I am James Aaron Perez, a Registered Nutritionist-Dietitian and burn survivor. 

In March 2016, that one pitfall morning during a Community Nutrition Outreach Program, my life was changed forever. I received second- to third-degree burns that affected 15 percent of my total body surface area due to a car radiator accident. I had skin grafts on my abdomen, on my back, and on both of my arms. It was the worst pain in my life that I have ever felt. 

Accidents can happen around the world every day, but unfortunately, that’s how life works sometimes. I hope through this article it will help those who have experienced similar physical and emotional distress and know what to do nutritionally when someone had burned.

For me to heal, it takes a lot of energy. I had to increase my caloric intake than my usual-normal food intake. That is why Nutrition for me was a major component during my burn treatment.

When we are healing from burns, we must get the proper nutrition that we need. An adequate diet can reduce the damaging loss of lean body mass during burns. We may lose too much weight, our immune system may be compromised and healing process will slow down if we don’t get the proper nutrition.

Burn patients must have a high-protein and high-fat diet. Vitamins and mineral supplements are also essential during care of post burn patients. Thus, it dramatically increases the individual’s nutritional needs.

The overall goal of nutritional care for burn patients is to maintain muscle mass and minimize weight loss to support rehabilitation, to help wound healing faster, and strengthen the immune system to decrease the risk of infection.

Carbohydrates

When recovering from a burn it is important to increase the carbohydrate intake. In fact, carbohydrates make up the bulk of the nutrition needed in the body. Glucose will be the byproduct when our body processes carbohydrates. Burn wounds use “glucose” for energy. By providing this energy for healing, carbohydrates allow the protein that we eat to rebuild the muscles and wounds that were affected.

Proteins

Protein helps rebuild muscle loss, that is why burn patients need a lot of protein while healing. Increase protein intake is also needed during post-burn care because the body will lose protein through the burn wounds. Muscles will also break down trying to produce extra energy for the healing process. 

Fats

Fat in the diet provides essential fatty acids and extra calories, but it is also important to know that too much fat can weaken the immune system.

Water

The higher the percentage of burned skin, the more severe the loss of fluid will be and the greater the dehydration. Dehydration can be a life-threatening complication that may even lead to death. That is why fluid is very vital during burn treatment. When we increase our water intake during major burn injuries, it helps to maintain the tissue perfusion in the burn shock. We must take enough fluids most especially water and produce a satisfactory amount of urine.

Vitamins and minerals

Vitamins and minerals are also important for healing and in preventing infection. In fact, we need certain vitamins like Vitamin C, Zinc, and Copper for they aid in healing burns. Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Selenium are antioxidants which in turn helps to reduce the body’s stress response after an injury. Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc also helps to prevent and treat infections. Though if a burn survivor has a healthy, well-balanced diet, they may not need the extra vitamins.

For proper treatment, burn patients should follow a diet plan prescribed by a dietitian. A dietitian and the care provider decide how much nutrition a burn survivor needs like the amounts of caloric and protein intake. They set nutritional needs based on the patient’s weight, height, age, and burn size. Proper nutrition during care treatment is vital and we must do everything we can to obtain it.

Back to my experience, the only thing that keeps me going is knowing that someone else out the has an even worse experience. I am just grateful to survive such an accident with the help of medical professionals and my background in nutrition, my classmates, my family, and relatives, and most especially our Heavenly Father.

Every burn survivor experiences the devastation that results from a burn injury. The experience is not only traumatic, but it can cause survivors to feel isolated, depressed, and afraid. Burn injuries can also put a tremendous financial strain on survivors and their families. Let us help every burn survivor and their families move forward and carry on. // ND II James Aaron S. Perez, RND