A full-liquid diet consists of liquid foods that offer more nutrition than simple tea or broth. It's similar to a clear liquid diet, which includes only water, tea and broth, but expands the options to include all foods that are liquid or turn to liquid at room temperature or melt at body temperature.
When is a Full Liquid Diet Recommended?
Your doctor may recommend a full liquid diet when you’re:
- Preparing for a test or medical procedure
- Recovering from a surgery, such as bariatric surgery
- Having difficulty swallowing or chewing
- Recovering from pancreatitis
- Following dental or oral surgery
- After gastrointestinal surgery or to ease the symptoms of a digestive disease
- Following the loss of multiple teeth
- After breaking bones in the mouth or jaw
- When a doctor or dentist wires the jaw shut
Most people will only need to follow a full liquid diet for short periods of time, from a few days to up to 2 weeks. A full liquid diet makes it more difficult to consume a large number of calories.
What You Can Eat on a Full Liquid Diet
On a full liquid diet, you may eat foods that are liquid or turn liquid at room temperature. These foods contain little to no fiber or protein, so they give your digestive system a break. Compared to a clear liquid diet, there are a variety of foods you may eat on a full liquid diet. The foods that a person should eat on a full liquid diet depend on their nutritional needs and a doctor’s recommendations. A person may be able to consume the following:
- All of the foods that a clear liquid diet allows, including: water, fruit juices, lemonade, soup broth, gelatin, honey, tea, coffee, popsicles.
- Pureed fruits and vegetables
- Strained or pureed soups
- Milk
- Strained or pureed meats
- Baby food
- Cream of Wheat
- Strained oatmeals
- Smoothies
- Protein drinks and other liquid nutritional supplements
- Ice cream
- Milkshakes (you may add smooth peanut butter or canned fruit, but blend until smooth)
- Margarine, butter, and mayonnaise
- Pudding
Here's a breakdown of acceptable food categories:
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- Fruits and vegetables: all fruit or veggie juices (avoid pulp unless your doctor says otherwise).
- Soups: bouillon, clear broths (beef, chicken, vegetable), strained and pureed vegetable soup, strained meat- or cream-based soups (may contain pureed veggies or meat).
- Dairy: all types of cow’s milk (whole, low-fat, reduced-fat, fat-free), lactose-free milk products, such as soy, almond, or flax milk, half-and-half, butter, sour cream, custard-style yogurts.
- Grains: Cream of Wheat, Cream of Rice, grits, other cooked cereals made from refined grains and thinned with milk.
- Fats: butter, margarine, mayonnaise, creamy peanut butter or nut butter of choice.
- Beverages: coffee and tea, hot cocoa, artificially flavored fruit drinks, lemonades, sports drinks, like Gatorade, milkshakes (you may add smooth peanut butter or canned fruit, but blend until smooth), pasteurized eggnog.
- Supplement beverages: Ensure, Boost, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Glucerna.
- Desserts: pudding, custard, gelatin ice cream (plain varieties), sherbet, popsicles, fruit ices.
- Other additions: sweeteners, such as honey, sugar, and maple syrup, salt, herbs, spices, and flavored syrups, like chocolate syrup, brewer’s yeast.
Ask your doctor or dietitian about the following foods. They’re sometimes included in a full liquid diet or as you get closer to resuming a solid diet: pureed fruits, such as applesauce, pureed vegetables diluted into soups, such as strained pumpkin puree in a cream soup, cooked cereals, such as oatmeal, pureed potatoes, strained, pureed meats.
Foods to Avoid
You should avoid any solid foods on a full-liquid diet. This means to stay away from raw, cooked, or canned fruits or vegetables that have the skin or seeds. A person on a full liquid diet needs to avoid solid foods, as well as pureed foods that may have chunks in them. Some examples of foods to avoid include:
- Mashed fruits and vegetables, such as mashed avocado
- Nuts and seeds
- Hard and soft cheeses
- Soups with noodles, rice, or other chunks in it
- Ice cream with solids in it
- Bread
- Whole cereals and other grains
- Meats and meat substitutes
- Carbonated beverages, such as sparkling water and soda
- Whole fruits and vegetables
- Bread
- Cereal
- Soups containing large or hard chunks
- Solid meat or fish
- Anything with seeds or other hard or sharp particles
- Nuts and peanut butter
- Ice cream with chunks
- Noodles
- Rice
- Cookies and cakes
- Cheese
- Tofu
People who have had stomach surgery may also want to avoid consuming oranges and other acidic fruit and vegetable juices, as these juices may cause burning. If you’re concerned about your vitamin C consumption, ask your healthcare professional about liquid vitamin C supplements. They may give you further diet instructions based on the procedure you had.
Sample Menu
You may need to eat more than the three standard meals a day to get in all your calories and nutrients. Try eating six to eight times throughout the day with a variety of liquids and strained or blended foods. To increase your caloric intake, incorporate full-fat dairy, such as butter or whole milk, or high calorie supplement shakes. A liquid multivitamin is another good option if you’re worried about getting full nutrition on this diet.
A day’s menu might include:
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- Breakfast: 1 cup of hot cereal (like Cream of Wheat) thinned with whole milk, 1/2 cup fruit juice
- Morning snack: 1/2 cup supplement beverage, like Boost or Ensure, 1/2 cup custard-style yogurt
- Lunch: 2 cups of soup, 1/2 cup tomato juice, 1 cup chocolate pudding
- Afternoon snack: 1/2 cup supplement beverage, 1/2 cup fruit juice
- Dinner: 2 cups soup, 1/2 to 1 cup blended oatmeal thinned with milk, 1/2 cup lemonade
- Evening snack: 1 cup supplement beverage, 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
Tips for Following a Full Liquid Diet
Here are some considerations for making the diet more manageable:
- Pureed foods should be of stage 1 or “baby food” consistency. Before mixing them into soups and other liquids, there should be no chunks or visible pieces.
- Adding milk, water, salad dressings, and mayonnaise can help moisten foods for easier blending.
- Feeling full is a sign to stop drinking. Pay attention to your body’s signals as you consume liquids. That said, try to get in at least 64 ounces of liquids each day.
- Trouble drinking enough is also a concern. Try drinking what you can at 15-to 20-minute intervals throughout the day.
- Nutritional supplements may be a good option if you need to be on a full-liquid diet for longer than five days. Discuss your options with your doctor.
- It can be challenging to get enough protein and fiber on a full liquid diet, so people following this diet - especially if they are doing so for longer than a few days - should prioritize nutrient-dense foods.
- Some examples of foods that a person may be able to eat and that offer more nutritional value include: low sugar protein drinks, fruit and vegetable smoothies, soft egg-based products, such as eggnog or baby food with eggs, pureed meats and beans, mashed potatoes with meat-based gravy, milk.
- People should ask their doctor to provide a detailed list of exactly which foods they should eat and which they should avoid when on a full liquid diet.
- People may find the following practices helpful: avoiding getting all or most calories from sweet foods, such as ice cream, increasing fiber intake by drinking thin smoothies comprising fruits, vegetables, and Greek yogurt, trying milk as a protein source, avoiding foods that have little nutritional value, such as popsicles and gelatin, keeping a dietary log to track nutrients over time.
Potential Risks and Considerations
You may lose weight rapidly while following this type of diet. It’s meant to be used temporarily, not long term, unless directed by your healthcare professional. For most people, a full liquid diet is a short-term measure. People who must stick to a full liquid diet for longer must be mindful of the foods that they eat and avoid potentially unhealthful options.
It is very difficult to get enough nutrients on a full liquid diet, especially long term. Liquid diets are typically low in vitamin A, iron, vitamin B-12, and thiamine. People who must eat a full liquid diet for extended periods may need to take supplements to prevent nutritional deficits. It is possible to get enough protein, fiber, and other essential nutrients on a full liquid diet. However, doing so requires some planning and basic dietary knowledge. People on this diet who are recovering from surgery may not have the energy or motivation to seek out healthful foods. One of the biggest risks is that a person may rely on easy but less nutritious foods, such as melted ice cream or high sodium broths.
While a full liquid diet may satisfy a person’s cravings better than a clear liquid diet, following a full liquid diet can still be difficult and frustrating. In addition to malnutrition from long-term use, some other risks include: chronic hunger, mood swings due to hunger, lack of pleasure in eating, difficulty eating out or participating in other social activities that center around food.
Experiencing fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain are all reasons to contact your healthcare professional.
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Alternatives to a Full Liquid Diet
Although doctors may recommend a full liquid diet for a variety of conditions, some research suggests that this diet may be more restrictive than necessary. A 2010 study, for example, found that a full solid diet was safe for people recovering from mild acute pancreatitis and shortened hospital stays. A 2012 analysis concluded that a soft diet was also safe for people recovering from mild acute pancreatitis.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
A person whose doctor recommends a full liquid diet should ask them questions such as:
- What can I do to stay healthy on this diet?
- How long will I need to be on this diet?
- What are the risks of this diet?
- Why do you recommend this diet?
- Is there an alternative to this diet?
- What specific foods should I avoid?