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Diet for toxic hepatitis
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

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Many methods are used to treat toxic liver damage. Therapeutic nutrition is especially effective. Let's look at the basic principles of diet therapy, menus and recipes.
Toxic hepatitis develops due to the penetration of harmful chemicals into the body. It can occur in acute and chronic forms. According to ICD-10, the disease code is K71. Acute disease occurs due to a high concentration of poisons in liver cells. Chronic form develops gradually, with repeated exposure to poisons and toxins. In the first case, symptoms appear after 2-3 days, and in the second, they appear after months and even years.
The onset of the disease is most often associated with professional, accidental and intentional (alcoholism, drug addiction) factors. Getting into the blood, liver poisons disrupt the supply of oxygen to cells and block the blood supply. Toxic hepatitis can be alcoholic, medicinal (drug-induced) and professional.
The main symptoms of the disease:
- Yellowness of the skin and mucous membranes
- Urine is a deep dark color
- Minor skin hemorrhages
- Discolored stool
- Nosebleeds
- Hemorrhagic phenomena
Instrumental and laboratory methods are used for diagnostics. To eliminate the disease, a comprehensive approach is used, which consists of drug therapy, diet and physiotherapy. But the primary goal of recovery is to stop contact with poisons.
Treatment of toxic hepatitis with diet
Therapy for liver diseases involves a comprehensive approach. This is due to the fact that toxic hepatitis is the most dangerous organ lesion. The patient suffers from increasing painful symptoms, yellowing of the skin and disruptions in the functioning of many organs and systems. Very often, the disease is an acute stage of a chronic form caused by the consumption of large amounts of alcohol or products with toxins.
Basic principles of nutrition:
- Quitting alcohol and nicotine.
- Fractional diet (5-6 meals a day, in small portions) for normal excretion of bile.
- Avoid fatty, fried, salty and other unhealthy foods.
- Conducting fasting days (once a week/month it is recommended to consume only vegetables or fruits).
- The diet should be balanced, the body should receive 100 g of protein, 80 g of fat and 350 g of carbohydrates daily.
- Maintaining water balance (two liters of purified water per day).
Treatment of toxic hepatitis with diet is carried out after medical therapy, which in most cases is carried out in a hospital setting. The diet should be followed for a long period of time after discharge. Ideally, such nutrition should become the norm, that is, part of the lifestyle.
The essence of the diet for toxic hepatitis
During the treatment of liver diseases and any other internal organs, the patient will have to completely change his diet. The essence of the diet for toxic hepatitis is the complete rejection of products that negatively affect the cells of the organ and disrupt its functioning. The medical name of the diet is diet table No. 5. The patient will have to give up alcohol and smoking. It is necessary to eat often, but in small portions. Fractional nutrition will help to avoid overeating, which worsens the excretion of bile.
Recommendations:
- You need to exclude salt, various spices, sweets, fatty meats, fish and poultry from your diet.
- Patients are not recommended to eat fried foods, baked goods, legumes, sour and overly sweet fruits and vegetables.
- Carbohydrates should make up the bulk of your diet, as they don't put a strain on your stomach but provide a supply of energy.
Food should be healthy and natural. It is best to cook by steaming, boiling, baking or stewing. Fried food should be avoided. Canned food, smoked food, various pickles and products with GMOs and artificial additives are prohibited. The diet should include vitamin food (preference should be given to B vitamins) and rich in plant fiber.
Diet menu
In order for the recovery process from hepatitis to be not only fast, but also tasty, it is recommended to create a special diet menu. First of all, it is necessary to remember that you need to eat often (every 3-4 hours), but in small portions. Food is contraindicated to fry with the addition of oil or fat. You cannot use a lot of salt, various seasonings, spices and sauces. The basis of the diet should be vegetables, fruits, cereals, lean meats, dairy products and greens.
Sample diet menu for a week:
Monday
- Breakfast: oatmeal with dried fruits, green tea.
- Snack: any fruit and 100 g of biscuits.
- Lunch: fish soup, buckwheat with chicken meatballs and salad.
- Snack: dried fruit and yogurt.
- Dinner: baked apple with a spoonful of honey, raisins and cinnamon.
- Second dinner: a glass of kefir or milk.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese casserole with tea.
- Snack: fruit salad and a couple of slices of black bread.
- Lunch: vegetable soup, mashed potatoes with steamed cutlets and greens.
- Snack: unleavened biscuit or crackers with tea.
- Dinner: rice with boiled fish.
- Second dinner: herbal tea or kefir with biscuits.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: steamed omelette made from one egg with milk and vegetables.
- Snack: fruit or vegetable juice with crackers or yesterday's bread.
- Lunch: pickle soup, wheat porridge with meatballs.
- Snack: tea and any fruit.
- Dinner: baked or boiled chicken with vegetables.
- Second dinner: a glass of kefir or yogurt, a banana.
Thursday
- Breakfast: green tea and vegetable salad.
- Snack: 200 g cottage cheese with sour cream.
- Lunch: milk soup with buckwheat, pasta with meat gravy.
- Snack: a handful of dried fruit or any fruit.
- Dinner: baked potatoes and vegetable salad dressed with sour cream.
- Second dinner: tea or kefir, biscuits.
Friday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese and dried fruit casserole, tea.
- Snack: dry biscuit with juice.
- Lunch: beetroot soup, barley porridge with steamed cutlets and vegetable salad.
- Snack: fruit juice with crackers.
- Dinner: boiled fish with rice.
- Second dinner: a glass of kefir or green tea.
Saturday
- Breakfast: fruit salad and herbal tea.
- Snack: any fruit, tea or juice.
- Lunch: vegetable broth with croutons from yesterday's bread, buckwheat with cabbage cutlets.
- Snack: any fruit and juice.
- Dinner: baked chicken with vegetables and low-fat hard cheese.
- Second dinner: a glass of kefir or tea.
Sunday
- Breakfast: herbal tea, oatmeal with honey.
- Snack: cottage cheese with fruit.
- Lunch: chicken noodle soup, mashed potatoes with steamed lean beef cutlets, vegetable salad.
- Snack: any fruit and tea with crackers.
- Dinner: steamed fish with vegetables.
- Second dinner: kefir or yogurt with biscuits.
Diet recipes for toxic hepatitis
You can diversify the boring diet menu for toxic liver damage with tasty and healthy recipes. You should cook only from permitted products with a minimum addition of salt and vegetable oils. Products should undergo heat treatment, it is better to boil, bake, steam or stew them, but you should avoid frying.
Diet recipes for toxic hepatitis:
[ 7 ]
Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
- Boiled chicken breast 100 g.
- Carrot 1 pc.
- Onion 1 pc.
- Cauliflower 100 g.
- Tomato 2 pcs.
- Sour cream 50 g.
- Butter 20 g.
- Egg 1 pc.
Wash, peel and simmer carrots, onions, cauliflower and tomatoes in a frying pan with butter. Finely chop the chicken breast and mix with the vegetables. Mix the egg with sour cream and stir with the remaining ingredients. Transfer the future casserole to a baking dish lined with parchment and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 180-200 degrees until golden brown. 1-2 minutes before the dish is ready, you can add a little low-fat hard cheese.
Diet steamed cabbage and chicken cutlets
- Cabbage 300 g.
- Milk 500 ml.
- Butter 10 g.
- Chicken meat 200 g.
- Egg 1 pc.
Finely chop the cabbage and boil in milk with butter. Mix the chicken with the cabbage (squeeze out the milk) and egg, grind until minced. Form cutlets, put in a steamer for 10 minutes until done.
[ 8 ]
Lazy dumplings
- Low-fat cottage cheese 300 g.
- Flour 100 g.
- Egg 1 pc.
- Salt 2 g.
- Sugar 1 tsp.
- Sour cream 100 g.
Mix the cottage cheese with the egg, salt and sugar, gradually adding flour. You should get a fluffy dough that does not spread, but is not too dense. Roll the dough into a sausage, cut it into pieces and throw it into boiling water to cook. Dumplings are cooked for about 5 minutes, after which they need to be collected with a slotted spoon, put on a plate and seasoned with sour cream.
Oatmeal cookies for tea
- Oat flakes 250 g.
- Kefir 200 ml.
- Honey 2 tsp.
- Raisin
- Dried apricots
- Nuts
Soak the oatmeal in kefir overnight, add dried fruits and honey. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, you should get a dense mass. Place the future cookies on a silicone mat or baking sheet with parchment. Bake the cookies at 160-180 degrees for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Vitamin Smoothie
- Banana 1 pc.
- Kefir or yogurt 250 ml.
- Honey 1 tsp.
- Raisins 10 g.
Grind the banana in a blender, add kefir, honey and raisins, mix until smooth. Before use, the smoothie must be cooled.
What can you eat with toxic hepatitis?
Since dietary nutrition implies certain restrictions in nutrition, the question of what can be eaten with toxic hepatitis becomes relevant. The daily diet should include the following products:
- Porridge
- Lean meat and poultry
- Dairy products (low-fat cottage cheese, milk)
- Lenten fish
- Dried bread and bran
- Fresh vegetables, fruits, greens
- Green tea
Nutrition should be fractional, 5-6 meals a day, in small portions. It is recommended to adhere to the principle of separate nutrition, that is, do not mix carbohydrate and protein foods in one meal. Soups and porridges should be the main dishes in the diet. It is better to steam, boil or bake, frying with the addition of fats and oil should be avoided. Of the protein products, no more than one egg per day, cottage cheese, milk, kefir, various yogurts are allowed.
Sweet lovers will have to give up rich pastries, cakes and pastries. They can be replaced with marshmallows, marmalade, jam, sweet berries and fruits. As for drinks, it is worth giving preference to herbal decoctions and infusions, fruit and vegetable juices. As for spices, you can use greens, a little salt, and butter or vegetable oil as a dressing for ready-made dishes.
What should you not eat if you have toxic hepatitis?
Treatment of liver diseases involves avoiding foods that are difficult to digest. Let's consider what you can't eat with toxic hepatitis:
- Fatty fish, meat and poultry
- Fatty dairy products (milk, kefir, cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream)
- Eggs (no more than one per day)
- Legumes and mushrooms
- Various smoked and pickled products
- Canned goods, sausages
- Spinach, sorrel, garlic
- Carbonated drinks, coffee, strong black tea
- Cocoa and chocolate
- Salt (no more than 10 g per day)
- Various seasonings and sauces
- Confectionery and sweets
- Nuts, ice cream
Despite such a large list of restrictions, patients have the opportunity to create a tasty, varied, and most importantly healthy menu that will help restore the damaged organ.
Diet Reviews
Diet therapy is used as a therapeutic and preventive measure for many diseases. Numerous positive reviews of the diet for toxic liver damage indicate its effectiveness. The advantage of proper nutrition is that it helps the body recover, supplying it with the necessary vitamins and minerals.
Diet is as important as medical therapy. Without proper treatment, the disease can lead to serious complications:
- Liver failure – hepatocytes are destroyed and replaced by fat cells, which disrupt liver function. This results in swelling, jaundice, frequent bleeding, and sudden weight loss.
- Liver cirrhosis is considered the most dangerous complication that occurs due to the replacement of hepatocytes with connective tissue.
- Hepatic coma – leads to disruption of the functioning of the entire organism and can cause death.
Diet for toxic liver hepatitis is indicated for patients of all ages and with any form of the disease. Therapeutic nutrition has a beneficial effect on the body and minimizes discomfort, making recovery less painful.