Medical Liquid Diet

There may be times in your life that you will be placed on a medical liquid diet. It could be after surgery or if you have certain conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease. The treatment for IBD can be a medical liquid diet for at least at some point of the treatment process. You can also be treated for weight loss with a liquid diet.

Even if you don't have a specific disease that requires a medical liquid diet, you could still be put on one after surgery. Abdominal surgery is a very common one that requires a medical liquid diet. Generally, the patient is started on a clear liquid diet, and once this is tolerated well, they can move on to a full liquid diet.

Clear liquid diets include clear beverages that have no caffeine or clear broth or bouillon. Clear fruit juices, sports drinks and decaffeinated tea also fall into the clear liquid diet. Sometimes gelatins and popsicles are included in a clear liquid diet. Because no food is involved, you will find that the items in the medical liquid diet may be higher in sodium and sugar. You won't find any milk-based products in a clear medical liquid diet.

A clear medical liquid diet may be recommended for someone suffering from an intestinal illness such as stomach flu or food poisoning. Clear liquids are often all a sensitive digestive system can handle after such distress. This diet should be monitored by a medical professional.

A full liquid diet will include everything that the patient or dieter can have in the clear liquid diet plus the introduction of milk products. These food items are cream, puddings, ice cream and milk. Additions of Italian ices, strained vegetable soups, vegetable juices, and refined cereals are considered part of a medical liquid diet.

It is important that you follow the medical liquid diet as the doctor prescribed it, so it can perform as intended. You shouldn't decide on your own to institute a liquid diet. A professional can determine if it is going to benefit your health whether you have an illness or you are just trying to lose weight.

Since a medical liquid diet often consists of a limited number of calories, you need to make sure a professional is guiding you through the program so that your health doesn't suffer.

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