Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects your body's epithelial cells, found in places including your lungs, sweat glands and pancreas. It causes your mucus to become thick and sticky. It clogs your lungs, leading to breathing problems and boosting the ability of bacteria to grow, which can lead to repeated lung infections. It also may keep your intestines from absorbing important nutrients from food and block the ducts in your pancreas so the digestive enzymes it makes don't reach your small intestines. These factors cause some youth with CF to be underweight. If you have CF, you need extra calories and nutrients to help keep your lungs strong and to fight infection, according to the Nemours Foundation.
Features
You need more calories than the average person when you have CF. However, each person with CF has different nutritional needs. That means you should work with a dietician to determine your daily calorie amount, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Kids and teens need a high-fat and high-calorie diet to maintain growth and development. Adults need such a diet to maintain health.
Types
Some people with CF have to follow a high-salt diet or must take salt supplements before exercising vigorously, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. If you have CF, you lose an increased amount of salt in your sweat. Eating salty snacks and adding salt to food will help. Your dietitian also may recommend consuming sports drinks, especially when the weather is hot, according to the Nemours Foundation.
Significance
People who have CF often don't absorb fats properly. This means the fat-soluble vitamins K, A, D and E also are not absorbed properly, leading to the need to take these vitamins daily, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. You may need to use oral pancreatic enzymes to help you absorb more vitamins and to aid in digesting fats and proteins.
Considerations
If you have CF, you need to ensure you get enough iron, zinc and calcium. Iron helps your body fight infection and aids in carrying the oxygen in your blood from your lungs to the cells in your body, according to the Nemours Foundation. You can get iron in meats, fortified cereal, dark green veggies and dried fruits. Zinc is important for fighting infection, healing and growth. Liver, eggs, meats and seafood are good sources. If you have CF, you have a higher-than-normal risk for osteoporosis. Full-fat dairy products are good options. Fruit juices that include calcium are another.
Expert Insight
You may need to consume high-calorie shakes or use a feeding tube at night to gain enough nutrients if you have CF, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Or, you might just need to add extra calories to your meals. You can do this many ways, advise the experts at the Nemours Foundation. For example, use whole milk products, add extra butter to foods, add bacon and cheese to burgers, add extra cheese to your pizza, choose regular instead of diet dressings, put whipped cream on desserts and in cocoa and add avocadoes and cheese to your sandwiches. Also, carry high-calorie snacks with you like peanut butter crackers, trail mix, nuts and cheese.
