Easily digestible diet – indications, rules, influence on health. Menu on an easily digestible diet

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Diet is a term for a diet that precisely defines the quantity and quality of food consumed. Its main assumption is to provide the necessary nutrients with individual adaptation to digestion, absorption and metabolism.

What is an easily digestible diet?

An easily digestible diet is a modification of a normal diet, which is characterized by the selection of products and techniques to prepare meals that are easy to digest, and by limiting the supply of fiber. It is the basis for planning detailed diets. The Food and Nutrition Institute in the document “Scientific foundations of nutrition in hospitals” distinguishes:

1. an easily digestible diet,
2. an easily digestible diet with the reduction of fat to half of the physiological standard, for use in diseases of the liver, biliary tract, pancreas and large intestine,
3. an easily digestible diet with a restriction of substances stimulating the secretion of gastric juice, for use in diseases of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum,
4. an easily digestible diet with a changed consistency – mushy or liquid, fortified liquid, for feeding through a tube or fistula, for use in people with diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract and fever,
5. an easily digestible high-protein diet, over 100 g of protein per day for use in debilitated people with extensive burns and injuries,
6. an easily digestible, low-protein diet that provides 20-40 g of protein per day, for use in people with severe liver and kidney failure.

In the basic scope, 15,55% of protein, 29,5% of fats and 55% of carbohydrates should be responsible for the daily energy demand. Meals should be eaten 4-5 times a day, at regularly defined times. The volume of a single dish should be small. 2 hours before bedtime, it is recommended not to eat.

Easily digestible diet – indications

The indications for the diet are:

1. old age,
2. recovery period after surgery,
3. digestive tract disorders due to prolonged lying position,
4. inflammation of the gastric and intestinal mucosa,
5. excessive irritability of the large intestine,
6. gastrointestinal cancer,
7. compensated kidney and urinary tract diseases,
8. infectious diseases with increased body temperature,
9. acute lung and pleural diseases,
10. chronic respiratory diseases, especially with emphysema,
11. pulmonary circulation disorders.

Easily digestible diet – what to eat and what to avoid?

People on an easily digestible diet should choose wheat products e.g. bread and wheat rolls and sponge cake. It is inadvisable to eat rye and wholemeal products. Bread with bran and light bread are also harmful. You can put lean poultry meats and lean curd on the bread. It is recommended to give up cheese, fatty meats, pate and lard.

Another change in the menu should be the abandonment of margarines and lard in favor of sunflower oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil or butter. Many nutritionists suggest that you give up raw vegetables and always cook them, crush them and make purees from them. It is recommended to eat tomatoes, but without the peel, beetroot and carrots. An easily digestible diet excludes pickled vegetables.

Harm to the body can be caused by eating bloating vegetables, such as cucumbers, onions, white and red cabbage, cf. Nutritionists who prepare easy-to-digest diets often also give up legumes, such as soybeans, peas and beans. It will also be unhealthy to eat them with all sorts of sauces and mayonnaise. Potatoes can be eaten, but only in the form of purée.

Contrary to appearances on an easily digestible diet, you do not have to give up fruit. However, it is inadvisable to eat pears, plums, dates and cherries. Bananas, apricots and baked apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and currants are good for health. The human body best absorbs fruit without seeds and skins. It is recommended to drink fresh fruit juices.

People on an easily digestible diet can eat milk soup, lean broth, vegetable soup and barley soup after thickening with yogurt or flour. In fact, soups can be prepared from all vegetables, as long as they do not use mushroom, cabbage and legume broths. It is definitely worth giving up the roux. You can eat, for example, manna, barley, couscous and other more processed groats.

Check what diet to use during diarrhea

Easily digestible diet and fiber

People on an easily digestible diet should not completely give up products containing fiber, unless they have such indications. Its valuable sources are primarily young vegetables, wheat bread and fruit. However, you should not consume fiber in excessive amounts. According to some nutritionists, the permissible daily dose should not exceed 25 grams.

In order to absorb the fiber better, it is worth removing the skins and seeds from vegetables and fruits. Cooking vegetables and separating the hard parts of the plants will also help. On an easily digestible diet, it is better to cook the vegetables longer, which will allow the fiber to be partially hydrolyzed. To improve the tolerance of dietary fiber, it is also worth grinding fruits and vegetables and eat them in the form of mousses and juices.

The best food processing methods during an easily digestible diet

When preparing food on an easily digestible diet, the steaming method is recommended. Preparing dishes in this way allows you to preserve valuable minerals and vitamins such as vitamin C, B vitamins. Dishes prepared in this way are light and low in calories. Steamed vegetables are firm and tasty. Boiling in water is also acceptable.

Another recommended culinary technique is baking in foil. Thanks to it, the top shell of vegetables does not bake, which in turn is often found during frying. Foods do not lose their vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C. On an easily digestible diet in foil, you can bake all kinds of meat, fruit, vegetables and fish. If we decide to bake in the oven, use a thinner foil.

The third technique for preparing food on an easily digestible diet is stewing. It involves cooking the food over low heat with a little water. For example, when the meat is fried and browned, it is watered with water or broth and then stewed. On an easily digestible diet, you can avoid searing meat. You can stew it in the oven, on fire, and even in some microwaves.

On an easily digestible diet, you can also make the food fluffier, for example by adding whipped egg whites. Another treatment method is soaking in water or milk, which also makes the food plump. To thicken the dish, you can add flour suspension, add egg yolk or sweet cream. It is advisable to add fat only to ready-made dishes.

Easily digestible diet and sweets

Contrary to appearances, on an easily digestible diet, you do not have to completely give up sweets. Nevertheless, they have to be selected selectively. Various types of puddings are allowed. Both cow’s and soy milk can be used to prepare them. Light desserts are also allowed, but without nuts and chocolate.

On an easily digestible diet, you can also prepare fruit desserts, e.g. from apples. They can be baked with cinnamon or added to plain yoghurt. The group of forbidden sweets includes all types of cakes and cake. Bars, ice cream and the aforementioned chocolate will also be harmful. Eating sugar and sweets is unhealthy as they increase fermentation in the gut.

How to eat on an easily digestible diet?

Nutritionists suggest eating up to 4 to 5 meals a day. There should be 3 hours between each of them. Food should be eaten slowly, chew each bite thoroughly. It is best to eat in a sitting position. On an easily digestible diet, the consumption of individual macronutrients is the same as on a regular diet. Protein products can come from both plant and animal sources.

Find out what a protein diet is

Both people on an easily digestible diet and all those on other diets should remember to drink water regularly. It is advisable to drink about 1,5 liters of water a day. Water fills the stomach and makes you feel full. Thanks to it, it is easier not to reach for sweets and other unhealthy snacks. Water also supports the work of the kidneys and helps to cleanse the body of toxins.

Find out why the body needs water

Although the rules of using an easily digestible diet are the same for everyone, you should remember to adapt the menu specifically to your needs. The amount and type of consumed products should depend, among others, on on the age of a given person, disease, addictions, etc. An easily digestible diet can be modified – for example, some people limit only the consumption of fats.

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Easily digestible diet – sample menu

On the first day of breakfast you can have a wheat roll with a little butter, a soft-boiled egg and applesauce. For lunch, you can drink a glass of carrot juice and bite it with two or three rusks. For lunch on an easily digestible diet, you can cook potatoes with poultry meatballs and tomato salad; biscuits for afternoon tea; for dinner lazy dumplings with herbal tea.

On the third day, you should diversify your menu and eat a salad with tomatoes and boiled egg for breakfast. For this you can eat white bread with the addition of lean cheese. For the second breakfast, it is worth eating a salad of stewed celery. For dinner, you can eat white rice risotto with vegetables; natural yoghurt with banana for tea; for dinner a sandwich with turkey meat.

The list of easily digestible products is quite long. It is worth experimenting and combining different ingredients. On the fourth and Friday of the day, for breakfast you can eat soft-boiled eggs and prepare sandwiches with your favorite cold cuts. In turn, for dinner you can eat a goulash with beef, poultry or veal; for supper, let’s include sweet potato dumplings with a delicate yoghurt sauce.

Easily digestible products and a reduction diet

Eating a diet consisting of easily digestible products relieves the digestive system. Thanks to it, it is easier to reduce flatulence and diarrhea. Due to the fact that it does not contain caloric dishes, some people decide to use it just to get rid of unnecessary kilograms. However, you should know that an easily digestible diet is not a typical reduction diet.

Easily digestible diet for a child

It is recommended for children suffering from digestive system disorders, after antibiotic therapy and after various procedures and operations. An easily digestible diet can also be used by overweight children and children in convalescence. The rules for eating meals are the same as for adults – during the day, the child should eat five meals that do not burden the stomach.

An easily digestible diet for children should be formulated with food intolerance in mind. In addition, it should contain the ingredients needed for growth and development. It must also not be too low in calories for the child to have energy for everyday functioning. The dishes should not contain spicy spices, coarse groats and a lot of fat.

Easily digestible diet for the intestines

This is otherwise a lean or low-fiber diet. It does not contain products that weigh down the intestines, so it must contain products digested only by digestive enzymes. Nutritionists recommend that people on such a diet limit their fiber intake to 10 g per day – that’s four times less than what healthy people consume. It must also provide about 2500 kcal per day.

A light bowel diet is not for everyone. It should only be used by people with bowel problems, as it is a form of support for the treatment of this type of disease. Moreover, a doctor should first decide on a low-residue diet. Typically, the diet is recommended for people who have had surgery and suffer from food poisoning diarrhea.

Find out how to recognize bowel disease

The menu of a light intestinal diet should not include dishes with the addition of spicy spices such as chilli and pepper. It is also inadvisable to eat sweets, fast food and fatty meals. Vegetables in meals should be peeled beforehand. Carbonated drinks, strong coffee, tea and alcohol are also inadvisable. Dishes prepared from semi-finished products are also harmful.

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