Beyond the BRAT diet?

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sammyp
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Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby sammyp » Thu May 24, 2018 8:25 pm

Having had both Ecoli 026 and CDiff concurrently, I've been eating the BRAT diet (or nothing at all) for three and a half weeks. Day 7 of Vanco and no more WD. I'm ready for some real food now that my appetite is returning. Within reason of course. What are some safer choices for slowly expanding?

Just a note, I did develop both a gluten intolerance and lactose intolerance from these two infections so I'd be extra happy if you could help with some gluten and dairy free options.

beth22
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Re: Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby beth22 » Fri May 25, 2018 1:35 am

Most people do well with baked chicken and fish. Rice, potatoes are good. I could not tolerate raw vegetables, so I cooked them and at first put them in the blender and made soup. I never had problems with red meat, but many do.

justme
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Re: Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby justme » Fri May 25, 2018 3:28 am

Sammy:
Bananas are wonderful and filling. If you are in an area that has access to papaya, that is also excellent, easy on the system fruit. I agree with Beth that chicken and fish are probably the best meats to eat in early recovery. I could not handle vegetables at all for quite a long time, but many of the fruits are good (especially apples and of course bananas and papaya). Add each new food slowly and see if you can handle it. Stay away from salads for awhile. Lettuce is difficult to digest (and avoid beans for obvious reasons). Take care and good luck.
Aloha,
Anne

roy
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Re: Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby roy » Fri May 25, 2018 4:52 am

If you would give it to a 2 year old it's probably ok for you.
The E.coli is usually left to resolve without treatment, I don't think its antibiotic resistant but antibiotics are not used for it because it's a self limiting infection.
BOTH infections cause the same symptoms so it's possible either one was the culprit and the other was just an incidental colonization.

Kuro
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Re: Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby Kuro » Fri May 25, 2018 6:33 pm

I know this isn't much help, but I would second the suggestion of trying baked chicken. It was the first food I was able to successfully add. Also, jasmine rice is good for calories and easy to digest. I have a bowl of jasmine rice with baked chicken every day to get protein and a little fiber.

Other suggestions I have seen are almond butter, avocado, fish, baked potatoes (or mashed), oatmeal, eggs, pasta, peanut butter, chicken soup, and limited well cooked vegetables like carrots and green beans if you can tolerate them (some put them in soup). Also, again if you can tolerate it, Ensure is a good drink which will get you calories, electrolytes, and vitamins/minerals. It also has a "Plus" version with more calories. Boost is another drink like that. In fact, you may not be able to tolerate everything I've listed; it's very individual.

The general idea is to stay bland. Use BRAT as your core and branch out slowly from there, one thing at a time as you see how you react to each. Some people can go back to normal foods quickly, many can't, especially if they have PI-IBS after their infection.

It is usually suggested that you avoid alcohol, dairy, raw vegetables, and sweets for a long time.

MKW
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Re: Beyond the BRAT diet?

Postby MKW » Sun May 27, 2018 12:39 pm

I would start with chicken for sure. I wanted to suggest quinoa as a grain that has a lot of nutritional value and is easy to digest.


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