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Special diets: Part II

LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer, April 22, 2005

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Last week we discussed different types of special diets and the diseases and conditions that may necessitate them. This week, we'll explore the most common special diets in nursing homes.

Fiber-restricted diets
Fiber-restricted and residue-restricted diets are ordered for people who have digestive problems. There are several illnesses that affect the digestive system, such as cancer, colitis, and diverticulitis.

Fiber passes through the digestive tract undigested with a consistency similar to sandpaper, causing pain and discomfort when it rubs against cancers or open sores. Corn, whole grain breads and cereals, raw vegetables, seed, and nuts are often excluded in a fiber-restricted diet.

GERD (anti-reflux) diets
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) causes the contents of the stomach to back up into the esophagus. There are some foods that have a tendency to cause this reflux which should be excluded. These include chocolate, fatty foods, coffee, and alcoholic beverages.

Certain foods can actually cause damage to the esophagus if they do reflux. These should be avoided completely and include citrus juices, tomato products, and pepper.

Fat-controlled diets
Fat-controlled diets are either low-fat, fat-free, or "50-gram" fat diets. The difference between the diets is the amount of fat allowed in each. The foods a resident should avoid or eat in measured amounts in a fat-controlled diet include fried foods, ice cream, whole milk, butter, egg yolks, mayonnaise, some baked goods, and fatty meats, such as bacon. When serving a restricted fat diet, make sure there is no butter, margarine, or regular salad dressing on the resident's food tray.

Sodium-restricted diet
A sodium-restricted diet is often ordered for patients with heart disease or high blood pressure. Although most of our sodium comes from salt, there are a number of foods which naturally contain high levels of sodium.

Residents on sodium-restricted diets should not have luncheon meats, canned soups or vegetables, chips, pickles, soy sauce, ham or bacon, or frozen prepared dinners.

Diabetic diets
Diabetic diets control the amount of sugar and carbohydrates a resident consumes. Carbohydrates are controlled because they break down into starch and sugar in the body.

The goal of a diabetic diet is to balance the amount and type of food with the amount of insulin available. It is important for meals and snacks to be served on time to diabetic residents for the insulin to be most effective.

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