To restore the health of the organs of the digestive system and maintain them in working condition, a rather tough food system is used, which is called diet number 1. Its observance is recommended for patients who have a stomach ulcer in the acute phase of the course of the disease or a duodenal ulcer, as well as for those who are forced to live with chronic gastritis. In addition, due to the balanced menu and the variety of dishes, this nutrition system, which doctors call the “table number 1” therapeutic diet, is often used to control body weight or lose excess weight.    

Nutrition according to the menu of this therapeutic diet is aimed at improving the general condition of the patient, accelerating the process of reparation of ulcers and erosions found in him during the examination, as well as relieving inflammation in the digestive system and preventing the recurrence of the disease. Therapeutic nutrition according to diet number 1 helps to normalize the work of the stomach and intestines – there is an effective regulation of the motor-evacuation and secretory functions of the gastrointestinal tract. It is calculated in such a way as to fully meet human nutritional needs. It can be used both in a hospital setting and in outpatient treatment, but only if the patient’s work is not associated with high physical exertion.  

Diet number 1: basic rules

The diet involves frequent and fractional meals – you should eat in small portions. The ideal solution is five to six meals throughout the day. The basic rules of diet number 1 are quite simple and straightforward. They look like this:  

• the temperature of the consumed food should be close to body temperature; food that is too cold or hot should not be eaten. This prohibition also applies to drinks;
• It is recommended to prepare food while following a diet without fat. This can be steaming, for example in a double boiler, baking in the oven without fat and always without a crust, or just cooking;  
• salt intake should be limited, as it irritates the stomach lining and retains water in the body.
• daily calorie content cannot exceed 2500-3000 calories, depending on the degree of human activity.

Diet table number 1: what is included in the menu

As part of diet number 1, it is recommended to compose your daily menu from soups made from vegetable broth, to which you can add a little noodles or rice. You can fill such soups with low-fat cream and a boiled egg. Most often, in the menu of ready-made diets, scheduled for the day, you can find soups that are prepared on the basis of a vegetable broth. Dairy soups with cereals are also allowed. It is best to wipe them through a fine sieve or at least boil them well. Special attention should be paid to vegetable puree soups, which are prepared in pre-strained chicken broth.  

Meat is allowed for consumption, but it must certainly be lean, peeled and tendons free. You can use boiled and steamed meat dishes. We recommend using poultry, veal and lamb.

Allowed for use are such flour products as biscuit (dry) and baked pies, biscuit biscuits, unpalatable pastries with apples or jam. As for cereals and cereals made from them, the list of permitted options is quite diverse. You can cook semolina and oatmeal in milk, and cook rice and buckwheat in water or vegetable broth. It is important that the porridge is viscous, well boiled or rubbed through a sieve. Eggs are allowed only in the form of an omelet or boiled soft-boiled.

Dairy products are partially allowed – yogurt, milk, kefir, fresh non-acidic cottage cheese and sour cream in small quantities. Lazy dumplings, airy soufflés, baked cheese cakes and a variety of puddings can be made from the above products. The latter, according to data obtained in the course of research by scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia), entering the large intestine, become food for beneficial bacteria in the intestine, which has a positive effect on the recovery process of a patient with gastritis or ulcers.

Diet menu number 1: prohibited foods

What do you have to give up? Prohibited foods include rye bread, which must be replaced with croutons or crispbread. In addition, diet number 1 involves a complete rejection of puff pastry, canned food, fatty meats, salty cheeses, a variety of spicy marinades and hot sauces.

It is also forbidden to eat dishes from white cabbage, cucumbers and onions, as well as from any mushrooms, spinach and sorrel. Mustard, ketchup and horseradish are prohibited. Do not eat cereals made from barley, millet, pearl barley and corn grits, as they are recognized as very “difficult” for digestion.

Be sure to completely exclude from your menu such drinks as coffee, alcohol and soda, as well as dairy products with high acidity, for example, homemade yogurt. A strict taboo is imposed on the use of spicy and spicy cheeses, fried and hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes and smoked meats.

Menu options: eating and drinking right

Diet menu number 1 is recommended to be selected together with a doctor on an individual basis, taking into account the patient’s condition, the complexity of the course and the nature of the disease. The therapeutic diet menu looks like this:  

• For breakfast, you can eat lazy dumplings seasoned with strawberry syrup and low-fat sour cream, with weak and not hot tea;
• Have a snack after a couple of hours with a bunch of white, non-acidic grapes;
• For lunch, you can safely prepare a soup of white beans and carrots, supplement it with a piece of baked beef with pumpkin and jelly;
• For an afternoon snack, prepare a semolina casserole and eat a pear;
• Dinner with chicken rice and stewed zucchini and carrots.

According to research from the Department of Nutrition at the Nutrition Research Institute (USA), an omelet or simply soft-boiled eggs for breakfast will be an excellent source of choline, which is an important nutrient for liver health.

The next day, the menu can be composed as follows:

• For breakfast, you can make yourself a steamed omelet and unheated herbal tea;
• After a couple of hours, have a snack with one baked apple;
• You can dine with cauliflower cream soup, to which you can add a little breadcrumbs, fish cakes and a portion of buckwheat porridge;
• As an afternoon snack, a cottage cheese cake is perfect;
• You can dine with vegetable puree and boiled chicken breast with beetroot and prune salad.

Carrots are a must-have product on the menu of every person, and all because this root vegetable is a source of beta-carotene, which is responsible for maintaining strong immunity and good vision. This was confirmed by research at Leslie University in Cambridge (USA).

The third menu option looks like this:

• We have breakfast with semolina in milk, seasoned with berry jam, we drink weak and not hot herbal tea;
• After two hours, have a snack with a banana or peach;
• We have lunch with milk soup, a slice of baked pumpkin, buckwheat porridge and steamed meatballs;
• For an afternoon snack, we eat a baked apple;
• We have dinner with noodles and cottage cheese casserole.

In addition, it is important to observe the correct drinking regime during the diet. All drinks should be warm so they don’t irritate an inflamed stomach or intestines. Plain water should be drunk in small portions between meals.