The Health Blog

Diet therapy

An appropriate diet is essential in the total-care plan developed for each patient. The normal diet is the basis on which all therapeutic or modified diets are planned. Usually the diet supplements medical and surgical care; sometimes it is the specific treatment for the disease.

Diet therapy accomplishes one or more of these aims: (1) maintains normal nutrition; (2) corrects nutritional deficiency, for example, high-protein diet; (3) changes body weight, as with low- or high-calorie diets; (4) adjusts to the body’s ability to use one or more nutrients, for example, diabetic diet; (5) permits maximum rest to the body or an organ, as with a soft, low-calorie diet in six feedings.

The normal diet may be modified for (1) consistency and texture; (2) flavor; (3) energy value; (4) nutrient levels such as fat, protein, carbohydrate, sodium, and others; or (5) food categories such as types of fats or elimination diets for allergies.

The dietary prescription

The physician orders the appropriate diet for each patient, just as he orders medications and other therapy. Each prescription is the result of an evaluation of the patient’s symptoms, laboratory tests if they have been done, and his nutritional needs. In some instances priority must be given to one aspect of diet, while other requirements are deferred for a later time. For example, a very low-residue diet is lacking in some vitamins, but such a diet might be essential for an acute gastrointestinal disorder or prior to surgery. The nutritional lack can be correlated by means of a vitamin supplement until a more liberal diet can be taken.

Diets should be described exactly in terms of the changes to be made in consistency, flavor, and level of nutrients; for example, 1800-kcal, 500-mg sodium, soft diet. The use of the term “special diet” should be discouraged for it has little meaning. Likewise, the terms “high” and “low” have meaning only when they are used with reference to the normal diet or when a given diet manual specifies the nutritive value. For example, a low-calorie diet might mean 800 kcal to one individual, 1200 kcal to another and 1800 kcal to a man whose normal requirement is 2600 kcal per day. Diets should not be named for persons or diseases; the latter practice is likely to be a continual reminder to the patient of his condition.

*126/234/5*