Foods and Drinks to Avoid if You Have Myasthenia Gravis

dry and crumbly meals

The method of consuming requires your entire muscle mass to work collectively to control meals in your mouth, chew it, push it down your throat, and swallow it.

One of many key devices on this gastric symphony is a flap of cartilage in the back of the throat referred to as the epiglottis, which acts as a lid to forestall meals and fluids from getting into the lungs. If the epiglottis is unable to utterly cowl the trachea resulting from muscle weak spot, fluids and meals can enter the trachea and trigger a cough.

Dry, crumbly meals, corresponding to crackers, toast, and flaky pastries, are frequent “aspiration triggers” for individuals with myasthenia gravis. It is because throughout chewing, small, unfastened particles are thrown out and might enter the airway earlier than the epiglottis closes or slip into the epiglottis, which doesn’t shut correctly.

“Usually talking, delicate, moist meals are simpler and safer,” says Dr. Gonzalez.

Should you’re consuming dry, brittle meals, “hold a glass of water available and sip on sips throughout meals,” says Dr. Benjamin Becker, a neuromuscular neurologist on the College of Michigan Well being in Ann Arbor. This moistens the meals and kinds clumps (clumps of meals).