Liquid Diet for Presurgery

According to information from the dieting website The Diet Channel, a liquid diet is occasionally prescribed pre-surgery for a number of procedures involving the digestive tract, including colon resectionings and removals. A liquid diet pre-surgery relieves stress on the digestive tract, sometimes alleviating some of the symptoms of the underlying condition. Also, a clear liquid diet helps fully flush the bowels of waste, making the surgical team's job that much easier when it's time for the operation.

Liquid Diet Recommendations

• Adhere to a clear liquid diet to prepare yourself for surgery. According to information from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, your physician will provide you with the necessary date and time for commencement of this procedure. Once you begin your liquid diet, consume only items through which you can see, with the lone exceptions of coffee, tea, and colas. Adhere to a diet consisting of items such as broth, strained soups, gelatin, fruit juice, popsicles, or honey. Note that milk (and other dairy products) are expressly forbidden, as are any types of solid food. This will allow your body time to flush the remaining solid food from your digestive tract, allowing your surgeons an unobstructed view of the area.

Liquid Diet Suggestions

• As the Mayo Clinic lists one danger of the liquid diet as insufficient caloric consumption, strive to consume a reasonable number of calories throughout the day while confined to a liquid diet. Although it will be difficult to ingest as many calories as you would during a solid food diet, try your best not to let too large a caloric gap build up between your "normal" diet and your presurgery diet. This will help avoid unwanted weight loss before the procedure, along with keeping your body as fit as possible while enduring conditions of otherwise sub-optimal nutrition, which can facilitate a faster recovery.