faltering growth: A slow rate of weight gain in childhood than expected for age and sex.

Food aversion: These are behaviours seen in infants, children, young people and sometimes adults indicating a persistent unwillingness to eat. These can include signs of distress when presented with food, spitting of food and avoidance behaviour.

Food fortification: A process involving the addition of vitamins and minerals to foods as part of manufacture or processing.

Gastrostomy tube: The creation of an artificial passage between the stomach and the abdominal surface and is commonly used for long-term enteral feeding support.

Growth centiles (children): These centile lines are based on measurements taken from many children and they show how one child compares with other children of the same age and sex.

Intolerance: A reaction to a food or substance that does not involve the immune system. A wide range of symptoms present and are individual. They can also be immediate or delayed.

Macronutrients: These are nutrients we need in larger quantities that provide us with energy such as fats, protein, and carbohydrates.

Malnutrition: A condition that happens when a person does not get a correct amount of nutrients from the diet.

Micronutrients: These are nutrients in the body needed in very small amounts. The play essential roles and deficiencies should be avoided.

Milk intolerance: A milk intolerance is better known as a lactose intolerance, where a person has no or too little lactase (enzyme) to break down lactose in dairy products.

Nasogastric tube/ Naso jejunal tube: For short-term nutritional support by feeding directly into the stomach or jejunum (small intestine).

Nutrient: A substance that must be consumed as part of the diet to provide a source of energy, material for growth or substances to regulate growth. Nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins.

Nutrition: The study of food in relation to the physiological processes that depend on its absorption by the body (growth, energy production, repair of tissues etc). The science of nutrition includes the study of diets and of deficiency diseases.

Nutritional assessment: The systematic process of collecting and interpreting information in order to make decisions about the nature and cause of nutrition-related issues that affect the individual.

Nutritional status: The health and wellbeing of individuals and populations as influenced by their intake and utilisation of nutrients.

Nutrient-dense foods: Those foods rich in vitamins, minerals and other nutrients important for health without too much saturated fat, sugars or sodium.

Nutritionist: Providers of information about food and healthy eating. They are not protected by law and do not require registration in order to work.

Obesity: A medical condition described as excess body weight in the form of fat, where the accumulation of fat can lead to health impairments. Obesity is descried as a BMI of 30-39.9 kgm^2.

Oral liquid nutrition supplement: A high-energy liquid feed designed for enteral use, usually selected and prescribed after specialist advice from a paediatric dietitian/adult dietitian.

Oral Nutrition Support (ONS): A collective term to describe the nutritional options available via the oral route to manage those with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition.

Overweight: A term to describe a person whose BMI is 25-29.9 kgm^2.

Prebiotics: Food that the good bacteria in your gut eat. Prebiotics encourage the growth of good bacteria in your gut.

Probiotics: Good bacteria found naturally in food products or supplements. Probiotics improve the balance of gut bacteria.

Registered Dietitian: A qualified and regulated health professional that assesses, diagnoses and treats dietary and nutritional problems at an individual and wider public-health level. Dietitians are regulated by law.

Sensory feeding difficulty: These occur when a child or adult has a sensory aversion to certain types of foods, usually based on their texture, taste, smell or look of the food.

Stadiometer: A device for measuring height which consists of a vertical ruler with a sliding horizontal rod which rests on the top of the head.

Supplements: Thickeners- thickening agents added to normal fluids to make them more viscous, and therefore easier for people to swallow.

Undernutrition: This occurs when a person’s nutrition is not sufficient. A person with undernutrition may be abnormally thin, may weigh less than expected for their length or height and if prolonger, may lead to stunting in the early years.

Underweight: A term to describe a person whose BMI is less than 18.5 kgm^2.

Weight management: The process of adopting long-term lifestyle modifications to maintain a healthy body weight on the basis of a person’s age, sex and height. Methods of weight management include eating a healthy diet and increasing physical activity levels.