Diet Digest.net

Diet therapy can be regarded as a change in the diet we normally consume in order to treat an illness or disease in our body. Basic nutrition for your specific needs is vital for dietary treatments aimed at getting you back to normal, healthy eating patterns. The modification in your diet may mean change in several dietary factors. For instance, modification in consistency may mean a liquid diet, modification in texture often means a low fiber diet and likewise.

Specific diet therapies can also be practiced in order to maintain good nutritional status while losing weight and often increasing fitness. Other reasons for diet therapy often include the following: It is often used in order to afford rest to the entire body or to certain organs. It can be practiced to maintain the correct vitamin levels that may have been compromised due to illness or poor diet. Dietary therapy is often used to avoid or treat obesity, post-surgery treatment and fighting or controlling symptoms of disease.

Various types of therapeutic diets

For beginning diet therapy, it is necessary to start with a normal or goal diet and mapping a plan to acieve it. In other words we can say that diet therapy is the modification of your normal diet in which this modified diet is taken in such a way that it is nutritional and acceptable at the same time to the patient.
During times of illness, a person moves from one type of modified diet to the other diet gradually and thus ultimately leading to your normal or goal diet. For instance, if a person has under gone a surgery, a liquid diet is very essential and eventually it becomes a stepping stone that leads to your everyday, base diet. The main intention of providing this kind of diet plan is to help the patient to return to the normal absorption and digestion patterns.

Liquid diet

A liquid diet may include many clear liquids, fruit drinks, fruit waters and possibly specialized sport drinks. For example, water, fruit juices, sugarcane juice, clear gatorade or vitamin water and other clear beverages. These liquids provide clear fluids to relieve thirst and prevent dehydration. They maintain the electrolyte balance in our body and provide minimum bowel residue. The liquid diets are recommended only for shorter periods of time, typically after a surgery. This is because of the fact that a liquid diet contains inadequacies in all types of nutrients and usually causes fast weight loss, however that fact may be a desired result of a liquid diet.

Soft diet

The soft diet is often called a low fiber diet. It contains only materials and foods that are soft in consistency and easily chewable. They are free from most of the fibers of a normal diet and are easily digestible. These soft diets contain adequate nutrition and serves as an intermediate diet between liquid and normal diet. This diet is very helpful when you have gastrointestinal problems. These diets also contain nutrition that is adequate and sufficient for most people.

Fluid diet

The fluid diet contains liquified foods as well as clear liquids, milk and milk products. A fluid diet may include food like milk, fruit and vegetable juices. The fluid diet is the recommended diet therapy for patients who cannot tolerate solid food or are unable to chew and swallow their food.