15.12.2025
This meme image, often seen on social media, may bring a smile — but behind it lie significant changes in the lives of people with cystic fibrosis. And these changes require a new approach. Before the advent of gene modulators, life with cystic fibrosis meant a constant struggle for every kilogram. Food was poorly absorbed, energy was lacking, and being underweight made it harder to fight lung infections. Treatment protocols clearly stated that a person with CF should consume 1.5–2 times more calories than a healthy individual. Therefore, there were no dietary restrictions — you could and should eat whenever you wanted and as much as you wanted.
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26.11.2025
Even in the new era of life with CFTR modulators, many children and adults with cystic fibrosis still need a higher intake of calories, protein, and fats to support growth, immunity, and development. Vira Berseneva (psychologist, special education teacher, consultant on eating difficulties in children with special needs) successfully helps establish psychological comfort around food for children and adults, expand the diet, and gain weight. This article contains helpful tips on foods that make it easy and tasty to “add” extra energy.
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23.05.2025
Prevalence and causes: Iron deficiency anemia is more common in patients with CF (cystic fibrosis), especially as lung disease progresses. Causes of deficiency include: • loss of iron through the respiratory tract (sputum), • loss through the gastrointestinal tract, • chronic inflammation that affects iron metabolism.
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04.05.2025
In recent years, the respiratory and nutritional status of patients with cystic fibrosis has improved significantly. This has been made possible by the availability of modern nutritional supplements, improved forms of enzymes and specialized vitamin complexes created specifically for the needs of patients with CF. As a result, obvious vitamin and mineral deficiencies are less common (with the exception of vitamin D). However, this does not mean that attention to monitoring nutritional status can be reduced.
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17.04.2025
Zinc is essential for many metabolic processes and is a component of some enzymes. In cystic fibrosis, zinc deficiency is a risk for exclusively breastfed infants, so after 6 months, complementary foods rich in this micronutrient should be considered. Young children who consume excessive amounts of soy-based beverages may have lower zinc bioavailability due to the presence of phytates. Zinc deficiency can occur in the setting of diarrhea, including steatorrhea, caused by untreated or undertreated pancreatic insufficiency. Zinc deficiency has been associated with growth retardation and reduced growth velocity.
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30.01.2025
More and more patients with cystic fibrosis worldwide are taking the chloride channel modulators Trikafta/Kaftrio (a combination of ivacaftor/tezacaftor/elexacaftor). These drugs normalize the function of chloride channels in all mucus-producing cells, thereby eliminating the symptoms of cystic fibrosis and making everyday treatment more effective...
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05.07.2024
With cystic fibrosis, in addition to problems with the bronchopulmonary system, the digestive organs suffer, namely: the pancreas, liver, gall bladder and intestines. Pancreatic dysfunction leads to thickening of the secretion and blockage of excretory ducts, decrease in the amount of bicarbonates, and decrease in the activity of pancreatic lipase. There is a violation of digestion processes and the function of the intestines, which leads to the non-assimilation of fats in the body. Therefore, the diet of patients with cystic fibrosis should be focused on more fat consumption and more caloric nutrition. There are excellent high-calorie mixtures from several manufacturers for the enrichment of food calories and vitamin complexes that help replace the lack of vitamins and balance the vitamin-mineral complex. But there is a product in nature that is very useful and in its composition is just right for the nutrition of patients with cystic fibrosis - it is AVOCADO.
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03.04.2024
The newest branches of human nutrition science study the potential impact of nutrition on the health and functioning of the human body: nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics. In general, we can say that proper nutrition significantly improves the prognosis of a CF patient, especially because it delays the onset of pulmonary complications. Conversely, malnutrition accelerates the time of infection and chronic colonization of Staphylococcus aureus...
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