A large meal can send us to the hospital if we don't eat sparingly. There are dishes that are difficult to digest, but the combination of certain foods can also harm us. Doctors also draw our attention to the temptation to interrupt the treatment of chronic diseases during the holidays.
Temperance must be the rule at the Easter table PHOTO: Shutterstock
Hospital doctors are already preparing to meet a wave of patients with decompensated chronic conditions in the first days after Easter. They also expect acute episodes that patients may experience even for the first time due to food abuse.
Roast lamb, tasty but dangerous
One of the signals that primary nephrologist Emilian Postelnicu, from the Slatina County Emergency Hospital, draws refers to the consumption of lamb or veal meat, which can generate a gout attack. Those with high uric acid are at risk, if the patients investigate themselves and know their problem. The others may be suddenly taken by surprise following the consumption of lamb meat which is very rich in purines.
“The precursors of this substance – uric acid – are purines and purines are mainly found in the meat of young animals. Lambs, calves, everything that means an animal that has not yet reached maturity. Signs and symptoms are not very specific preclinically, they become clinical when the gout pains appear. I catch many off guard,” says the doctor.
In such a crisis, patients arrive at the Emergency Department, because the pain is very difficult to bear.
“There is something very interesting about this gout: it usually appears around 3.00 – 4.00 in the morning and appears on the big toe, it is something characteristic of gout. It appears like a bolt from a clear sky, an atrocious pain, so strong that patients describe that they can't even stand the sheet at those moments.” explained the doctor.
Contrary to popular belief, lamb is not a “light” meat and should be avoided or replaced with mutton or mutton.
“In the discussions we had I tried to demystify a bit the mutton or lamb which is said to be very light. It's not even close. It is the most difficult to digest of all the meats that we routinely consume. It is difficult to digest, we are not very well adapted to it, and in general it gives quite a lot of problems. The meat of mature animals is more easily digestible, due to the lack of purines it presents much less risk”, doctor Emilian Postelnicu also specified.
Sweets, even more dangerous eaten immediately after the steak
Another danger on the Easter table is the association of sweets with fatty foods, eaten at the same meal. If we eat both dessert and a dish with fat (steak, sausages, etc.), the body will prioritize processing, first metabolizing the sweet dish and depositing the fats. This is how fatty liver disease appears, the doctor explains.
“He's been wreaking havoc lately. We don't have hepatitis data from the virus as much as we have data from this one sugar consumption”, added the doctor.
To avoid such problems, we should start the meal with a dish rich in fiber and with a low glycemic index. Let's eat salads, cream soups or soups first.
“Being voluminous and low in calories, they occupy a large part of the stomach and after that we no longer have the same greed and we no longer gorge on the same amount of food for the second course and dessert. It would be good if we also delayed the dessert a little from the second course, not to eat immediately after the steak, because, as I said, it is difficult to digest, they bring an even higher intake and it is quite difficult for the body to face”,
drew the doctor's attention.
Another danger is that of giving up medication for chronic disease.
“I'll also leave the medicine for a day, so I can drink a glass of wine”, it's a very bad decision, draws the doctor's attention.
Therefore, remember to take your pills if you are being treated for cardiovascular disease, even if you have had a glass of wine or another alcoholic drink.
“About the pills for cardiovascular, cardiological use, they say that you take them for nothing for three years if you haven't taken them for one day. Most of them are not inactivated by alcohol”, the doctor also specified.
Going off medication, even for a day or two, can lead to even greater problems than before treatment was instituted. In the case of psychotropic drugs or in the case of antibiotics, the association with alcohol presents, on the other hand, a real danger.
