What types of liquid diets are there?

A liquid diet is, yes, you guessed it, a diet consisting of liquid consumption.

This is not, however, a new lifestyle. Because you cannot survive on liquids alone for very long. This is not a long-term commitment, like swearing off fatty foods, or soda or that third beer for breakfast. A liquid diet is a quick fix.

There are two types of liquid diet. There are clear liquids(not including vodka, gin and white wine) and full liquids. The two may have a liquid base in common, but the full liquid diet is less restrictive and can allow items like cream of wheat, oatmeal and, gasp, even butter.

Sometimes, a liquid diet may be recommended by your doctor. But no, not to shed extra pounds. Generally, a doctor will put a patient on a liquid diet prior to or after surgery. And the doctor might put you on a liquid diet for diagnostics, like x-rays, that require that no food be in the intestines or stomach. Though liquid diets should usually last no longer than a week, patients who are obese and undergoing bariatric surgery may be required to stay on a liquid diet for longer than a week, to allow their intestinal tract to heal.