Before patients undergo certain medical procedures a physician may recommend a liquid diet.
This is done to clear out the digestive system and decrease the strain on the digestive organs. It allows a patient to acquire the necessary calories, nutrients, and fluids, while minimizing the digestive impact.
Tests which might require this include sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, MRI, and certain x-rays. Surgical procedures that can require a liquid diet include most types of serious oral surgery as well as almost any stomach or bowel surgery.
Many surgical procedures, such as bariatric surgery, may also require that a patient follow a liquid diet after the operation, while they regain the ability to digest solid foods.
Though guidelines will differ depending upon the procedure, following a liquid diet in preparation for a medical procedure will generally mean drinking only liquids that can be seen through at room temperature.
This means that water, juice, broth, water ice, and gelatin are usually acceptable. Soups that contain vegetables, noodles, meat, or rice are generally not allowed. While milk is usually acceptable, yogurt is usually restricted.
When a physician prescribes a liquid diet he or she will tell the patient the specific guidelines, including a time period during which the diet must be followed, and often provide literature that will describe the types of fluids that are allowed.
