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Diet in colic: intestinal, hepatic, renal colic
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
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It should be immediately clarified that treating colic with a diet will not be able to alleviate or completely stop sudden attacks of extremely painful spasms in the intestines, kidneys or liver. Antispasmodics and painkillers are taken for this. But in the complex treatment of intestinal, kidney and liver pathologies - that is, the true causes of this symptom - dietary nutrition plays a very important role.
We would like to draw attention to the fact that the diseases that cause colic have different etiologies, and there is no single diet for all cases and cannot be. So the diet for colic in an adult will depend on the disease he has.
Diet for intestinal colic
The diet recommended by specialists for intestinal colic should take into account the pathogenesis of sharp paroxysmal pains that can occur with numerous gastrointestinal diseases, infections, helminthiasis, heavy metal poisoning, intestinal prolapse or obstruction. The mechanism of pain development is associated with spasms due to peristalsis disorders and intestinal stretching with the accumulation of feces and intestinal gases.
What should you not eat if you have intestinal colic? Nutritionists insist on temporarily refraining from eating foods that promote increased intestinal gas formation: fatty meat and all animal fats, whole milk, rye bread and fresh bakery products, legumes, some cereals (millet, oatmeal, pearl barley and corn grits), sugar and sweets. You should also avoid eating cabbage, potatoes, radishes, fresh cucumbers and sweet peppers, onions (raw), pears, grapes, dates and prunes.
What can you eat with colic? The foods that should be in the diet for intestinal colic are determined by the diet for intestinal diseases. This is lean meat, chicken eggs, vegetable and butter, the entire range of fermented milk products, buckwheat, rice, vegetables (boiled or stewed), fruit juices, dried white bread.
Diet for hepatic colic
The most suitable diet for hepatic colic is a diet for gallstone disease, because this very common disease is most often accompanied by hepatic (or biliary) colic. However, this symptom is also inherent in such a pathology as a kink in the gallbladder.
What should not be eaten for colic caused by bile stasis or the movement of stones through the bile ducts? The following should be excluded from the diet: fatty meats and poultry (and broths based on them), as well as offal; meat delicacies (primarily smoked products); egg yolks; all hot seasonings, spices, sauces, ketchup and vegetable marinades; mushrooms in any form; peas, lentils and beans; onions and garlic; all canned goods; sour fruits and juices; fresh bread.
Gastroenterologists strongly recommend thinning bile by drinking enough water (never carbonated water!) – up to two liters daily, reducing the amount of table salt (up to 10 grams per day), and eating food in small portions at least five times a day and, preferably, “on schedule.”
The diet menu for colic associated with problems of the gallbladder and the entire biliary system should not include fried foods: only boiled, baked in the oven or cooked in a steamer. Even a regular omelet should be steamed and only from whites.
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Diet for renal colic
What diet for colic should help if it is renal colic? Do you know that the cause of such colic is kidney stones, that is, urolithiasis, which affects 12% of people? The pain during renal colic is so unbearable that the person loses consciousness; the temperature rises, uncontrollable vomiting begins... In general, this condition requires urgent medical care.
The diet for renal colic - when acute pain is relieved - completely prohibits eating fried, spicy, salty and all seasonings, meat and offal, mushrooms and legumes. Salt and chocolate, coffee and strong black tea are prohibited.
What can you eat with colic? Whole grain porridge, light vegetable soups and boiled or stewed vegetables without oil. And most importantly, drink as much water as possible: up to three liters per day.
A mandatory condition that nephrologists warn about is to accurately determine the chemical composition of the stones, because they can be oxalate, urate and phosphate. And only after this can the doctor determine the diet that must be followed for each type of kidney stones. For example, if with oxalate and phosphate stones you can eat meat, then with urate stones a dairy and plant diet is prescribed.
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Diet for a nursing mother with colic
The diet of a nursing mother for colic in an infant is actually the same as the diet for colic in newborns, since breast milk is the main “product” in the diet of children in the first year of life (with natural feeding).
Pediatricians name several causes of colic in newborns, among which may be constipation, gastroesophageal reflux, lactose intolerance, subdural hematoma, etc. But the whole point is that the gastrointestinal tract and digestive enzymes in most babies are simply not ready for a new way of eating, so for some time the process of adaptation of the small organism to the changed conditions takes place.
However, if the mother follows a diet for colic in newborns, this adaptation is easier, and the baby will quickly adapt to digesting breast milk.
First of all, doctors do not recommend nursing mothers to eat too fatty foods; milk and dairy products; any freshly baked yeast bread, pastries and pasta; all types of cabbage and legumes; radishes, spinach, paprika and fresh cucumbers; pears, apricots, peaches and grapes; chocolate, nuts and natural honey. Carbonated mineral water, sweet carbonated drinks and kvass are completely excluded.
Menu and recipes for colic diet
As you understand, it is quite problematic to offer a detailed diet menu for colic - intestinal, renal, hepatic, as well as for colic in newborns. The main thing is to take into account the characteristics of the pathology that causes this symptom, and not to eat foods that can aggravate it. At the same time, it is important that the daily diet corresponds to the physiological needs of the body and provides it with the necessary nutrients.
Accordingly, colic diet recipes should include only those products that are acceptable for a specific disease. Cooking methods are also of great importance. Many diets, including colic diets, do not allow fried foods, so instead of fried cutlets, steamed meatballs should be prepared. And, by the way, almost all diet dishes are very easy to prepare.