Contents
Every person who is admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis will definitely have an operation to remove it. Naturally, this will be done only after a thorough examination and confirmation of the diagnosis. After the removal of appendicitis, as after any other surgical intervention, you should be prepared for the fact that the diet will become a mandatory item on the list of recovery measures. In addition to standard procedures and taking certain drugs, you will need to adhere to a special diet. Diet after surgery to remove the appendix plays an important role in the postoperative period. It helps to quickly return to the usual way of life for each, as well as quickly restore the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
It is worth remembering that the diet must be followed for at least 14 days. A little longer if there were any complications during or after the operation.
The operation to remove the appendix in most cases lasts no more than 20 minutes, if everything goes well and without complications. Recovery after such a surgical intervention is quite fast, but not always easy. The most difficult is the first day after the operation. This is the day when the patient should not eat or drink anything. Moisten dry lips as much as possible, no more. The first day is the time when the body needs to be given the opportunity to throw all its strength into restoring internal wounds. On the second day, mineral water without gas is allowed. Gradually, every day there is an expansion of the list of products that can be eaten again.
What can you eat after appendicitis surgery?
Meals for the first 3 days
In the first 12 hours after the operation, you can’t eat at all, but basically, there is no appetite anyway. With good health, at the end of the first day it is allowed to drink a little rice water, low-fat chicken broth or sweet fruit jelly.
In the next 2 days, it is already allowed to include:
chicken low-fat broth;
mashed potatoes;
boiled rice on the water;
squash or pumpkin puree;
low-fat, unsweetened natural yogurt;
chicken meat boiled and mashed.
At the same time, food should be fractional, food should be taken in small portions 5-6 times a day.
Meals for the following days
The next 7 days after appendicitis, only unleavened foods are included in the patient’s diet, they are prepared only in the form of porridge or very liquid soups. All this is necessary to ease the load on your stomach and intestines. It is preferable to eat not so much soups as broths cooked on chicken meat or with vegetables. Why chicken? Because it is the most lean meat, besides dietary, easily digestible compared to other types of meat. After surgery, there is often a loss of appetite. When on the second day the attending physician will be allowed to eat a little, you should not refuse a light broth. It will not cause a negative reaction from the gastrointestinal tract, and the patient will be able to recover faster.
Vegetable soups will be useful: zucchini, beets, potatoes, carrots, it is permissible to add a little rice. They will contain the most important vitamins A and C for restoring the body. They contribute to the rapid healing of internal tissues. All ingredients are cooked until fully cooked and crushed with a blender to a liquid puree. It is very good to add fresh herbs (parsley, dill) to broths or puree soups, they will improve digestion, which is important during the recovery period.
Do not forget about fluid, which will also be important during recovery. The bigger, the better. As liquids, you can drink herbal teas and natural juices, compotes, it is desirable that this is all of your own preparation, and not chemistry bought in a store with a lot of sugar. If it is not possible to make juices yourself, it is better to limit yourself to 1,5-2 liters of ordinary water daily and be sure.
Gradually, the diet after the operation will expand. After two or three days, the body will already be able to accept and digest porridge, boiled meat, and some dairy products. All this should not cause any negative reaction from the gastrointestinal tract in the form of constipation, vomiting or intestinal pain.
Natural yogurt or unsweetened cottage cheese, kefir enriched with bifidobacteria – all this is also a storehouse of essential vitamins during recovery. The fermented milk product is easily digested and does not cause a negative reaction from the stomach or intestines. It should be introduced into the diet as soon as you feel a little better.
Due to the fact that the first few days after the removal of the appendix, the patient is forced to stay in bed, he may experience constipation due to inactivity. Medications can also cause constipation. In this case, the body should be nourished with some amount of fiber. Boiled carrots, dried fruits, baked apples, rose hips, rice, buckwheat and oatmeal on the water are best suited. Just before eating any of the above, talk to your healthcare provider to see if he will allow it.
The best source of beta-kerotene is pumpkin. It also contributes to the rapid recovery of the body due to the large amount of vitamins A, B, C, E, as well as vitamin K, which has a positive effect on blood clotting. Thanks to vitamin T, the body’s metabolic processes will go faster, which will significantly increase the digestibility of food. Pumpkin can be consumed boiled, as a puree soup or porridge.
The list of allowed products may differ for each patient. This is due to the peculiarities of the course of recovery of the body and the presence or absence of complications after removal of the appendix. The duration of recovery is affected not only by strict adherence to the correct diet, but also by timely medication, compliance with all doctor’s prescriptions and the age of the patient.
If there were any complications during the operation, then the list of allowed foods in the postoperative diet will be much smaller.
Consider the nature of inflammation when compiling permitted products. If appendicitis was purulent, try to include in the menu as many foods as possible that have antibacterial properties, as well as enriched with a variety of vitamins.
What not to eat after appendicitis surgery?
After the operation, you should definitely make a list of products that you will have to give up during the recovery period. First of all, be sure to reduce the amount of salt you consume to a minimum. Ideally, give it up altogether for at least 2 weeks. Eliminate all very salty foods, including dried fish.
A variety of spices and peppers will not only cause a negative reaction from the gastrointestinal tract, but will also significantly push back your recovery time. Be sure to avoid foods such as tomatoes, beans, peas, and beans. They can cause intestinal colic, spasms and lead to gas formation. In addition to making your stitches sore after surgery, these products will add to your pain.
A variety of smoked meats, fatty meats, any sausages, ketchup, mayonnaise, sauce – all this will negatively affect the functioning of your internal organs. This is a very heavy food. And since all the forces of the body after the operation should be aimed at restoring internal wounds, such food will be digested for a very long time. Fermentation of the remnants of undigested food will begin, as a result of which complications may arise in the form of divergence or suppuration of the seams.
The same applies to all carbonated drinks. This is a prohibited product during the recovery period.
In addition to prohibited and permitted products, there are those that stand in the middle; they cannot be attributed to either one or the second group. These are honey, dried fruits and some dairy and sour-milk products (allowed only with a low percentage of fat content or even fat-free). It is important to consult your doctor about these products, who will allow or prohibit its use, depending on your state of health.
Give your body the opportunity to rest and recover on its own, do not complicate its work with too heavy and hard-to-digest food.
Menu by day for the week
1 day
For breakfast you should drink only a glass of unsweetened tea with Maria cookies. And cookies can be no more than 1 piece. You can’t eat other cookies or muffins yet. If you cannot live a day without sweets, then with the permission of a doctor you can eat marshmallows, but only 1 piece per day, no more.
II завтрак. You can only juice, tea or water.
Dinner. The stomach should gradually get used to food and exercise. As a soup, you can eat chicken broth, and as a side dish – oatmeal or rice porridge in water, without oil. Wash down everything with tea without sugar or mineral water without gases. You can natural freshly squeezed juice.
An afternoon snack. You can only juice, tea or water
Dinner. All the same cookies “Maria”, tea. You can eat one low-fat yogurt.
2 day
For breakfast it is already allowed to eat any dairy-free unsalted porridge. It can be buckwheat boiled in water, oatmeal, barley grits or corn, everything is up to you. No added butter. Tea without sugar and unleavened biscuits. Instead of cookies, you can eat bran.
II завтрак. Freshly squeezed juice, you can also drink water without gas.
Lunch.Broth or soup with a minimum amount of potatoes and meat. Moreover, the ingredients of the soup should be crushed to a puree consistency. Braised cabbage without adding tomato paste. A small piece of boiled chicken. Water without gases or tea.
An afternoon snack. Low-fat yogurt or jelly
Dinner. Any porridge cooked in water and without butter. Exclude from your diet only bean cereals. Fat-free kefir.
3 day
It’s time to start introducing harder-to-digest foods.
For breakfast dairy-free oatmeal or millet porridge, which can be slightly salted. 1 hard-boiled egg. Tea without sugar and a few crackers.
II завтрак. Freshly squeezed juice, still water or tea with biscuits.
Lunch. Chicken broth with pieces of meat and vegetables (carrots and potatoes). Rice porridge on the water, slightly salted, but still without oil. Dried fruits compote.
An afternoon snack. Low-fat yogurt or jelly
Dinner. Oatmeal with a piece of boiled fish. Water without gases or tea.
4 day
For breakfast dairy-free oatmeal. Lightly salted, no butter. A piece of long loaf with cheese, tea with 0,5 tsp. Sahara.
II breakfast. Dry biscuits and juice, preferably fresh.
Lunch. Vegetable soup-puree, without the addition of sunflower oil. Buckwheat porridge with steamed chicken cutlets. Rye bread and apple compote.
An afternoon snack. Low-fat yogurt or jelly
Dinner. A little stewed cabbage with a few pieces of chicken meat. Tea, or low-fat kefir.
5 day
For breakfast dairy-free wheat porridge. From this day it is allowed to add a small amount of butter. Tea, in which you can start adding sugar a little bit, dry biscuits.
II breakfast. Dry biscuits and juice, preferably fresh.
Lunch. Soup in chicken broth with vegetables and a little rice. Pumpkin porridge with steamed fish cakes. Rye bread, sweet tea or dried fruit compote.
An afternoon snack. Low-fat yogurt or jelly
Dinner. Dairy-free buckwheat porridge, lightly salted and with a small piece of butter. Steamed fish cakes. Slightly sweet tea with dry biscuits “Maria”.
6 day
For breakfast dairy-free buckwheat porridge with the addition of a small piece of butter. Loaf with cheese and sweet tea.
II breakfast. Dry biscuits and juice, preferably fresh or still water.
Lunch. Vegetable puree soup cooked in chicken broth. Braised cabbage, a small amount of chicken meat without the addition of tomato sauce. Rye bread and tea.
An afternoon snack. Low-fat yogurt or jelly
Dinner. Cottage cheese casserole, but without sour cream. Tea with a loaf or cookies.
The most important rule regarding prohibited foods is the ban on salt, spices and spicy dishes. In addition, in 1 month it is forbidden to eat fresh fruits, as well as foods that stimulate gas formation in the intestines (milk, legumes)
In any case, no matter what menu you have compiled for the recovery period after the operation, try, basically, to adhere to the rule that the food contains as many vitamins and useful microelements as possible, which are important for the normalization of your gastrointestinal system. Eliminate forbidden foods and try not to eat heavy food for the stomach for at least the first 2 weeks after the operation. It is advisable to grind all food to a porridge-like consistency.