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Learn more about the dietary treatment of the acute hepatitis phase, which occurs in hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. In this article, we also look at what can be done for chronic hepatitis conditions.
Symptoms
A person suffering from acute infectious hepatitis will experience severe loss of appetite or anorexia, nausea, vomiting,abdominal pain, taste changes, fever and jaundice. All these symptoms complicate food intake and make it difficult to ensure that the person is well nourished at a time when it's essential to follow a highly nutritious diet to prevent liver damage.
Diet for acute hepatitis
The diet used during acute hepatitis infection must provide the following:
1) Appetite stimulation to overcome anorexia
This is probably one of the most difficult challenges to overcome, because the person with hepatitis may feel so ill and debilitated that they flatly refuse to eat.
Offer the person his or her favourite fat-free or low-fat foods (see below for tips on selecting a low-fat diet), for example, fruit juices, energy drinks diluted with cold water, fat-free milk shakes or smoothies (made from fresh or canned fruit and fat-free milk or yoghurt to which you can add flavouring, honey and fat-free milk powder to boost the protein and energy content).
Also try sorbets made from pureed fruit and sugar, which is then frozen, custard made with fat-free milk, jelly and jelly-based desserts, low-fat ice cream, clear soups (chill overnight and remove the fat that coagulates on top of the soup), dry crackers and rusks, bland porridge with fat-free milk and sugar to boost energy intake, hard or boiled sweets, and any other food the person is prepared to eat.
Tips to improve food intake
Serve the above-mentioned foods and beverages chilled, as this helps to overcome nausea. Let the person eat a dry biscuit or rusk before eating other foods as this can assist with food aversion.
Add slightly more flavouring to milkshakes, smoothies and custard to overcome loss of taste sensation.
Serve small quantities more often so that the person doesn't get discouraged if they're only able to drink or eat small portions at a time.
2) Use of liquid meal replacements
There are many high-energy, high-protein meal replacement products available from your pharmacy. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a product.
3) Foods to exclude
Avoid the following foods:
- Full-cream milk, yoghurt, cream, cream cheese and fatty cheeses
- Biscuits, cakes, pies, tarts and desserts with a high-fat content
- Chocolate
- Too many eggs (no more than three eggs a week)
- Fatty salad dressings, mayonnaise, sour cream
- Avocado
- Fatty, fried meats, fatty fish, poultry skin, all processed meats and sausages, bacon, fatty gravies, fish canned in oil (buy tuna or pilchards canned in water or tomato sauce)
- Nuts, peanut butter, nut spreads
- Potato chips, vegetables smothered in butter or white/cheese sauces
- Fatty snacks or very spicy snacks
- All food preparation that increases the amount of fat contained in meals, such as frying in butter, margarine or oil. Rather boil, poach, grill and cook in a nonstick pan. Cook stews and soups the day before, chill and skim off all the coagulated fat before serving.
4) Vitamin, mineral and electrolyte supplements
Discuss with the doctor what types of vitamin and mineral supplements are safe. The doctor may also prescribe supplements that protect liver function. These products most often contain B vitamins and choline that assist liver function.
Someone suffering from dehydration because of repeated vomiting needs to drink an electrolyte mixture. In serious cases, the person may have to be put on a drip to replenish body water and electrolytes. Monitor the person's liquid intake and, if you suspect dehydration, contact your doctor immediately.
Dietary treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis
Serious long-term effects of hepatitis infection, which can become chronic, should always be treated by a clinical dietician. Ask the treating physician to refer you to a dietician in your area.
People with chronic hepatitis and liver damage require special diets that need to be worked out for the individual person so that further liver damage and long-term malnutrition can be prevented.
If you have to look after a person with acute hepatitis infection, you should be able to manage with the diet tips given above. However, any serious complication or drawn-out illness involving the liver needs the special attention of a clinical dietician.
