How to increase appetite in dengue fever patients

Most people who are sick tend to lose their appetite. This also occurs in patients with dengue fever (DHF). Loss of appetite is one of the symptoms of DHF that should not be taken lightly. If it continues for several days, loss of appetite can lead to weight loss and malnutrition. Therefore, it is important to know how to increase your appetite so that the DHF recovery process takes place faster.

Tips and tricks to increase appetite for DHF patients

DHF patients should try to keep getting nutritional intake even though they don't have an appetite. If nutritional needs are not met, the body's immune system will find it difficult to fight dengue fever. Here are some ways for DHF patients to increase appetite:

1. Eat small portions but often

Seeing just a normal portion of food may make you who have no appetite will refuse to eat. Especially if you have to eat three times a day with the same portion. Therefore, you can divide 3 meals into 5-6 smaller meals and give them every two hours or so.

In this way, DHF patients can gradually meet their daily nutritional needs and also increase their appetite. Don't forget to provide foods that are rich in protein and iron.

2. Offer favorite foods

A person will tend to eat if their favorite food is provided. When DHF patients experience severe loss of appetite, prioritize giving them the food they like and then consider starting to provide healthy foods.

This method of increasing appetite can be done as long as it does not provide foods that should be avoided when dengue fever.

3. Increase appetite by choosing certain drinks

The source of nutrition does not only come from food. There are several types of drinks that can be an alternative to increase lost appetite. In addition to nutritional intake, DHF patients have problems with the number of blood platelets in the body. One of the drinks that can provide nutrition and help increase blood platelets is fruit juice.

Fruit juice can also provide additional vitamin C so that iron absorption in the body increases. Some of these drinks are good for dengue fever patients, such as:

Guava juice
Orange juice
Coconut water
Pineapple juice

Food for DHF patients

Efforts to increase appetite have been carried out using the tips above. Furthermore, you certainly need to know what foods should be consumed and avoided by DHF patients.

Most of the foods that need to be consumed when DHF are foods with high protein, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin C and iron content. Some examples of foods that should be consumed include:

Chicken, lean red meat, and fish
Heart
Legumes such as lentils, peas, and chickpeas
Egg

On the other hand, there are foods that need to be avoided because they contain salicylates which can thin the blood, for example:

Several types of fruit, such as apples, melins, grapes, and strawberries
Almond nut
Potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes
Pepper, garlic and red, and ginger

Tips for increasing appetite when dengue fever can be done as long as you pay attention to the type of food given. Always consult a medical professional or doctor if you want to eat certain foods. Although increasing appetite in DHF patients takes time, this needs to be done so that the body gets the nutrition that the body needs for the recovery process.