Liquid Diet Tips

Consuming a liquid-only diet for a period of time for medical reasons or weight loss can be risky if you don't plan your meals in advance or follow your doctor's instructions carefully. Consuming foods that can only be straw fed limits sources of nutrition and may cause unhealthy weight loss or other side effects such as slowed metabolism or loss of muscle mass.

Eat a Balanced Diet

Continue to consume foods from all five food groups every day. This is easily done with dairy, fruit and vegetables. It becomes more difficult with carbohydrates and protein foods such as meat, beans and nuts. A blender is necessary to add these foods to juices or shakes as a way of adding substance and essential nutrients to the diet.

Plan Ahead

Collect a number of different recipes for smoothies and shakes. Find recipes that contain carbohydrates and protein. Plan meals at least one day in advance to include all the major food groups in a liquid diet for that day. This helps ensure that you don't become undernourished and stay as healthy as possible during your liquid diet.

Count Calories

If using this diet for emergency weight loss or medical necessity, determine where the calories originate. Try to get as many calories as possible from nutritional foods and avoid things such as ice cream as a main calorie source. This helps get as much nutritional value as possible from the diet and decreases unhealthy eating habits. Consuming a large number of sugar-filled calories while consuming a significantly lower calorie count overall could result in increased fat storage because of slowed metabolism.

Length of Diet

Don't stay on a liquid diet for a long period of time. It is nearly impossible to take in a healthy number of calories per day on this type of diet. If instructed by the doctor to be on a liquid diet, ask about the recommended and do not exceed that time. Metabolism may slow in order to conserve your energy because of a low-calorie intake. This could actually have a negative effect on long-term weight loss.