Q. Nutritional management for diarrhoea?
The conservative concept of treatment for diarrhoea was not in favour of feeding adequate amount of food. However, with the identification of varied underlying causes and not so positive outcomes of the starvation therapy, it has become evident that adequate nutritional care is pertinent to ensure enhanced recovery and proper rehabilitation. Dietary management of diarrhoea has changed completely over the years and it is now advocated th3t the patient should be prescribed a diet most suitable for the underlying etiology of diarrhoea. Today we know that the nutrient requirements and or the quality (consistency) of diet may not necessarily be the same for all forms of diarrhoea. While the demand for fluids and electrolytes are particularly high during an acute episode; that of all macro-and micronutrients increases during chronic diarrhoeas.