Therapeutic nutrition is part of the set of all therapeutic procedures and manipulations applied to a patient for any disease. The diet and menu is the basis on which the patient’s treatment plan is built. It is important for the nurse to know the principles of therapeutic nutrition for its proper organization and timely competent control.
Diet Therapy or Therapeutic Nutrition
Since ancient times, certain foods and specially formulated diets have been used to treat patients. From the beginning of the 19th century, Russian scientists began to approach nutrition from the perspective of the interaction of physiology, hygiene, the chemical composition of food and the technology of its preparation.
In order to make a therapeutic diet, it is necessary to know the composition of food needed for the patient, its caloric content, the proportions of its components (proteins, fats, carbohydrates), the total amount (daily ration). The doctor-specialist who develops the diet and prescribes the diet – the dietitian. A nurse specializing in patient nutrition is a dietitian nurse.
Therapeutic nutrition: principles
Carrying out an important medical appointment – the diet, the doctor takes into account the mechanism of disease development, the state of the body, the work of metabolic processes, the individual ability to digest food. Some products and dishes are excluded because of poor digestibility, others – because of the ability to cause harm, but some products, on the contrary, are specially prescribed for their beneficial effects (for example, to remove toxins from the body).
The volume, weight, consistency, and temperature of the food is determined by the specific diet. The average weight of a daily diet is 3 kilograms. In a therapeutic diet, the amount of food can often be increased or decreased at the expense of liquids or vegetable fiber (nonfood carbohydrates).
- The diet should have a targeted effect on metabolic processes, contributing both to the treatment of the disease and the prevention of exacerbations of chronic processes.
- Strict adherence to the diet: eating always at the same time, a multiplicity of meals tailored to the disease and the characteristics of the body.
- The diet should be varied, satisfying the patient’s tastes within the diet. A monotonous diet contributes to a decrease in appetite and slows down the digestive processes, which interferes with the treatment.
- The diet is tailored to the individual patient, including consideration of comorbidities.
- The diet takes into account the caloric content and chemical composition of foods and meals, taking into account the energy requirements of the patient.
- The use of the most appropriate cooking when cooking food. Prepared meals should be tasty, and – preserving the valuable properties of products.
- Each meal should end with an optimal filling of the stomach, causing the patient to feel full without being overfilled.
If necessary, the principles of mechanical, chemical, thermal sparing are applied in the preparation and serving of food. With mechanical sparing, dishes will be liquid, semi-liquid and pureed. Chemical sparing implies the exclusion of difficult to digest and irritating dishes and products.