What is diet therapy?
Diet therapy is a treatment based on the adoption of a proper diet, with the aim of preventing or treating specific diseases.
An incorrect diet can cause not only an accumulation of fat and skin manifestations, but also exhaustion and tiredness. Moreover, in case of suffering from a disease that benefits from a certain type of diet, not following it can have more serious consequences.
A proper diet can prevent various diseases.
Why is it done?
In the case, for example, of treatment for obesity or excess weight, weight loss is closely related to a decrease in the amount of calories released in the body; in fact, the energy balance must be negative, i.e. the calories consumed must be less than those burned. This is achieved not only by integrating a sporting activity into the patient’s routine, but also, and above all, by changing the patient’s eating habits.
But diet therapy is not limited to weight loss: in fact, this treatment can prevent and treat a whole range of different diseases, with very different modalities and purposes depending on the nature of the disorder treated. The following is a non-exhaustive list of diseases that can be treated with diet therapy (combined, if necessary, with other clinical treatments):
- constipation;
- diarrhea;
- osteoporosis;
- meteorism;
- alcoholism;
- ulcers;
- aerophagia;
- hypothyroidism;
- atherosclerosis;
- heart disease;
- headache;
- hypertension;
- cholecystitis;
- ulcerative colitis;
- lactose, gluten or carbohydrate intolerance;
- irritable colon;
- diabetes;
- renal insufficiency;
- anemia;
- diverticulosis
- hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia.
What does it consist of?
The medical specialist creates a personalized dietary program to adapt the diet to the patient’s lifestyle and state of health. Depending on the pathology, foods that cause harm are excluded, while those that can cure or prevent the manifestations of the disease are included.
Preparation for diet therapy
Before adopting a therapeutic diet, it is necessary to have a consultation with a medical specialist, during which the patient’s anamnesis and medical history are collected. It is also important, as far as possible, to take into account the patient’s personal tastes: otherwise, diet therapy could be perceived as a deprivation diet that is difficult to respect in the long term.
In addition, weight, height, body fat and lean body mass, body mass index, etc. are measured at this preliminary visit.