The term elemental diet is a general one, meaning primary or basic. Essentially it is rooted in finding simple meals yet ones that contain all of the essential nutrients which we need. It is designed around causing as little stress and inflammation to the digestive tract as possible, which is believed to promote the best health possible.
Originally this diet was developed to treat serious gastrointestinal problems, and for people who had at least one type of food allergy or another. Without being said nutritionists use this type of diet to filling the gaps as far as their patients nutritional needs are concerned, no matter what the issue may be.
This is because virtually anyone can benefit from this type of elemental diet as its can provide us with plenty of health benefits. It is a type of diet that even people who have the most severe type of gastrointestinal issues such as Crohn’s disease, can adhere to andthrive on.
What Foods Can I Eat on the Elemental Diet?
When you are someone who is suffering from severe digestive problem, your ideal diet is going to be different than the average person. You still want your diet to consist mainly of vegetables, however these should all be cooked. Cooking the food helps to break down nutrients found within these vegetables, making them more easily digestible and better absorbed.
The same thing goes for the proteins that you’re going to eat, which should account for about 30% of your daily caloric intake. You want to be cooking your proteins here also, as in doing so you’re going to help the body better absorb these nutrients.
Lastly, I’d you need to make sure you’re getting enough healthy fats in your diet which should account for the remaining 20% of your caloric intake. You want to stick to fats which are plant based, and those that are going to promote the least amount of information. This means staying away from canola oil, corn oil, and other similar boils and instead getting your fats from olives, avocados, and other sources of healthy fat.
What Foods Should You Avoid?
Unfortunately if you’re someone who suffers from a debilitating digestive problem, you’re all too familiar with the enormous list of foods which you should be avoiding.
This is the same case here has majority of your nutrients in this tide are going to be coming to you in liquid form, as many of the common foods we love to eat can also cause severe digestive problems.
There is very long list of foods which these types of people should avoid, however there are few ones in particular you should avoid which really tend to trigger digestive problems.
Alcohol and caffeine are going to be two substances you really want to avoid as much as possible if you are suffering from these types of issues. Caffeine’s ability as a stimulant allows it to further accelerate the movement of Bowles through the digestive system, which of course can make issues worse.
Alcohol you can drink within moderation however you need to be really careful with. Not only can it exacerbate the symptoms of all kinds of irritable bowel syndromes, but it can also interfere with some anti bacterial medications that are commonly taken by these types of patients.
Should I Try Elemental or Elimination First?
This all comes down to how damage and individuals digestive tract is, and in most cases elemental diet is done prior to an elimination diet. This is because an elemental diet will provide the individual with nutrients they need, which allows the digestive tract to properly heal over time.
Once a patient’s symptoms subside and it appears that the digestive tract is stealing sufficiently, then the elemental diet can be stopped and an elimination diet can be implemented. In some cases people need to cycle in between these types of diets in order to give body more time to heal.
An elimination diet may also be referred to as an exclusion diet has they use a system of trial and error to identify food allergies and other potential triggers which cause problems within the digestive tract.
It is important to remember here that solid foods and raw foods need to be gradually reintroduced to the diet as these types of foods are going to be more difficult for the body to break down and process than ones found in the elimination diet.
Essentially if you can avoid the elemental diet due to you being healthy enough, you should do so. It should only be used as a last ditch effort road to recovery for those who have the most severe digestive issues.
