An A to Z of guides and tips for eating well
Coeliac Disease is a life-long autoimmune condition, which causes a person’s immune system to attack its own tissues when gluten is eaten. This causes damage to the lining of the gut and means the body cannot absorb nutrients properly. 1 in 100 people have coeliac disease and the treatment includes a strict, life-long gluten free diet.
For more information on Coeliac Disease and the Gluten Free Diet, click on the Coeliac UK videos, below:
Information on reading food labels:
Cooking and eating gluten free
Listen to a 1-hour webinar, aimed at people who have just been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease. It includes frequently asked questions, and answers provided by a panel of experts including gastroenterologists, consultants, and specialist coeliac dietitians:
Further advice:
Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. There are 3.5 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 549,000 people who have the condition, but don’t know it.
There are two main types of diabetes:
Type 1 – where the body does not produce any insulin
Type 2 – where the body does not produce enough insulin. This can be due to insulin resistance, often caused by being above a healthy weight Insulin is a hormone that allows glucose from the bloodstream to enter the body’s cells and be transferred into energy.
The aim of the Dietitians is to improve the quality of life and knowledge of people living with diabetes helping to reduce complications.
Our Dietitians can help you to improve your diabetes control by supporting you with individually tailored dietary and lifestyle advice and education, helping you to understand how diet and diabetes medications can affect blood glucose control.
They are able give advice on how to achieve a healthy balanced diet that is suitable for diabetes, as well as other diagnosed conditions that you may have.
If applicable, our team can also support you to achieve a healthier weight for your height (Body Mass Index) as this can often result in a reduction of diabetes medications.
Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are serious conditions. They have a huge impact on each diagnosed person, and their families. Diabetes requires careful management every single day for the rest of their lives.
Useful links
Food Fact Sheet – Diabetes Type 1
Food Fact Sheet – Diabetes Type 2
Eating healthily and achieving a balanced, varied diet is important for good health and general wellbeing. It can help to maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease, stroke, some cancers, diabetes and osteoporosis.
Click here to visit the website of the British Dietetic Association (BDA).
Why is it important for people with COPD to eat well?
Eating a balanced and varied diet is vital for maintaining good health and can help people with COPD to maintain a healthy weight, preserve strength and fitness as well as fight infections.
People with COPD often have increased energy needs as their bodies must work harder to breathe and fight infections.
However, COPD may affect eating and drinking in many ways, such as:
- Increased effort to eat and lengthy eating due to shortness of breath, coughing, increased mucus production and chest infections
- Loss of appetite and feeling full quickly
- Unintentional weight loss with increased risk of malnutrition
- Low mood and feelings of anxiety reducing enjoyment of food
- Reduced physical fitness and muscle strength which may affect food shopping, cooking and meal preparation
- Dry mouth and taste changes due to oxygen therapy, nebulisers or inhalers which can make chewing and swallowing more difficult
Useful Resources and Links
Nutritional information for those at LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH risk of Malnutrition, from www.malnutritionpathway.co.uk:
Further information on Malnutrition from www.bda.uk.com:
The information on these webpages are not suitable for individuals with diabetes, following a renal diet or those with a lactose intolerance or a milk protein allergy. For individuals requiring a texture modified diet, follow guidelines which have been recommended by their Speech and Language Therapist.
NHS Patient Webinar:
COPD - Nutrition Advice & Eating With A Poor Appetite (05/01/2021)
Listen to NHS national experts discuss tips on how to manage your food intake and look after your nutrition in order to stay healthy with a diagnosis of COPD.
Further resources:
- Malnutrition Pathway
- BDA
- Bapen
- Asthma + Lung UK
- Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Carers UK
- Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust
- Age UK Lancashire
Practical guide to assist healthcare professionals in identifying and managing people with COPD who are malnourished or ‘at risk’ of Malnutrition from www.malnutritionpathway.co.uk
Food Allergy is when the body’s immune system reacts unusually to specific foods. Although allergic reactions are often mild, they can be very serious. Food allergies happen when the immune system mistakenly treats proteins found in food as a threat. As a result, a few chemicals are released in the body which result in the symptoms of an allergic reaction.
A food allergy is usually diagnosed by a skin prick or a blood test and in some cases, it may be diagnosed by an elimination diet.
Food Intolerance isn’t the same as a food allergy. People with a food intolerance may have symptoms such as diarrhoea, bloating and stomach cramps. No allergic reaction takes place. Usually the symptoms of an intolerance occur hours after eating the food.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a term used to describe Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease are long-term conditions that involve inflammation of the gut. Ulcerative colitis only affects the colon (large intestine). Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive system.
Please note that the information here is only directed to those who are in remission not those with active IBD.
Listen to an NHS multidisciplinary team including Specialist Gastroenterology Dietitians, Gastroenterology Consultant, IBD Clinical Nurse Specialist and a GP with special interest in IBD have recorded this nutrition webinar specifically for IBD patients in remission:
Further advice:
Visit the following resources for more information:
This is information about Irritable Bowel Syndrome from the Association of British Dietitians.
Listen to Specialist NHS Gastroenterology Dietitians giving the most up-to-date and accurate advice on first line dietary treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, including information on dairy, lactose, gluten and the low FODMAP diet and whether allergy testing is useful in IBS treatment.
Further advice:
Stopping smoking has many benefits for your health and mental wellbeing:
- More energy to exercise due to improved circulation
- Financial – average ex-smokers can save over £1,300 a year!
- Stress levels are lowered and anxiety levels drop just one week after quitting
- Bad breath, stained teeth and gum disease become a thing of the past
- Sense of taste and smell improves
- Your facial appearance (wrinkles and pallor) improves in the first month
- Life expectancy increases by up to 10 years
- Your lung capacity improves by up to 10% within nine months, allowing you to breathe more easily
- Fertility improves and likelihood of miscarriage reduces
This is our stop smoking service.
Stopping smoking is one of the best things you’ll ever do for your health. It is never too late to quit.If you can make it to 28 days smoke-free, you’re five-times more likely to quit for good,
MUST is a five-step nationally recognised and validated screening tool to identify adults who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. It is the most commonly used screening tool in the UK and is suitable for use in hospitals, community and other care settings.
This tool can be completed electronically using the online MUST calculator.
The MUST is reproduced here with the kind permission of BAPEN (British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition). This is the MUST toolkit.
Why do I need to eat well?
When you are well nourished you can fight infection and disease more easily. Without enough to eat you may feel weak and tired.
When we are ill we often need more protein to help us recover and repair body tissue damage.
It is important that we eat plenty of calories to help our bodies use the extra protein.
Try the following food first approach to boost the nutritional value of your meals without increasing the portion size: small and often meals. Aim for six eating occasions daily:
Look after your vitamins and minerals
How to make fortified full fat milk (video)
High energy, high protein oral shots
The information on these pages is not suitable for individuals with diabetes, following a renal diet, or those with a lactose intolerance or a milk protein allergy.
For individuals requiring a texture modified diet, follow guidelines which have been recommended by their speech and language therapist.
This is information from the British Dietitians Association on malnutrition.
Dementia may affect eating and drinking in many ways, such as:
- Loss of appetite, weight loss and increased risk of malnutrition
- Difficulty recognising or communicating hunger or thirst
- Struggling with shopping, cooking and meal preparation
- Challenges with self-feeding, chewing and swallowing
- Fatigue, low mood and feelings of anxiety
- Sensory changes and changes in taste or food preferences
- Wandering at meal times
What can be done to support eating and drinking?
Help create a RELAXED and PLEASANT meal environment
Tackle TASTE CHANGES
Consider offering ‘Finger Foods’ for those who WANDER AT MEALTIMES or struggle to use cutlery
Start ‘Food First and Homemade Nourishing Drinks’ for those with a POOR APPETITE and LOSING WEIGHT
This information may not be suitable for individuals with diabetes, following a renal diet or those with a lactose intolerance or a milk protein allergy. For individuals requiring a texture modified diet, follow guidelines which have been recommended by their Speech and Language Therapist.
Further information
Click here to see a resource from the BDA.
Click here for information from a range of organisations:
