Diet for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

bowel-disease3Inflammatory bowel diseases – An introduction

The inflammatory diseases like the ulcerative colitis are characterized by the inflammation and ulceration in the colon. This results in the frequent passage of the stools, often accompanied with blood and mucous. The exact cause of this is still unknown. In this disease, the entire colon may be affected.

The crohn’s disease is also an inflammatory disease which is most common in the west. This disease of the large or small bowel may have a unique case of isolated small bowel involvement or the involvement of the small bowel along with the large bowel.

Diet for the inflammatory bowel diseases

The diet management schemes for the inflammatory disease may be different in various centers and can be bewildering sometimes. The diet for this disease must have a target of achieving 2000 to 2500 kcal per day. The persons suffering from bowel disease have a chance of losing proteins, so the diet provided to them should be a high protein diet. The diet should contain at least 100 g of protein for a day.

The foods that contain fats are normally allowed. The carbohydrates also form a valuable form of energy as they are easily absorbable. Vitamins can be administrated by injection or orally. There are also mineral losses during the period of the disease so, these minerals should also be compensated with the diet or it may lead to fatal consequences.

To prevent dehydration for the patient, a liberal intake of fluids should be given to avoid dehydration. Passage of around 2500 ml of urine indicates that the person is well hydrated. Beverages like coke and other drinks like tea and coffee can also be given at regular intervals. All the spicy foods should be completely avoided. In some patients, the intakes of fish oil that contain eicosapentanoic acid are observed to be good.

The food items those are acceptable for people having the inflammatory bowel disease are bread, chappaties made of wheat, rice and maize, breakfast cereals of wheat, rice, cooked rice, soups, jam, pastry, biscuits, meat of chicken, eggs, all fresh vegetables, beverages and all fresh fruits. The food substances that are not acceptable for them are vegetable salad, nuts, papads, dried fruits and spices.

The following is a sample diet for people who follow the western diet and vegetarian diet. For breakfast, the diet can be fruit juices, cornflakes and poached egg for the western diet and for the vegetarian; it can be fruit juice, flaked rice and white bread. For the lunch, it can be minced beef, mashed potatoes and carrots for the western diet and soup, rice with curd for the vegetarian.

For the dinner, for the western diet, the food stuffs can be grilled fish, French beans and rice pudding. For the vegetarian diet, the food substances can be strained soups, mashed potatoes, buttermilk and ice cream.

Diet for Inflammatory Bowel Disease
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