Diet after colon surgery

In order to recover from surgery on the digestive tract, in addition to taking medication, you need a special diet, which is developed and prescribed by a doctor. Such rehabilitation will gradually lead to the normal function of nutrition and metabolism. What can you eat after intestinal surgery , the benefits and necessity of a diet, examples of healthy dishes - you can learn about all this from the proposed article.

Diet Benefits

Carefully selected diet therapy for people in the postoperative period promotes recovery and reduces the risk of complications.

The diet after intestinal surgery provides all useful substances, vitamins, and has a number of main features, which are:

1. Sparing of the gastrointestinal tract, including the operated surface.
2. Normalization of metabolism.
3. Restoration of immunity.
4. Assistance in the healing of postoperative wounds.
5. Pain warning.

Recovery of the body depends on the supply of nutrients. It will require the use of low-fat foods, steamed, oven-cooked or cooked in the usual way. Since cooking will take place at home, a double boiler, blender or food processor will come in handy for a person who will prepare diet meals.

What can I eat after bowel surgery and what are the main requirements? The food should resemble mashed potatoes and not be coarse. The menu should include the intake of vegetable broths, light cereals, low-fat dairy products, and be taken by the hour.

IMPORTANT! Do not be afraid of such a diet. After all, it does not irritate the intestines, but stimulates it to work, ensuring the absorption of nutrients. In the form of a pâté or puree, boiled and steamed food is always delicious when cooked from fresh ingredients.

Features of the postoperative period

After the surgical intervention, proteins, fats and carbohydrates are not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract for some time. In this regard, on the first day, the patient is supported by parenteral administration of drugs and food intake is prohibited. Then, little by little, they begin to accustom the body to eat, but in small portions.

The timing of the transition to special nutrition after intestinal surgery depends on the individual characteristics of the organism, the type of operation, food tolerance, and the functional activity of the gastrointestinal tract. First comes a diet with mashed food, then not mashed. This stage continues for several weeks or months.

In the postoperative period, the sensitivity of the gastrointestinal tract to whole milk, strong broths and fresh fruits increases, so they are prohibited so as not to irritate the intestines.

IMPORTANT! If a person is used to drinking milk and it is difficult for him to give up this habit, it is allowed to replace the product with soy. Soy milk proteins contain a highly plastic protein useful for the body.

Diet Sequence

After the operation, the patient is shown dry hunger. If you are very thirsty, you can wet your lips with water. The nutrients for life are administered through a drip.

Starting from the 2nd to the 5th day, the menu after the operation on the intestines begins to include: decoctions of rice, rose hips, jelly, low-fat broth, berry jelly. Meals are taken in small portions up to 8 times a day. Liquid is allowed in small portions.

On days 6-14, the doctor prescribes a surgical diet, which consists of pureed soups, cereals and various purees, taken 6 times a day. A serving in this case is 400 g - no more, since it is necessary to exclude an additional burden on the digestive tract. This regimen should be observed for up to 2 weeks.

Then you can enter boiled fish and chicken. Add croutons, biscuits, soufflé, steam cutlets, scrambled eggs, low-fat dairy products, baked apples.

The conclusion of the diet after intestinal surgery is the introduction of unground food into the diet. Minced meat, apples and bananas are allowed here. Gradually introduce juices diluted with water without gas, fat-free cottage cheese, kefir. Allow a little small vermicelli with a small amount of butter. Meals are divided into 5-6 meals.

A diet after an operation on the intestines after a month gradually allows you to return to your usual diet, but you still can’t eat fried, spicy, smoked, marinades, sauces, alcohol, concentrated juices.

IMPORTANT! Food restrictions can last for several years. It is advisable to comply with them so that additional diseases of the gastrointestinal tract do not occur and the disease for which the operation was performed does not worsen.

Useful and prohibited foods

General recommendations regarding the nutrition of patients with all types of surgical interventions are the same.

The postoperative diet after bowel surgery for the first two months includes a ban on the following food categories:

• all types of alcoholic beverages;
• fresh vegetables;
• smoked meats and spicy dishes;
• grape juice;
• pickled vegetables;
• fish and fatty meats;
• berries and fruits;
• carbonated drinks;
• corn, legumes;
• wheat bran;
• spices, seasonings;
• coffee and tea (except fruit or black - it is needed for diarrhea);
• sweets, ice cream and pastries.

Since the postoperative period in some patients passes with a violation of the stool, the following products are recommended for constipation:

• pureed soups;
• vegetable purees;
• fermented milk drinks;
• decoctions and compotes from dried fruits;
• whole grain or bran bread;
• plum or apple jelly;
• buckwheat or oatmeal finely ground;
• boiled beetroot puree.

For diarrhea, doctors recommend:

• strong tea;
• crackers or dried bread;
• a decoction of wild rose, rice or raisins;
• boiled lean chicken;
• cottage cheese 0% fat;
• rice porrige;
• blueberry or cranberry jelly;
• carrot puree.

Postoperative nutrition on the intestine after 2 months should include:

• white meat chicken or turkey;
• flax seeds (can be ground in a coffee grinder);
• light cereals with the addition of butter;
• soy products;
• mineral water without gas;
• vegetable and fruit diluted juices (apple, peach, birch, tomato, carrot);
• fruits and vegetables;
• honey (minerals and vitamins);
• enough liquid.

As mentioned above, products in dense and solid form are considered prohibited. Food should be sparing. Great preference is given to pates, which, with the addition of a small amount of chicken or turkey meat, help the body cope with the effects of anesthesia. Sour milk products help to quickly restore the intestinal microflora.

IMPORTANT! When discharged, doctors give an annotation to their patients: Dietary dishes after intestinal surgery (table No. 4), which shows in detail the menu with a list of restrictions that must be observed for a full recovery.

Differences in the nutrition of patients

Dietary nutrition after bowel surgery varies in patients with different diagnoses. So, for example, people who have had adhesions removed are first recommended to consume a sufficient amount of liquid in the form of unsweetened compotes and herbal decoctions. This helps to replenish the loss of nutrients. Cereals, lean meat and milk products are also prescribed. All cooked foods must be pureed. This is necessary within two months after the operation.

For people who have had cancerous tumors removed, doctors recommend a diet that focuses on protein intake. Boiled meat and fish are introduced into food within two weeks after the intervention. Bananas, containing potassium and carbohydrates, replenish strength in such patients, and the astringent properties of the product help heal internal scars.

Patients who underwent surgery for intestinal obstruction receive only parenteral nutrition for 3 days. Then gradually they begin to give broths and decoctions.

For patients, the diet after intestinal surgery in the form of a menu, when they are allowed to eat food little by little, looks something like this:

• 8.00 - rice porridge with 2 boiled quail eggs;
• 11.00 - 0% curd mass;
• 14.00 - vegetable soup with croutons, meat soufflé;
• 17.00 - apple jelly, biscuit cookies or banana jelly;
• 20.00 - boiled fish, mashed potatoes and carrots or scrambled eggs and yogurt;
• 22.00 - chamomile tea.

Gentle nutrition of the postoperative period is a guarantee of health for many years. A person needs to listen to the sensations of his body and pay attention to products that he likes and suits. If, with gradual transitions from liquid, puree and pureed food to normal nutrition, some stage lasts longer than expected - this is not considered a deviation - this is a hint of the body, general well-being.

IMPORTANT! The doctor will always control the recovery periods of the diet, paying attention to the calorie content, the tendency to allergies and food tolerance.

Examples of diet meals

The recipes below will tell you how to eat right after bowel surgery. After all, sometimes the most simple and familiar dishes are forgotten.

1. Soup with chicken balls.

For one serving you will need:

• 100 g chicken breast, ground into minced meat;
• ½ onion;
• 1 carrot;
• 2 medium potatoes.

Peel the vegetables, wash, cut into cubes and throw into boiling water. Form chicken meat balls, throw them after the vegetables. Salt in moderation. Cook soup until vegetables are soft. If the use of butter is allowed, then at the very end, before turning off, add 1 tsp. butter.

2. Puree from fresh carrots and cottage cheese 0% fat.

For 1 serving you will need:

• medium carrot - 1 pc.;
• cottage cheese - 50 g;
• 1.5 st. l. honey.

In a blender, you first need to chop the carrots, then add the cottage cheese, put it on a plate and pour over the honey. Allow portions to cool in the refrigerator before serving. Better to eat freshly prepared.

3. Steam cutlets with cabbage and chicken meat.

For this recipe you need (1 serving):

• 50 g of chicken meat;
• 50 g of white cabbage;
• ½ onion;
• 1 quail egg;
• ½ medium carrot;
• low fat sour cream.

Grind meat and vegetables in a blender, add an egg, lightly salt, form cutlets and cook them in a slow cooker or double boiler (you can use an oven). At the end of cooking, it is allowed to pour cutlets with low-fat sour cream.

Most people know how to cook vegetable purees, jellies and jelly. Ingredients are selected individually. The menu can be varied.

IMPORTANT! Dishes during the postoperative recovery period should be easily digestible and not burden the body. They are prepared from healthy products, and are well processed.

Thus, a therapeutic diet has a beneficial effect on the patient's body, saturates and helps to recover faster. A balanced menu after a bowel operation improves metabolic processes and affects the course of the disease during the recovery period. The operation is stressful, and the right diet helps to restore intestinal tissue. The diet and terms of dietary nutrition must be approved by the doctor, taking into account the individual characteristics of the body.

Be healthy!