Diet for diverticulosis of the intestine and sigmoid colon

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The number of patients who complain about the digestive system is increasing every year. The reason is quite clear - the food culture of modern man leaves much to be desired. We will not touch on the philosophical aspect of this issue, we will better learn how to properly compose a menu for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular for intestinal diverticulosis.

During the treatment of this disease, the main emphasis is on diet. With intestinal diverticulosis, which most often affects the sigmoid region, patients have to radically revise their own diet. Despite the fact that the exact causes of the development of this pathology are still unknown to doctors, scientists were able to draw certain conclusions: the chances of getting sick are higher in those who eat foods predominantly of animal origin.

What is intestinal diverticulosis

A few words should be given to a brief description of this ailment, which most often affects the large intestine. The diet for diverticulosis is built in such a way thatminimize the load on the sigmoid region. A characteristic feature of the disease are multiple protrusions of the intestinal walls. In shape, they resemble a small pocket, which in medicine is called a diverticulum. In the initial stages, the disease is rarely accompanied by pain. Patients may not be aware of the presence of a pathology for years, which manifests itself as minor disorders of the digestive system. Meanwhile, a complication of diverticulosis can suddenly exacerbate the clinical picture. Patients develop abdominal pain, stool is disturbed, nausea becomes permanent, and the inflammatory process becomes more pronounced.

The main reason for the development of pathology is an unbalanced diet, consisting mainly of high-calorie foods. The consumption of food in large quantities also negatively affects the state of the gastrointestinal tract.

How diet treats this disease

Interestingly, doctors do not use drugs to treat diverticulosis of the intestine and sigmoid colon. The diet for this disease is the main and, perhaps, the only effective way to stabilize the digestive system. The diet plan and composition of the diet should only be compiled by a professional gastroenterologist. The specialist will select the menu based on the principles:

• taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient's body;
• maximum enrichment of cells with valuable trace elements.

You can and should eat this

Before talking about the diet and menu for a week with intestinal diverticulosis, you need to pay attention to allowed and prohibited foods. According to experts, the approximate diet of patients with sigmoid disease should look like this:

1. Dairy products. Regular consumption of low-fat kefir, cottage cheese, yogurt is necessary to restore normal intestinal microflora.
2. Fruits and berries. They should be eaten fresh at least three times a day. Patients on a diet with intestinal diverticulosis are advised to eat apples, citrus fruits, kiwi, bananas, black and red currants.
3. Grains. Of all cereals, only buckwheat, oatmeal and brown rice are easily digested and do not cause discomfort to the intestinal walls.
4. Meat and fish. Preference should be given to low-fat varieties (rabbit, chicken, turkey, crucian carp, pike perch, hake, pollock, cod).
5. Drinks. The body must receive a sufficient amount of fluid, so there are no restrictions here. You can drink tea, coffee, compote, homemade jelly.

What is desirable to refuse

Carefully include bakery products in the diet. Favorably on the state of the intestine will affect yesterday's bread, pasta from durum wheat. At the same time, sweet pastries and rye products will have to be abandoned.

Not all types of vegetables can be included in the diet for intestinal diverticulosis. The diet involves the use of soft dietary fibers, whicheasier for the body to digest. Cabbage, including sea, cauliflower and white cabbage, mushrooms, legumes, onions and garlic, is considered tough and difficult for a sick intestine.

Whole milk is banned. By the way, this is one of the most complex products, and the advisability of its use in adulthood, even with a he althy intestine, is still being discussed. The older a person is, the less he produces lactase, an enzyme that breaks down milk sugar (lactose). Milk intolerance is quite common in patients.

Things to consider during treatment

Drawing up a diet and menu for a week with intestinal diverticulosis is based on simple rules:

1. Fractional nutrition. In simple words, you need to eat a little bit. The larger the serving, the more difficult it is for the small intestine to secrete enough enzymes for the full absorption of food. The optimal amount of food for an adult is a fist-sized portion.
2. The break between meals should not be more than 2.5 hours. You need to eat often so that the body receives the necessary amount of energy. By sticking to this schedule, you will train your stomach and intestines to constantly be in good shape.
3. Balanced diet. A diet for intestinal diverticulosis involves eating food in the correct proportion of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Doctors call the ideal ratio 1:1:4.
4. Only he althy cooking methods. In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the main emphasis in nutrition is on the use of heat-treatedproducts. Food cooked in the oven or steam bath retains maximum nutritional value.
5. Ban on fatty, s alty, smoked, sweet. To process such products, the body has to spend a lot of energy. They also cause the processes of putrefaction and fermentation in the intestines, which increases pain and flatulence.

Example of weekly menu

Many gastroenterologists believe that patients with diverticulosis should adhere to the method of separate nutrition - eat proteins separately from carbohydrates. So the body receives maximum nutrients from the incoming food, and the process of its digestion and assimilation is noticeably facilitated. Taking into account the recommendations from specialists, we will draw up an approximate menu for a week for patients with diverticulosis of the large intestine. Whatever diet you decide to follow with this disease, it is advisable not to deviate from the proposed scheme:

1. On Monday and Tuesday it is advisable to eat liquid food (vegetable soups), supplementing the diet with fruits, herbal tea.
2. Wednesday should be a fasting day, during which you can only drink kefir or eat only apples.
3. Thursday is fish day. During a diet for intestinal diverticulosis, be sure to treat yourself to a fragrant broth made from low-fat river or sea fish. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids.
4. On Friday, you can start the day with a few tablespoons of oatmeal or buckwheat. For lunch, you can eat boiled meat and vegetable puree. Orange or banana is bettereat for an afternoon snack, and for dinner - a couple of tablespoons of low-fat cottage cheese.
5. Saturday is the sixth day of the diet. You can start it with a protein omelette cooked in a double boiler. Vegetable salad or porridge is best seasoned with vegetable oil. Before going to bed, in order not to burden the stomach, drink yogurt.
6. On Sunday, eat vegetable soup, baked fish, fruits and drink compote.

He althy Diet Recipes

To achieve a real therapeutic effect in the treatment of intestinal diverticulosis, the diet includes foods that increase the efficiency of the digestive system, remove toxins and harmful substances from the body. Among the healing recipes it is worth noting:

1. Mixture of apples and wheat. This plant "tandem" helps prevent the development of inflammation in the intestines. For cooking, you will need 2-3 tablespoons of sprouted wheat grains and one green apple, which must be peeled and rubbed with a grater, then mixed with ground wheat in a blender. After thoroughly mixing the ingredients, the mixture is eaten in the morning before breakfast.
2. Kissel from oatmeal and kefir. To prepare a dish that helps clear diverticula, take 3 liters of boiled cool water and a glass of low-fat kefir or yogurt. Mix thoroughly. After that, 500 g of flakes are added and left overnight in the refrigerator. By morning, the mixture will become a thick concentrate, which should be used when cooking jelly (1.5-2 liters of water are taken for 2 tablespoons of porridge).
3. Mint tea. This plantoften used to treat diseases of the digestive system. Preparing a fragrant, aromatic drink that has a calming effect is simple: pour 5-10 g of herb with boiling water and leave for 10-15 minutes.

Drug therapy

If no positive dynamics is observed for a certain time, the doctor may decide to treat intestinal diverticulosis with drugs. Diet, by the way, the patient will have to follow further. In cases of pronounced manifestations of the disease or complications of diverticulitis (inflammation of the intestinal "pockets"), specialists prescribe medications that:

• restore intestinal peristalsis (prokinetics);
• eliminate pain, discomfort, burning (antispasmodics);
• create favorable microflora (pre- and probiotics);
• prevent seeding of diverticula with pathogenic microorganisms (enteroserbents).

If the patient's condition worsens and drug treatment does not bring the expected results, surgery may be prescribed. The most common indications for surgery are:

• exacerbation of diverticulitis;
• perforation and bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract;
• fistula.

How to eat right after surgery

Compared to the dietary restrictions described above, the diet after bowel surgery for diverticulosis is much more strict. Conventionally, it can be divided into several stages. On the first day afteroperations, when the patient comes out of anesthesia, he cannot eat or drink anything, but in order for the nutrients to enter the weakened body, the patient is given droppers.

Liquid food only

From the second to the fifth day inclusive, the patient will be on diet No. 0a, which will prevent mechanical injury to the operated intestine. The list of dishes is quite scarce (rosehip broth, low-fat chicken broth, rice broth), therefore, to meet the energy needs of the body, the patient must eat at least 7-8 times a day and receive parenteral nutrition.

Pure and soft meals

From the sixth day, the patient is transferred to diet No. 1a. Its basis is semi-liquid and puree dishes (watery cereals, vegetable soups, scrambled eggs, fish soufflé, jelly, berry jelly, etc.). The volume of one serving should not exceed 300 ml. Milk, sour cream, vegetable juices are banned.

Phased introduction of solid foods

Start like this:

• Diet number 1 is suitable for those patients in whom the recovery processes of the gastrointestinal tract are favorable. In the diet, you can enter pieces of boiled chicken and lean fish, dried bread, kefir, baked vegetables. Follow this diet plan for at least two weeks.
• Diet 4b is based on the principles of the previous one. It involves the gradual introduction of solid foods, sweet fruits and berries into the diet. The period of adherence to diet No. 4c is discussed withspecialist. As the patient recovers and feels well, the patient is transferred to a normal diet.

At the same time, a person who has undergone bowel surgery needs to listen to his own body and, as he recovers, make adjustments to the diet, based on his well-being and the reaction of the digestive system.