You know that feeling of exhaustion, tiredness, and fatigue, that you have after a long day at work in which you were not able to get a bite to eat? That is how a sickle cell patient feels ALL THE TIME.
In sickle cell anemia, some of the red blood cells are malformed and usually die faster than the normal red blood cells. This results in anemia and a host of other complications.
Therefore, sickle cell patients require a nutritious food regimen to help restore the quickly depleting red blood cells and improve their quality of life.
Creating healthy meal plans for a sickle cell patient does not have to be a difficult task. It just requires a little extra attention to detail.
What is a Meal Plan?
A meal plan is an outline or a prepared structure of different types of healthy and balanced meals to be consumed at different times of the day.
When you make an effort to create a meal plan, it is presumed that you have put some thought into what makes up the meals in the meal plan, and have consciously included healthy food items in the plan.
What is Sickle Cell Anemia?
Sickle cell anemia is a congenital disease that affects the red blood cells of the patient.
Ordinarily, red blood cells die after every 90 to 120 days. This is not a problem as more red blood cells are made in the bone marrow. The new red blood cells replenish the spent blood cells.
In sickle cell anemia, a good number of red blood cells are malformed. This makes them unable to perform their job of carrying oxygen to the different parts of the body.
These deformed red blood cells also die off faster than normal red blood cells. Therefore, the patient is always anemic and suffers from constant fatigue.
To put this in perspective, an adult sickle cell patient may possess 20% Packed Cell Volume while a toddler without sickle cell anemia has 35% Packed Cell Volume.
The Importance of Healthy Meals
Healthy meals are very important to the sickle cell patient. This is because healthy meals will provide the necessary nutrients to help replenish the quickly depleting red blood cells.
Preparing Meal Plans for the Sickle Cell Patient
When you are creating meal plans for the sickle cell patient remember to give proteins a central role. This is because proteins play a major role in the formation of red blood cells.
Green leafy vegetables contain folic acid which in turn contributes to the production of red blood cells.
Sample Meal Plan for the Sickle Cell Patient
Yams, Rice, unripe Plantain, Sweet Potato, Fonio (hungry rice or Acha), brown Beans or Chick Peas, Maize, Sorghum, and Millet are some of the food items you can use as staples.
You can work with the listed foods to create healthy meals for the sickle cell patient. Always remember to add vegetables to whatever staple food you choose to cook. Cabbages, Spring Onions, Carrots, green leafy plants such as fluted pumpkin (Ugu), Spinach, Afang, and others, do a lot more than brighten up your meals with vibrant colors. They contain essential nutrients that are necessary for optimal health and well-being of the sickle cell patient.
Sample Timetable for Healthy Meals for the Sickle Cell Patient
7.00 am Breakfast
A simple sweet potato porridge sits well at any time of day. You can spice it up with scent leaves, spring onions, or uziza leaves on a cold day. Include dried fish for protein.
9.30am/10.00am Snack
When 10 a.m.a.m. comes around you are probably at school or work. This is the proper time for a snack to keep your energy levels going. However, you should not make a habit of indulging in processed and sugary foods.
It would be a good idea to pack an apple or two, some bananas, cucumbers or avocados from home for a healthy treat. On a side note, children don’t usually want the hassle of chewing fruits so you can juice it and store it in a flask to maintain freshness.
12.30 pm/1 pm Lunch
Lunch is usually prepared with convenience in mind. You don’t want the contents to spill on the way to work or school. You also don’t want it to be messy when you sit at the table.
With this in mind, here are three healthy meal suggestions for the sickle cell patient. An added advantage is that these meals respect themselves by not spilling everywhere!
- Jollof rice with diced liver and a variety of colorful vegetables.
- Acha (fonio) also with vegetables such as spring onions, bell peppers, carrots, and dried fish.
- Unripe plantain cooked with a big helping of crayfish, mackerel, green peppers, and a sprinkling of ugu leaves.
The above meals are quite pleasant to look at and taste very good.
3 pm/4 pm Snack
Sickle cell patients are notoriously picky eaters. This may be an adaptation to the nasty condition of an often bloated spleen caused by excessive shedding of red blood cells. Whose belly would be strained and protruding and still looks forward to adding more content to it?
So the trick is to eat small portions and compensate by spreading meal times throughout the day. The picture below is an example of a good snack to eat mid-afternoon.
6 pm/7 pm Dinner
Some of us are still on the way home by 6 pm but the kids are usually back by then. Vegetable-rich soups would be a good idea at this time. A small amount of carbohydrates can go with it.
End Note
The bottom line is to enrich all meals with protein and vegetables. Fresh fruits are seasonal but there’s always one or two in season at any given time. Many fruits contain fiber which will help you to avoid troublesome situations such as constipation because constipation can trigger a crisis.
You can make a habit of adding some food items that liquefy blood such as ginger, garlic, and peppers to keep circulation going. Choose healthy snacks.
You should apply your best effort in managing your or your child’s illness and leave the rest to God.
If you or someone you know requires further help in understanding and managing sickle cell anemia you can reach out in the comment section.