What do these symptoms have to do with my diet?
- Digestion of food and nutrient absorption happens throughout your gut. The process begins from the moment you smell food, continues as you chew and swallow, until you excrete what was not absorbed. Any symptom which affects your gut may affect what you eat or what you absorb in your gut.
- If one or more symptoms prevent you from eating (at all or eating enough) there is a risk that you will not meet your nutritional needs.
- Diarrhoea may cause you to lose essential nutrients, so you may need to adjust your diet.
Resources
The British Dietetic Association Critical Care Specialist group provides eating recommendations after critical illness – Nutrition at Home after Critical Illness [PDF], which may include some of the same symptoms.
Information includes:
- eating a high protein diet
- eating a balanced diet.
- The same group also produce the Mindful Eating: Food Fact Sheet
- supporting people who have poor appetite
- information on fortifying foods
- fortifying meals, snacks and drinks.
- managing change of taste
- explaining why these happen
- what patients can do
- giving ideas to add flavour to foods.
- eating and drinking well
- how to increase interest in food.