Bland diet: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

A bland diet can be used alongside lifestyle changes to help address the symptoms of ulcers, heartburn, GERD, nausea, and vomiting. You may also need a bland diet after stomach or intestinal surgery.

A bland diet includes foods that are soft, not very spicy, and low in fiber. If you are on a bland diet, you should not eat spicy, fried, or raw foods. You should not drink alcohol or drinks with caffeine in them.

Your health care provider will tell you when you can start eating other foods again. It is still important to eat healthy foods when you add foods back in. Your provider can refer you to a dietitian or nutritionist to help you plan a healthy diet.

Foods you can eat on a bland diet include:

• Milk and other dairy products, low-fat or fat-free only
• Cooked, canned, or frozen vegetables
• Potatoes
• Canned fruit as well as apple sauce, bananas, and melons
• Fruit juices and vegetable juices (some people, such as those with GERD, may want to avoid citrus and tomato)
• Breads, crackers, and pasta made with refined white flour
• Refined, hot cereals, such as Cream of Wheat (farina cereal)
• Lean, tender meats, such as poultry, whitefish, and shellfish that are steamed, baked, or grilled with no added fat
• Creamy peanut butter
• Pudding and custard
• Graham crackers and vanilla wafers
• Popsicles and gelatin
• Eggs
• Tofu
• Soup, especially broth
• Weak tea

Some foods you may want to avoid when you are on a bland diet are:

• Fatty dairy foods, such as whipped cream or high-fat ice cream
• Strong cheeses, such as bleu or Roquefort cheese
• Raw vegetables and salads
• Vegetables that may make you gassy, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, green peppers, and corn
• Dried fruits
• Whole-grain or bran cereals
• Whole-grain breads, crackers, or pasta
• Pickles, sauerkraut, and other fermented foods
• Spices and strong seasonings, such as hot pepper and garlic
• Foods with a lot of sugar in them
• Seeds and nuts
• Highly seasoned, cured or smoked meats and fish
• Tough, fibrous meats
• Fried or greasy foods
• Alcoholic beverages and drinks with caffeine in them

You should also avoid medicine that contains aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin).

When you are on a bland diet:

• Eat small meals and eat more often during the day.
• Chew your food slowly and thoroughly.
• Stop smoking cigarettes, if you smoke.
• Do not eat within 2 hours of your bedtime.
• Do not eat foods that are on the “foods to avoid” list, especially if you do not feel well after eating them.
• Drink fluids slowly.

Heartburn – bland diet; Nausea – bland diet; Peptic ulcer – bland diet

Pruitt CM. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. In: Olympia RP, O’Neill RM, Silvis ML, eds. Urgent Care Medicine Secrets. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2018:chap 20.

Thompson M, Noel MB. Nutrition and family medicine. In: Rakel RE, Rakel DP, eds. Textbook of Family Medicine. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2016:chap 37.

• Colorectal cancer
• Crohn disease
• Ileostomy
• Intestinal obstruction repair
• Laparoscopic gallbladder removal
• Large bowel resection
• Open gallbladder removal
• Small bowel resection
• Total abdominal colectomy
• Total proctocolectomy and ileal-anal pouch
• Total proctocolectomy with ileostomy
• Ulcerative colitis

• Anti-reflux surgery – discharge
• Clear liquid diet
• Full liquid diet
• Ileostomy and your child
• Ileostomy and your diet
• Ileostomy – caring for your stoma
• Ileostomy – discharge
• Ileostomy – what to ask your doctor
• Large bowel resection – discharge
• Living with your ileostomy
• Pancreatitis – discharge
• Small bowel resection – discharge
• Total colectomy or proctocolectomy – discharge
• Types of ileostomy

Updated by: Meagan Bridges, RD, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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A bland diet that includes low fiber fruits, certain vegetables, and processed grains may relieve help symptoms of digestive system distress.

Why eat a bland diet?

If you’re dealing with gastrointestinal distress, eating a bland diet may help relieve heartburn, vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. A bland diet can also be an effective way to treat peptic ulcers, especially when coupled with certain lifestyle changes, such as lessening stress.

To fit the bill, bland foods are typically soft in texture, lower in fiber, higher in pH, and mildly seasoned. These factors help prevent an increase in acid production, reflux, or other irritation to your digestive tract.

Despite its name, eating a bland diet can be as tasty as it is comforting to the gut. The best dietary approach for digestive symptoms is one that targets the root cause of your symptoms, so recommendations may vary from person to person. But generally, here’s what you should eat, and what you should avoid.

Everyone’s needs are different, so you may want to discuss your dietary choices with your doctor or a dietitian. They can provide additional input based on your specific diagnosis and lifestyle.

Unless you have a preexisting food allergy or intolerance, commonly recommended foods on the bland diet include:

Low-fat dairy

Low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt, and mildly flavored cheeses, such as cottage cheese, are all good options. Be careful, though. Lactose intolerance and milk protein intolerance are common reasons for GI discomfort in some people. And many experts recommend eliminating dairy to help treat peptic ulcers.

Certain vegetables

Vegetables you should eat include:

• beets
• carrots
• green beans
• peas
• white or sweet potatoes
• spinach
• pumpkin

These vegetables can be purchased frozen, fresh, or canned. However, don’t eat them raw. It’s best to serve them steamed or boiled, with little to no butter or other type of fat.

Some people can tolerate lettuce and other salad greens in moderation. It’s best to exclude vegetables that cause gas, such as those from the cruciferous family. These include broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts, among others.

Low-fiber fruits

Cooked or canned fruits that aren’t fibrous or seeded are generally approved for a bland diet. These include bananas and melon. Avocados may also be tolerated well, even though they’re higher in fiber.

Processed grains

White bread products, seedless rye, and refined wheat products may be good choices. However, some people have worsened digestive symptoms when they eat gluten-containing grains.

If you do not have an intolerance to gluten, then you can also enjoy:

• plain soda crackers
• soft white pasta
• cooked cereals, such as cream of wheat, processed oatmeal (not steel-cut or high-fiber), and farina
• cold cereals that are low in sugar

Poultry, eggs, and fish

Lean protein sources are safe to eat as long as they’re prepared with mild seasonings and little to no fat. These include:

• skinless chicken
• fish, such as salmon and trout
• shellfish, such as shrimp, lobster, and crab
• eggs
• silken tofu

Other food items

Cream-based soups or clear broths are excellent choices, provided their ingredients are on the list of foods you can eat.

Chamomile tea, with or without honey, can be a soothing drink choice.

Dessert foods, such as vanilla pudding, marshmallows, and plain cookies should only be eaten sparingly because added sugar can worsen symptoms.

Creamy peanut butter, jelly, and jam without seeds are all good options for spreading on bread.

Many seasonings may be irritating to the stomach, but you can experiment with basil, parsley, salt, and other mild flavorings to determine which ones you can tolerate.

Foods affect everyone differently. Some people get heartburn and other gastric symptoms from tomato-based products, garlic, and caffeinated tea. Others can tolerate highly spiced foods, but have trouble digesting anything high in fat.

Your individual needs may vary, but in general, these foods should be avoided if you’re following a bland diet:

High-fat dairy

High-fat dairy foods and strongly-flavored cheeses should be avoided. These include:

• whole milk
• whipped cream
• ice cream
• Monterey Jack cheese
• bleu cheese
• Roquefort cheese

Also, dairy triggers symptoms in some people, so avoid dairy altogether if this is you.

Certain vegetables

Some vegetables are notorious for producing gas. These include:

• cruciferous types, such as Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower
• onion
• garlic
• peppers
• cabbage

Tomatoes and tomato products are highly acidic and should be avoided.

Seeded and acidic fruit

In general, if fruit has skin or tiny seeds, it has too much fiber for a bland diet. Also, the acidity of some of the fruits may trigger heartburn in some people.

Fruits to avoid include:

• all berries
• grapes
• prunes
• oranges
• lemons
• limes
• grapefruits

Most dried fruits and fruit juices should be eliminated, as well.

Whole grains

High-fiber, whole grain foods should be avoided if you are following a low-fiber or low-residue diet, which is sometimes recommended as part of a bland diet. Also, gluten may be a trigger for some people, so avoiding all forms of wheat, rye, and barley may be beneficial.

Avoid these:

• sprouted wheat bread
• grain breads
• whole wheat pasta
• any product with added fiber, such as cereal

Fatty meats, poultry, beans, and fish

Lentils and dried or canned beans of all types can generate gas. Beef, chicken with the skin on, and fried fish may also irritate your gut.

Avoid eating fatty, greasy, or fried protein sources of any kind, as well as processed deli meats. You should also avoid prepared foods, such as beef or chicken tacos, chili, or meat sauce.

Other food items

All types of alcoholic drinks can be irritating to the stomach. So can caffeinated beverages, such as coffee, tea, and soda.

Many dressings and sauces, such as mustard, ketchup, salad dressing, and horseradish, are best left on the shelf.

The following may also make your symptoms worse:

• fatty desserts, such as cheesecake and dark chocolate
• olives
• popcorn
• granola
• nuts

Eating smaller portions several times per day may be easier on your stomach than eating three larger meals. Try to savor each meal by eating slowly and not overdoing it. Some supplements, such as aloe vera and deglyccerhized licorice root, have shown promise in managing digestive symptoms.

It’s also helpful to avoid eating late at night, within two hours of going to bed. Going to bed with a full stomach may make your symptoms worse.

Shop for licorice root supplements.

The bland diet doesn’t supply all of the nutrition your body requires in the long term. Talk with your doctor about how long you should stay on this type of eating plan. You doctor can also advise you on when to reintroduce different foods or food groups.

In some cases, medications such as antacids or acid blockers may be added to your regimen. Your doctor may also recommend lifestyle changes, such as stress management and weight reduction.

Keep reading: 7 natural remedies for your upset stomach »

What do our eating habits say? Sweet – to diabetes, unleavened – to gastritis | Proper nutrition | Health

09/22/2011 00:05

Galina Chirkina

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

5976

“AiF. Health” № 38. Workaholics live 4 years longer 09/22/2011

For example, if a person is unbearably drawn to:

Sweet

This may indicate a nervous and mental strain. Glucose is actively involved in the production of the stress hormone – adrenaline, is the main energy supplier for the brain. When stressed, sugar is consumed faster and the body constantly requires more and more portions. In such a situation, pampering yourself with sweets is not a sin. Dark chocolate or marshmallows are best suited for this, but it is better to refrain from eating rich cakes, they contain a lot of heavy carbohydrates.

But perhaps an obsessive craving for sweets is a sign of developing diabetes mellitus. You should be wary if this happens for a long time, while you are constantly thirsty, your appetite is significantly increased and you excrete a lot of urine per day. Just in case, check your blood sugar levels and go to an endocrinologist.

Hot

Do you love Mexican cuisine? Food seems bland until you dump half a pepper pot in it? This may mean that you have a “lazy stomach”, it digests food slowly, it needs a stimulus for this. And hot spices and spices just stimulate digestion. The condition of the stomach can be checked using gastroscopy. In violation of lipid metabolism, there may also be a need for spicy.

Spicy food promotes the elimination of fats, including “bad” cholesterol, “cleanses” blood vessels. But at the same time it irritates the gastric mucosa. Don’t go for chili and salsa on an empty stomach.

Salty

If the food always seems undersalted, and at the sight of a herring you salivate, then this may be a sign of not only an “interesting situation”, but also inflammation (more often, in the genitourinary system: cystitis, prostatitis, inflammation of the appendages … ), as well as evidence of a decrease in immunity.

Fresh

The need for such food often occurs with gastritis or stomach ulcers with high acidity, constipation, as well as problems with the liver and gallbladder. Fresh food weakens, helps to reduce spastic pains, and soothes the stomach. It is worth noting that if all the food seems fresh, tasteless to you, while you have a persistent bad mood and a breakdown, then we are talking about depression, accompanied by a violation of taste perception. In various diseases of the brain, when taste buds are affected (tumor, consequences of a stroke, etc. ), there are also violations of the sense of taste.

Sour

Often this is a sign of gastritis with insufficient secretory function, in which gastric juice has low acidity. With colds and fever, sour drinks (fruit drink, tea with lemon …) help to alleviate the condition, as it has cooling, astringent properties and stimulates appetite.

Bitter

This is a signal of slagging of the digestive system or that the disease has not been cured and the body is in a state of intoxication. It makes sense to arrange fasting days, to do cleansing procedures.

Astringent

If you suddenly feel an unbearable desire to put a handful of bird cherry berries into your mouth or eat persimmon, then your body’s defenses are weakening. Products with astringent taste promote skin cell division (help heal wounds, improve complexion). They help stop bleeding (for example, with fibroids), remove sputum in case of bronchopulmonary problems. But astringent food thickens the blood, it can be dangerous for people with increased clotting (with varicose veins, hypertension, some heart diseases).

See also:

• Prevention of gallstones: diet and spinal exercises →
• The path to heartburn, or how to avoid stomach problems →
• How to live with cholecystitis →

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European food seems insipid to them: dishes from Thailand at Open Kitchen a chef or just a person who is passionate about cooking comes to the house on Bolshaya Okruzhnaya Street, who cooks what he loves and knows how to do.

Returning from Thailand, the ideologist of the Open Kitchen, photographer and culinary specialist Denis Kichatov prepared green curry paste with jasmine rice and fried bananas for dessert, and also spoke about the features of Thai cuisine.



– Surprisingly, when it comes to food and restaurants, Thais don’t have a commercial streak. The same dish will cost the same in a popular resort in Thailand and in a remote area of ​​the country. The menu is usually quite small. Everything that got into the kitchen that day is cooked and eaten on that very day, nothing remains for tomorrow. Of course, it happens that people get poisoned – but it happens everywhere.

— Everything that concerns traditions is maintained in Thailand, but at the same time, the infrastructure is well developed: everything is very technologically advanced, the Internet and Wi-Fi are all around, but, like many centuries ago, ordinary boats go out to sea, so they go out along this day, no plastic boats.

– We joke that Thais eat once a day, but from morning until evening. For breakfast, as a rule, rice porridge in meat or fish broth is a fairly specific food for Europeans. And it is clear that the most important dish is rice, everything is cooked from it, and bread, and noodles, and desserts, even added to minced meat, which goes to sausages and sausages. Needless to say, products in the store and in the bazaar are wrapped in rice paper.

– In addition to rice, Thais eat a lot of seafood, vegetables and fruits. Of the meat, pork (with the exception of those southern regions where Muslims live) and chicken are very popular among local residents, Thais practically do not eat lamb and beef, but this is not connected with religion. Thais do not eat beef, not because a cow is a sacred animal, but because this meat is expensive, and many can afford it only on holidays. In the central province, they eat grilled frogs, pickled jellyfish, which, according to those who have tasted it, taste like salted mushrooms. We never had a chance to try Thai jellyfish, despite the fact that we saw how they were caught, but we never found a place where you can eat them.

– The topic of food in Thailand is common and interesting for everyone. If you live in a Thai family and come home from the market with full packages, then each of the family members will not only ask what you bought, but also look into the package, touch everything, try it, comment. And this is considered a gesture of respect and politeness. Although, of course, for many of us, this situation may seem strange and even unacceptable: here is someone climbing into your grocery bag. In Thailand, there is such a custom that a Thai chef always washes his hands before going to the toilet, he washes them after, but before is mandatory.

— In the cities of Thailand there are restaurants with cuisines from almost all countries of the world — for every taste. As a rule, Europeans set up the restaurant business: they come, open an institution, teach the locals how to do everything, and the Thais repeat everything very clearly, fully adhere to the given recipe. True, European food seems too bland to Thais.

– But it happens that the classic taste of a European dish is affected by local ingredients. One of the days we really wanted pizza, and we went to one pizzeria, I eat and I can’t understand what’s wrong with its taste. It turned out that one of the types of Thai basil was added to this pizza, which has a completely different smell. In Thailand, I came across three varieties of basil: lemon (it is clear that it has a citrus smell), Thai (ours is very similar to Thai classical basil, with purple leaves) and holy basil – very delicate, with small leaves. And we also saw several types of eggplant: for example, ordinary classic, green Thai, round and the size of a tennis ball, bitter eggplant – small, like peas.

– Today we will prepare green curry paste, to which we will serve rice as a side dish. For dessert, we will have fried bananas in coconut caramel.

– For curry paste, we need about fifteen ingredients. Unlike the Indians, the Thais use very few dried spices, they put dried peppers and seeds in those dishes, the recipes of which came to Thailand from India and Malaysia. But traditional Thai recipes, such as green curry, do not include anything dried. And one of the important moments of cooking this particular dish: all products must be cut in advance, because everything is cooked very quickly. So, for four servings of the pasta itself, we need: ½ teaspoon of zira (cumin), ½ teaspoon of coriander seeds, 1 lemongrass stalk, 4-6 cm of ginger root, ½ teaspoon of turmeric, zest of one lime, ½ onion, 4-6 garlic cloves, 5 basil leaves, basil stalks, about 2 tablespoons, 1–2 green chilies, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon shrimp paste, or 2–3 salted anchovy fillets. Fry the zira and coriander in a dry frying pan until it smells. We cut the remaining ingredients into small pieces, grind everything in a food processor or mortar to a homogeneous paste. Add vegetable oil if necessary.

– After the pasta is ready, let’s start cooking the green curry. For four servings you will need: 2-4 tablespoons of green curry paste, 400 g chicken fillet, 500 ml coconut milk, 1 large eggplant, 4 leaves of kaffir lime, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1 large red chili, 40 basil leaves.

– As I already said, first we prepare the products: we cut the chicken into small cubes, cut the lime leaves into thin strips, cut the chili in half, clean it from seeds and partitions, chop it into strips. Cut the eggplant into small pieces and soak for a couple of minutes in cold salted water. Then we heat the wok, since today I am cooking for a very large company, and we simply don’t have a wok of such sizes – we use a pan of the right size. In vegetable or soybean oil, fry the curry paste until a certain smell. Then add the chicken and fry it until the color changes. Then add coconut milk, lime leaves and eggplant. Bring to a boil. Add sugar and fish sauce. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the gas, put the basil leaves, mix. Serve with boiled rice, I chose jasmine Thai rice as a side dish. When serving, decorate the dish with chopped chili.

– Jasmine rice is prepared at the rate of one cup for two servings, two cups of water are used for one cup of rice. Thais initially ate with their hands, and then they were taught to use a fork and a spoon, now they eat more with a spoon, and with a fork, for example, put food into it.

– Now it’s the turn of dessert: fried bananas in coconut caramel. For two servings, we need two bananas, 1 tablespoon butter, 3-4 tablespoons of sugar syrup, 4 tablespoons of coconut cream or milk, as well as the juice of half a lime and two scoops of ice cream. Fry the banana slices in oil until golden brown over low heat, increase the frying temperature and add syrup, milk and lime juice. Fry until caramelized. We put it on a plate, serve it to the table with a scoop of ice cream, sprinkle the dish with sesame seeds when serving.

– Let me remind you that all the dishes that you cook with coconut milk need to be constantly stirred, because it tends to separate. It turns out that real coconut milk has nothing to do with the liquid contained in the nut itself. Coke cream is made through a press, and for milk, the pulp is boiled with water, and then filtered.