People believe that many kinds of foods will cause harm to them or there are foods they should not eat when they are sick. Some believe that many kinds of foods are bad for a mother with a newborn child. Some beliefs are reasonable but others do more harm than good. Many times, the food people think they should avoid when they are sick are what they need to get well. The same food that is good for us when we are healthy is also good for us when we are sick. So also, the things that harm us when we are healthy will harm us when we are sick. A few diseases are caused by not eating certain foods the body require. For example, people with high blood pressure, certain heart problems, or swollen feet should use little or no salt. Too much salt is not good for anyone. Stomach ulcers and diabetes also require special diets like whole-grain bread.

There are certain things to avoid in our diet:

• Alcohol: it causes or makes worse diseases of the liver, stomach, and nerves. It also causes social problems. It can also cause cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, oesophagus, voice box, colon and rectum. In addition, it weakens the immune system and increases the chance of getting sick.

• Smoking: this can cause chronic, long-term coughing or lung cancer and other health issues. It is especially bad for people with lung diseases like tuberculosis, asthma, and bronchitis. Babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are smaller and develop more slowly than babies whose mothers did not smoke.

• Too much greasy food, hot spices, or coffee can cause stomach ulcers and other problems with the digestive tract.
• Too much sugar and sweets spoil the appetite, rot the teeth, can cause heart problems and can be the cause of intestinal cancer. However, some sugar may help give needed energy to a very sick person or poorly nourished child.