Florence J Martin

Bland Diet Guide Florence J Martin

A bland diet is a regimented diet option that a physician can use to help optimize his or her patient's overall health condition. The bland diet is a useful modality to employ when managing a patient with persistent gastrointestinal complaints, acid-peptic disease, and excess gas formation or in certain postsurgical patients. The bland diet is sometimes referred to as a "low residue diet" or "soft diet." A bland diet is easier to break down and digest, therefore it gives rest to the gastrointestinal tract. It is also less acidic and causes fewer bowel movements. The bland diet comprises of easily digestible foods that are soft-consistency, low-fiber, cooked, gentle to the gastrointestinal tract and usually non-spicy. A typical such diet includes, but is not limited to, low-fat dairy products, eggs, broth, pudding, fruit juices, cream of wheat, tofu, lean meat (skinless chicken, fish, ...), bland vegetables (beet, bean, spinach, carrot, ...), eggs, and tea. The diet also eliminates raw or uncooked foods. Bland diets are often recommended following stomach or intestinal surgery, or for people with ulcers, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, and gas. A bland diet allows the digestive tract to heal before introducing more difficult to digest food