my theory-seafood in wound healing

singapore is very good at making documentary-like shows. not too preachy, semi-informative at a very light hearted and digestable manner. and i love that! =) yah, i am a sucker for informations too. =) hey! i am not all drama and nothing one leh!! =P

so i was watching this informative prog. regarding wound healing, the chinese med. vs med sci.'s views on seafood on wound healing. i love the way the chinese "yi shi" (aka doctor) explain on the seafood reaction on the wound.

basic overview is that she didn't see a problem having seafood during wound healing. but!!!! (her reasoning is great!) seafood such as prawn is a "warm" food that may have some intereaction with the blood thus delaying the healing process. on that ground seafood is normally not advise during the healing process. the med sci. doctor from the hospital didn't explain much but she just said if the patient had never had an allergy reaction to seafood patient should not be too bothered by it. but if patient had been influenced by the family or friends to avoid it, then its a personal choice to do it. doctor stated that there isn't any science-base theory that state there is any probelm arising in seafood consumption during wound healing.

now.... *drums roll* MY THEORY...
seafood such as prawns and sotongs (squids) are high in iodine and cholesterol.

iodine
some people have allergic reaction to iodine; normally found out by previous exposure to iodine-based topical medication or contrast. but these people may or may not develop the same allergic reaction when eating seafood that's because the amount or concentration of iodine in those seafood may not be high enough to cause a reaction.

however during wound healing, our body is weaker than normal and the "new skin/flesh" that is granulating is more sensitive than the "old skin/ flesh" so even a small amount of iodine in the blood can cause serious allergic reaction i.e.-reddness, itchiness, swelling. when such allergic reaction (aka inflammationary reaction) starts the "new" sensitive skin/flesh will step up to step 2 of the process by trying to "flush" out the irritant out of the system. in that case we will start to see fluid coming out from the wound. over days, the fluid will become pus. *eekkk* why so? i believe its 2 fold, 1- the iodine is still lingering in the blood system thus reaction continues, 2- the wound is not cleansed thoroughly and frequently enough.

cholesterol
how is cholesterol metabolised? hmm... i remembered reading it from somewhere that cholesterol is metabolised when we exercise and sweat. in the sweat, the cholesterol is being cleansed out of the system (of cuz there is the urine part).

so seafood being high in cholesterol will means that there will be lots of it waiting to be used up. right? in order to reach a balance state, our body will try to use up the "extra" cholesterol by sweating and letting it out of our system. these "waste material" (cholesterol + salt + etc) will then form a thin layer of film over our skin if not scrub or washed away. now imagine with me, if a person refuse to be clean for 2 days his/ her skin will start to be itch due to the amount of waste material accumulating on the surface of the skin- affecting the natural "breathing process" of the skin and those waste material's chemical composition will naturally irritates the skin as well. (still can't imagine?!?! hmm... imagine that u went poo poo but didn't clean up ur ass after that! *puke*)

so, even on a well seasoned "old" skin such reaction will cause immense discomfort and itch; what more on a "new" sensitive grannulating flesh/ skin?! thus daily wound cleansing is very important! but cleansing can only help that much... if the patient had happily help him/ her-self with a big big serving of prawns, sotong and fishhead! gosh!! imagine the amount of cholesterol that will be in the body system and that will be metabolised?! unless, a hog-brush is used to scrub the wound and its surrounding areas, i doubt it will be "cleaned".

therefore... my advise on wounded individuals (physical wound! not emotional ones) to avoid seafood such as prawn, sotong and fishead. take ur antibiotics as instructed, shower at least 1x a day and get ur wound cleanse daily or otherwise instructed. oh ya, take lots of protein and water and fruits! and then.... *drums roll* u will have a beautiful healed wound scar in no time!!! =)