9 special diets and 5 tips to help you meet your nutritional needs

Learn about special diets that help keep meals from becoming boring, while protecting your health and meeting your nutritional needs.

Today, in order to meet the nutritional needs and desires of each person, nutritionists have constantly designed different diets with the common name of special diets. Thanks to that, the meals gradually become more diverse and healthy.

If you are feeling that the current meals do not meet your physical and mental needs, please refer to the article below to choose a more suitable diet!

What is a special diet?

A special diet is simply the most suitable diet for each individual, helping to optimize the absorption of nutrients in food. The special diet is designed based on factors such as:

• Age
• Health problems
• Consideration of beliefs/culture/religion
• Allergy or intolerance to certain foods.

5 notes to choose the right nutrition

In fact, there is no one-size-fits-all diet, so the most important thing you need to do is always consult your doctor or dietitian. In addition, the following 5 factors are also worth considering before applying a special diet:

1. Finance

Some diets require you to invest money to buy the necessary food, services or supplies. So you should clearly plan the amount of money at least each month you have to spend when applying a certain regime to ensure that you have enough expenses to cover.

2. Health status

Each diet is tailored to a unique health condition . Therefore, consulting a doctor is very necessary, especially for people who are suffering from chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure. Because to control blood sugar in the body, they need to consider the level of nutrient absorption, but cannot arbitrarily apply any special diet.

3. Time

Estimate how much time you can spend shopping and cooking. Especially, if you are a busy person, you should consider preparing a meal plan (meal prep) to save effort.

4. Seek encouragement and support from relatives and friends

To be able to maintain some diets long term requires a lot of discipline and persistence, especially when you are on a diet. Regularly discussing and sharing your process with a friend or group with experience in this field will help you have more motivation to not give up halfway.

5. Listen to your body

You don’t have to force yourself to follow a long-term eating plan if you feel that your physical and mental health is not improving, or even going down. Listen to your body, talk to your doctor and flexibly adjust the flexible and reasonable menu to achieve the highest efficiency.

9 particularly popular diets today

1. Liquid diet

A liquid diet is one that mainly consists of liquids or soft foods that melt at room temperature (such as ice cream) – which are easily digested and leave no indigestible fiber in your intestinal tract . A liquid diet usually helps to hydrate and maintain electrolyte balance and is usually indicated when:

• Difficulty digesting, chewing
• Digestive tract damage
• Before or after certain types of medical or surgical tests involving the mouth and digestive tract

This diet will usually be prescribed by a doctor for a short time of about 5-14 days to heal the wound.

2. Diabetic Diet

This is a highly prized diet because it contains foods rich in nutrients, low in fat and calories. The staple foods are fruits, vegetables and whole grains. In addition, they must cut back on foods with high sugar content to stabilize blood sugar in the body.

3. Low Calorie Diet

Low-calorie diet is one of the must-have diets for people who are trying to lose weight, especially those who are obese or want to control diabetes. This diet will keep your calorie intake at 800 calories or less by cutting out high-calorie foods like butter, ice cream, and soft drinks.

4. High-calorie diet

This diet is considered essential for patients who are underweight for a variety of reasons, including eating disorders, certain types of cancer, and hyperthyroidism. A high-calorie diet consists of foods that contain carbohydrates as well as protein. At the same time, exclude foods that are high in fat and deep-fried because they are difficult to digest and make you lose your appetite.

5. Low cholesterol diet

On this special diet, you will have to limit your intake of foods high in saturated fat. These foods include beef, pork, eggs and cheese to avoid raising blood cholesterol levels. This diet is important in maintaining heart health in patients with heart disease and atherosclerosis.

6. Vegetarian Diet

Vegetarians or vegans avoid most (or all) animal-based foods. There are many different types of vegetarianism such as:

• Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Style: No meat or fish but dairy products and eggs
• Lacto Vegetarian: No meat, fish, or eggs, but dairy products
• Ovo Vegetarian Style: No meat, fish, or dairy, but egg products
• Vegan style: Avoid all animal products and by-products (including meat, fish, milk, eggs, honey)

7. Low sodium diet

Sodium causes the body to retain water, making the heart work harder. Therefore, patients with heart problems should also follow a low-sodium diet. To maintain this diet, you must not only avoid adding a lot of salt to your dishes, but also avoid smoked meats, processed foods, and pickled foods. Patients with the following conditions are encouraged to follow a low-sodium diet:

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Edema
• Kidney disease

8. High Protein Diet

A high-protein diet is simply adding more protein-rich foods to your diet each day. Foods like meat, fish, eggs, and cheese are all excellent sources of protein. People with the following health conditions can apply this special diet:

• Children grow slowly
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Patients before/after certain types of surgery
• Acute burn patient
• Patient has fever
• Patient has an infection

9. Low protein diet

A diet that restricts protein-rich foods such as meat, fish or cheese is sometimes necessary in the following situations:

• Have some kidney related diseases
• Have an allergy or intolerance to certain proteins (for example, someone with celiac disease who needs to follow a gluten-free diet).

Besides, there are many other special diets that you can refer to and apply. Remember, to achieve a health goal, in addition to eating, you need to combine it with physical activity and maintain other healthy living habits!