Best Diet for Dengue Treatment – Diet Food, What to Eat & Avoid During Dengue Fever

The peak season of Dengue fever – September and October – is here, and the scare can be felt. With a staggering number of cases reported last year, the concern this year is quite obvious. In 2022, a record number of 2.3 lakh dengue cases were reported in India. The reasons are varied, including the flood situation in India when the areas of receding water become the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. To stay safe and for dengue prevention, you must take enough precautions. If a member of your family falls prey to the fever, you must ensure a good dengue diet for the patient while avoiding some food items. Let’s discuss them in this post.

People diagnosed with dengue must be cautious while choosing what to eat to recover quickly. So, what food items must one eat during the recovery phase of dengue treatment? Let’s take a look.

Best 13 Food to Consume while Recovering from Dengue Fever

The recovery phase of dengue is critical; a healthy diet can help recover from the fever. Include the below-mentioned food in your diet if you are thinking of dengue treatment food.

Here’s what to eat during fever:

1. Coconut Water:

Dengue fever can cause patients to experience dehydration during the first few days of fever. Since coconut water is rich in salt and minerals, drinking lots of this electrolyte-rich fluid is highly recommended. Including two glasses of coconut water daily is important while the patient is recovering from dengue.

2. Papaya Leaf Juice:

For dengue patients, including papaya leaf juice in their diet is a must. The papaya leaves support increasing the platelet count in their blood and help improve immunity. There are enzymes like papain and chymopapain in the papaya extracts that prevent digestive disorders, including bloating. To consume papaya leaf juice, take 30 ml of the juice, mix it with some water, and drink it two to three times a day. This juice is the best food to increase the count of platelets in blood during dengue fever.

3. Herbal Tea:

Dengue patients can relax their body and mind by consuming herbal tea. Herbal tea has some essential ingredients that help soothe the patient recovering from dengue. You can prepare herbal tea using spices like cardamom, cinnamon, peppermint, and ginger. This will enhance good sleep and lead to faster recovery. Hence, it should be included in the diet of a dengue patient.

4. Neem Tree Leaves:

The leaves of the neem tree have chemicals like Nimbidin and Nimbin. These chemicals, with their anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, help in the treatment of dengue. They increase the platelets in the blood and boost the count of white blood cells. They also help in improving immunity and getting blood purified. They are likely to remove toxins from the body. To consume neem leaves, boil them in water and drink it regularly.

5. Pomegranate:

This is another superfood for dengue as it is loaded with nutrients and minerals to provide the patient with the required energy. It also helps in lowering fatigue and overtiredness. Because of the high iron content in the fruit, it supports increasing the count of blood platelets in dengue patients.

6. Vegetable Juice:

Vegetable juice is the next best food item for dengue patients that supports quick recovery of the fever by providing them with essential nutrients. Along with nourishment, vegetable juice also helps in improving immunity. Add some lemon juice to the vegetable juice to add vitamin C and enhance taste.

7. Yogurt:

Yogurt helps in fighting bacterial infections and viruses. Yogurt has some probiotic properties that produce good bacteria to boost immunity. This helps dengue patients to recover quickly.

8. Grapefruit:

A tropical fruit, grapefruit is rich in nutrients and antioxidants. It is also loaded with a good amount of Vitamin C as well as antioxidants. Hence, it is vital to improve immunity and accelerate WBC production in the patient.

9. Broccoli:

This is another food that must be included in the diet of dengue patients. Broccoli is the primary source of Vitamin K and helps enhance blood platelet count to make it normal.

10. Orange:

Orange contains antioxidants as well as a good amount of Vitamin C, which helps to reduce the virus of dengue in the body of the patient.

11. Fenugreek:

Fenugreek (Methi) acts as a mild sedative to aid in lowering pain and enhancing good sleep among dengue patients. It also helps in stabilizing fever.

12. Spinach:

Spinach is another important food item to be included in your diet. Since spinach is rich in iron and omega-3 fatty acids, it supports boosting the immune system and increases the platelet count as well.

13. Kiwi fruit:

Kiwifruits are nutrient-rich as they contain vitamins A and E and Potassium to support the dengue patient to preserve the electrolytes in the body. It also keeps a check on the hypertension and high blood pressure of the patient.

So, now you know what food items to include during dengue fever. Let us look at the food that should not be consumed during dengue.

4 Foods to Avoid During Dengue Fever

Normally, dengue patients experience high fever, which can sometimes show flu-like symptoms. Some extreme cases can also show symptoms of bleeding and sudden BP drop. In case of such symptoms, it is a must to stop the intake of the following food items by the patient.

1. Spicy food:

Spicy foods might accumulate acid in the stomach of the patient, which might result in ulcers. These food items also delay the process of recovery.

2. Non-vegetarian items:

It is good to avoid non-vegetarian foods if a patient is recovering from dengue. Dengue fever weakens a person and slows the digestive system, making it difficult for the patient to digest non-vegetarian food. So, non-vegetarian items are not the best food to eat during a fever

3. Fried foods:

Fried/oily foods have high amounts of fat, which can increase the cholesterol and BP of the patient. Hence, they should not be included in the diet for dengue patient as they weaken immunity and slows down recovery

4. Caffeine:

Dengue patients might suffer from dehydration, and to restore the body’s hydration, it is essential to consume fluids. However, these fluids should not include caffeinated beverages as they can lead to diarrhea and nausea.

Ideal Diet Plan for Patients Suffering from Dengue

If you are thinking of what to eat in dengue, here is a food chart that you can use for some guidance: 

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To sum up

Including the above food in your diet and avoiding the food you are not supposed to consume can help you recover from dengue. Also, make sure to take proper dengue medicines. In addition, you can purchase comprehensive medical insurance to cover your entire family so that if there is any case of hospitalization of a family member during the dengue season, you can easily cover the extra expenses through the support of medical insurance.

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