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How to manage Bland Diet

What is a bland diet? It is a diet specially set to treat certain gastrointestinal or stomach problems such as heartburns, ulcers and gas.

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An answer to a question, what is a bland diet, is that it is a simple treatment for people suffering from any one or more gastrointestinal disorders such as chronic gastritis, ulcer, esophagitis and dyspepsia.

Bland diet is a dietary regimen for people suffering from stomach disorders. Hence, it is quite understood that ingredients of a bland diet are soft food items, which are easy to digest with a capacity to keep the acidity to low levels. Questions about diet may be asked to your physicians and he/she can suggest the diet or recommend a dietician to do it.

Diet medical questions may include the queries about the food stuffs to eat and food stuffs to avoid during the time while a person experien ces any gastrointestinal disorders. However, before a dietician could decide the bland diet for a person, he/she needs to seek answers to several medical questions related to the person such as any food allergies or irritations associated with any food items and emotions medical questions of people.

Bland Diet:

The diet prescribed as a bland diet will include food items that are easy to digest and low in fiber and acid contents. Even giving up alcohol and smoking is advised while patient is on bland diet. Also a patient is advised to have 4 to 6 light meals after regular interval to avoid heavy and large meals.

Chewing food properly and eating slowly helps in the digestion of the food. Adequate sleep, avoiding smoking and controlling anxiety are supportive treatments for the standard treatment of the problem.

Allowed Food Items:

• Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, yogurt with low-fats and other dairy products are easily digested and hence, can be included as a part of bland diet. However, there is no restriction on ice-creams and one may consume even ice creams during bland diet, but it should not have any product such as nuts that are not allowed in bland diet.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed to a bland dieter. However, while carrot, squash, green peas are good to eat in a bland diet, broccoli, onions and green peeper should be avoided as it forms gas. In fruits, oranges, grapefruits, and bananas are allowed.

• Proteins
Protein requirement of the body, while on a bland diet should be met with soy products and meat. Fried chicken and greasy hamburgers are not allowed to be consumed, while grilled and baked chicken is allowed.
Low-fat peanut butter and eggs are also efficient to meet the body’s protein requirement in a bland diet.

• Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are contained in whole grain breads, pasta, oatmeal, corn flakes, white rice and sweet potatoes. All these food items are allowed.

Bland diet is designed for treating certain medical circumstances such as gastrointestinal problems. Hence, to answer what is a bland diet, we can say that this is a diet that aims at improving the digestion with the help of a timed-routine diet and soft to digest food items. Once the problem is controlled patients can return to their normal diet.

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A Quick Look at Some of Today’s Most Effective Diets

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.

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Weight Issues Nobody Talks About

Because I am a registered dietitian/nutritionist with a passion for good living I get annoyed with the general misconception surrounding weight issues. For example, in order to maintain a healthy weight one has to deprive themselves of the important experience of food, by eating unpalatable meals. Another misconception (promoted by the latest reality shows) has individuals working out 8 hours/day doing extremely rigorous exercises. I cannot exclude the commercials pushing exercise equipment or pills and supplements to miraculously melt fat away.

When will we realize there are no shortcuts and quick fixes?

These are some misconceptions:

If you need to lose weight you should try a juice fast. A juice or any liquid as sole nourishment will show up as pounds lost on the scale but in actuality water and muscle loss results not fat loss. In addition, not being able to continue these fasts the pounds lost once again appear on the scale. Your effort, time and of course motivation are negatively affected, so what was gained? Fasting has been around for centuries and is a part of some religious holidays. Occasional withdrawals of solid food where you limit your daily intake to juices do have some benefit. An occasional total fast also can have some benefits however the body reacts to these regimens. When there is no energy coming into the body, in the form of food, the brain sends the message to make fat. This fat compensates for the energy the body needs. Long-term effects create muscle wasting.

Another misconception: If you need to lose weight eliminate carbohydrates. There are simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates that are in soda, cookies, candy and lots of packaged foods, lack fiber and do not create fullness. Complex carbohydrates in fruit, vegetables and grains contain fiber, vitamins and minerals that the body needs. Dairy products are also considered complex carbohydrates.

Misconception: If you need to lose weight eliminate fats. There are four types of fats: Trans, saturated, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Trans fats are harmful and should be eliminated. The government has new regulations banning trans fats from foods. Saturated fats are contained in animal products, and those animal products also have beneficial protein, vitamins and minerals, therefore it is important to provide protein to your diet. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are important sources of fats for our brain, skin and our organs. They are necessary: inadequate amounts of fat can cause hair loss, and dry skin conditions.

Misconception: If you need to lose weight limit calories to 1000 calories or less per day. We are individuals and therefore the daily calorie amount is calculated using many values. Knowing that correct amount might be the difference between success and failure. This amount also changes with weight loss and plateaus so the calorie amount needs to be recalculated as time goes on.

Misconception: When discussing exercise not everyone can program themselves to go to the gym and engage in weight training or aerobic classes. Not everyone can afford a gym membership. I know many patients that do yoga or go out dancing and have made changes in their bodies. Incorporating walking and using stairs into your work day might be enough of a change to drop unnecessary pounds. Not everyone can jog or run. Many injuries as well as heat exhaustion, dehydration and heart attacks have resulted from going out to do a race without proper training. I have seen too many people become weekend warriors to end up completely eliminating all exercise because of overuse injuries.

I have patients that achieve successful weight loss and no longer need medication for hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesteremia, hypertryglyceridia by creating a food beverage and exercise regimen which is working for them. Creating an individual customized plan based on individual food preferences, budget and lifestyle is the gold standard of what I can accomplish.

Education on how to assess what we put in our bodies and how we help or hurt ourselves to digest and use those nutrients will help determine how healthy we are. How many times do you read nutrition ingredient labels? Do you recognize those ingredients? Do you understand why they are included?

The food groups exist for a valid reason. Eliminating even one will deprive your body of essential nutrients. Vitamins and minerals with unique qualities to provide the body with an important ingredient for good health. An additional quality that food provides is taking time out to take care of our nourishment. Where is the satisfaction and visual appreciation of looking at attractive meals; have you taken the time to prepare this yourself or has someone else devoted their time and effort? Are you sitting in a restaurant and paying for that meal? How can the satisfaction of sharing meals with those we care about or the time spent chewing, tasting and smelling what we will consume compare with a liquid meal?

We are in such a hurry that we do not question what we read or hear in the media. We do not question who is giving advice or their credentials. We do not question why there are so many products that do not spoil.

We are so fortunate to have true credentialed leaders in the field of nutrition and exercise. These are the only sources to rely on for information. My association the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics was founded to educate on nutrition and health. Sources such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic have devoted time and money for research for decades. Professionals that have spent years studying how the body works, and why diseases occur are the best sources to seek counseling from.

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