Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a term used for a group of progressive lung diseases. Some foods help your body in providing nutrition, minerals, and vitamins for its smooth functioning. For chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, patients need to be careful of the foods to be consumed or avoided. COPD food charts and facts are available on the Internet. These facts will help you devise a healthy and balanced diet to manage COPD. Certain food items can be of no value at all and some can even end up causing major symptoms like bloating and gas that can leave you feeling uncomfortable when you have COPD.

Some of the foods that you need to keep a watch on are:

Salt
When your intake of sodium is high, then the water retention levels increase in the body and leads to difficulty with breathing. Switch to alternative methods of flavoring your food with unsalted herbs and spices, and leave out adding salt to all that you cook or eat. You can always reach out to your dietician to find effective low-sodium substitutes that you can use in your diet so that your health is not compromised in the process. Also, remember that salt is not what you add in but also what is present in foods already. So, keep a watch over the quantity when you are buying processed or prepackaged foods for less than 300mg of sodium per serving.

Fruits
While the usual deal is to add in all veggies and fruits into your diet, there are certainly some fruits that you should consciously stay away from. Apples or stone fruits like peaches and apricots contain fermentable carbohydrates which can cause gas and bloating, that can end up causing breathing difficulties. It is advisable to stick with low FODMAP or low fermentable fruits such as pineapple, berries, and grapes. Just as fruits there are certain veggies you need to take note of, and this list is quite well known to cause bloating and gas as well. The reaction from these fruits and veggies vary from person to person, and therefore you need to decide if they are actual trigger foods. These veggies include – legumes, beans, cabbage, corn, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, leeks, lentils, peas, onions, and soybeans. You can consume fruits during snack time as well.

Keep watch over both dairy products and chocolates. You need to remember that when you have COPD, your dairy product consumption should be limited as they can worsen the phlegm. As for chocolates, they tend to interfere with the medication prescribed for COPD patients. Also, stay away from fried foods as they are unhealthy and can easily cause gas or indigestion. You can check food facts for COPD. These COPD facts will help you to maintain a balanced diet.