Dietary Recommendations for Diarrhea in Post-Gastrectomy Adjuvant Treatment

Because diarrhoea can cause dehydration, you should drink plenty of fluids (water, herbal tea, mild broth, isotonic drinks with low sugar content) in small sips throughout the day.

Home-made isotonic drink
In one litre of water mix the juice of two lemons, a tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of sea salt (3.5 g) and a teaspoon of baking soda (3.5 g). When these ingredients are dissolved, leave the mixture in the refrigerator until it is cool and drink throughout the day in small sips.

Eating more meals per day, but in smaller amounts, can help you tolerate food better.

Start with a liquid diet, such as water with rice, and when well tolerated, introduce easily digestible foods, such as mashed potatoes and carrots, boiled rice, white fish or boiled chicken and baked or grated apples.

Rice water recipe
Cook the rice (1 cup) in 1.5 litres (6-7 cups) of mineral water for 25 minutes over medium heat in a covered pot to ensure as little liquid as possible evaporates. Let it stand and cool off. Then strain and store the water in a container or bottle in the refrigerator. Consume hot or cold, as preferred. Add salt to taste.

Toasted biscotti-style bread; breadsticks; meat, fish and eggs cooked mildly (French omelette, grilled chicken, fish en papillote); pasta; rice; potato; rice, wheat and tapioca grits; Maria-style biscuits.

Boiling, steaming, grilling and baking (at a low temperature, avoiding browning the food too much) are the easiest to digest cooking methods.

• Whole grains and by-products, raw fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts are not recommended.
• Choose fruit without skin (pear or apple), cooked, baked, microwaved or stewed.
• Ripe banana.

• Vegetables lower in fibre (squash, courgette, carrot) can be consumed in small amounts (check tolerance), always without skin or seeds and thoroughly cooked, or in the form of creamy soup or strained broths.
• Check tolerance to fruit and vegetable smoothies in small amounts, since all the fibre is eliminated in the process.

The consumption of butter, margarine, lard, mayonnaise, cream, milk cream, pastry products, fatty cheese, sausages, pâtés, etc. is not recommended .

Use lactose-free milk. Depending on tolerance, products with lactose can be introduced gradually, starting with plain yoghurt. Avoid dairy dishes such as flan, custard, mousse, etc.

The consumption of candies or sweets, fruit nectar, simple sugar or honey, chocolate, sweetened beverages, xylitol and sorbitol, among others, is not recommended.