Special Medical Diets

In 2008, Americans spent $234.1 billion on prescription drugs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Despite their growing popularity, prescription drugs have only recently taken over from food as the preferred form of treating illnesses. Food has been used medicinally for over 5,000 years. Today, health professionals increasingly recognize the healing power of foods and recommend special medical diets to treat a variety of health problems.

The DASH Diet

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet, commonly referred to as the DASH diet, is recommended to help to lower blood pressure. Based on study findings supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, this diet stresses reducing your salt intake and eating fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry, nuts, whole grains, and low-fat or fat-free dairy products. It's also low in cholesterol, fat --- especially saturated and trans fats --- sweets, added sugar and red meat. The recommended foods contain nutrients that help lower blood pressure, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the DASH diet can reduce your blood pressure within two weeks.

Diabetes Diet

Medical Nutrition Therapy, also known as a diabetes diet, is designed to control blood glucose levels. It involves eating a variety of nutritious foods in moderate portions at regular times throughout the day. High-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts are a key part of this diet. Heart-healthy foods such as fish like salmon, herring and mackerel should replace fatty meats at least twice a week. A diabetes diet allows no more than 7 percent of daily calories from saturated fats and less than 2,000 mg of salt per day. The exchange system is also part of the diabetes diet. It refers to substituting one serving of food for another with similar effects on your blood glucose levels. A dietitian can provide more information on using the exchange system.

Very Low-calorie Diet

This diet is medically supervised and designed to achieve rapid weight loss in adult obese patients. It includes commercially-prepared formulas such as liquid shakes or bars, which typically replace all the food you eat for a prescribed period of time. Due to the low-calorie content of this diet, the formulas are created with the right amount of vitamins and micronutrients to ensure that patients' nutritional needs aren't compromised. In some cases, a doctor may recommend a very low-calorie diet that consists only of lean protein foods like chicken and fish. The goal is to keep your caloric intake at 800 or less. To begin this diet, you must be first examined by a health professional and remain under her care for the duration.

Diet for Crohn's Disease Flare

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that targets any area of the digestive tract and causes symptoms such as diarrhea, poor fat absorption and fistulas, which are abnormal openings between the intestine, an organ, vessel or another structure. During a flare, dietary changes can relieve some of the symptoms. For instance, eating a low-residue --- or low-fiber --- diet can relieve diarrhea and abdominal pain. Avoiding nuts, seeds, kernels, and beans is important for reducing strictures or scarring and narrowing of the digestive tract. Restricting fat intake relieves poor digestion of fat, while cutting back on dairy products lessens symptoms such as bloating, cramping, diarrhea and gas. A diet for Crohn's diseases flares also restricts caffeinated beverages.