Bland Diet | All About Bland Diet Plan

By | June 4, 2009

Bland Diet Tips And Suggestions For Bland Diet

What is bland diet? Is bland diet recommended for weight reduction and diabetes

The Bland diet is a more common usage of the term BRAT diet, so called because it is an acronym for the foods that the diet consists of. Later it was modified to be called the BRATTY diet. The bland diet is an absolutely inappropriate diet to follow for weight reduction and diabetes, and considering the amount of carbohydrates in the bland diet, it will probably even kill you. Diabetic diets are what you should be looking for and the Bernstein diet is more than apt for the purpose. The bland diet is actually an outdated diet plan that is used for patients with gastric disease.

What To Eat On A Bland Diet Plan?

The bland or BRATTY diet consists of an intake of Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast and Yogurt – and therefore the acronym. As one can see from the constituents of this diet it is very carbohydrate heavy and a diabetic ingesting this amount of sugars could, in a sense, be committing suicide. A more appropriate diet is the Bernstein diet, invented or deduced by Richard Bernstein. Bernstein was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1946 and, according to the knowledge of diabetic diets at the time, followed a high carbohydrate diet.

Over the years his condition worsened. In 1969, the first glucometer was invented and he used this instrument to try and analyze the root cause of his increasing diabetes. He found that despite the diet, his blood sugar levels were too high. After some research done on the topic of animal diabetes and some trial and error, he finally found out that the diet was wrong and the correction to be made was to cut down on carbohydrates and fats. With a modified diet he was then able to reverse his diabetic symptoms and gain a quality of life that he had never had. He later joined medical school at the age of 45 and became a doctor; after which, his research has been widely lauded and his diet specifications are prescribed even today.

The Bernstein diet allows for only 30 grams of carbohydrate intake a day. This may be modified to suit the activity needs of the dieter. The intake specifies six grams of carbohydrate for breakfast, which is the equivalent of a bowl of cereal, 12 grams for lunch and 12 for dinner. This is coupled with continuous testing of sugar levels up to 8 times a day – the only drawback of taking this diet.