Clear Liquid Diet ?

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2005

Which one can you see through when held up to the light?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 4, 2005

Cherry Gelatin

Orange juice is not considered a clear liquid. I wish it was, but you can't see through it. :)

jmgrn65, RN · Oct 5, 2005

:yeahthat: :yeahthat:

Cherry Gelatin
Orange juice is not considered a clear liquid. I wish it was, but you can't see through it. :)

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Oct 5, 2005

Yep, that's how you tell when in doubt. Had the same conversation when a pancreatitis patient told me coffee was clear. No, how about some apple juice?

hrtprncss · Oct 5, 2005

some clear liquid diets prohibit cherry gelatin or anything red tinted... though technically it's the right answer between the two.

EDIT: oopsss i meant OJ is technically the right answer between the two...

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 8, 2005

Agree that some diets don't allow anything red- such as post op T&A or UP3 but those are always the same kiddies that get liquid tylenol or tylenol with codeine- guess what coloor those are?!

Anyway, OJ is an absolute no-no on clear liquids. Especially pre-op. It's not only not clear but also acidic and a great culture medium therefor one of the worst possible things to aspirate. (And for a throat surgery pt- oww!)

Remember not to over anylize those questions- unless the question states anything that hints at a red restriction, the cherry geletin question is right!

(now an FYI about clear liquid diets- they are going to give your "cultural diet" pts problems. No geletin for your 7th Day adventist, Mulim, or Jewish pts! Read the label if it's in snack cup, like Hunts, sometimes it's geletin-free. Then the mom's want to know where they can buy it because their kids always wanted to try jell-o! :chuckle I'm a veggie and dread they day I'm hospitalized with a CL diet. At home I get geletin-free jelly cups and veggie broth)

suzanne4, RN · Oct 9, 2005

Gelatin used to be made from hooves, there are actually many that use a synthetic so it can be eaten. Actually very common to see a "jello mold" with fruit and nuts to be made by the little Jewish grandmother.

MissJoRN, RN · Oct 9, 2005

Gelatin used to be made from hooves, there are actually many that use a synthetic so it can be eaten. Actually very common to see a "jello mold" with fruit and nuts to be made by the little Jewish grandmother.

You're right, there are a few brands of boxed mixes that are gelatin free, I do get those on occasion, and there is also a kosher gelatin that uses a pork free base. All the same, many people who avoid gelatin for religious reasons will not eat it away from home where they can't verify for themselves where it came from. I had one mother come into her childs room just after I gave him a snack cup and start to yell at me... I was glad that I had verified that that brand of snack-cup was pectin based! Believe me, she's not the first or last patient/family member to express concern.

I didn't mean to "hijack" this post, just thought I'd add a little FYI because after that screaming mom 2 nurses commented that they were glad it was me and not them, they wouldn't have known to check the label before giving it to the child and would have given him any gelatin snack. Sorry!

ZASHAGALKA, RN · Oct 9, 2005

neither.

The 'correct' answer is that OJ isn't a clear liquid and jello is.

But no way I'd give a fresh post op pt cherry jello - they'd throw it back up right when the doc walks in and then I'd be busy for 2 hrs putting down NGTs and drawing H/Hs, going for bleeding scans, etc. etc.

OH yeah, and all that stuff wouldn't be good for the pt, either. Especially if all he did to deserve it was eat some jello.

~faith,

Timothy.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 9, 2005

A clear liquid is one that when held up to light has no sediments or any small pieces of food matter in it. OJ doesn't qualify because it often has some pulp in it. Also, it would probably not be a good idea to be giving a post-op GI patient OJ since it is acidic and you want to give more bland type foods the body can assimilate easily in their GI system. The idea is that the clear liquid is going to be absorbed as it goes through the GI tract producing no stool. There can be no food fiber in clear liquids, so this eliminates things like milk. Gelatin is a clear liquid (as long as there is no pieces of fruit in it) and also a source of protein for the patient.