Kerri Waldron
Can we all please make a promise to one another? If you see medical advice on TikTok, refuse to believe it.
The latest offender? The Elemental diet. The one developed for astronauts until the astronauts refused to eat it. That one. At the moment it seems every week brings a new – or revived – diet trend, one claiming to do what actual science couldn’t and cure you of your ailments, help you lose weight, or make your hair that bit glossier etc. It’s all a bit tiring. Especially so when actual experts are debunking these online trends left right and centre.
What is the Elemental diet?
Dubbed the ‘space diet’, the elemental diet was developed half a century ago for space exploration purposes. Yes, that means exactly what you think it means: astronauts relied on it during missions to help with digestion challenges in zero-gravity environments.
Not that they were happy about it.
“Apparently slurping down a bland and rather tasteless cocktail of free amino acids, short-chain peptides, simple carbs, fats, and micronutrients wasn’t exactly a hit with astronauts,” says Alex Ruani, chief science educator at The Health Sciences Academy.
After that, space slop was on the outs, dehydrated natural foodstuff on the in.
But what actually is the Elemental diet? “A medical elemental diet formulation is typically free from allergens, with minimal non-absorbable content like fibre, low in fat, and free from food additives including emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, and food colorants (the latter to mitigate a mucosal inflammation in the gastrointestinal system),” says Ruani.
In short, it’s a liquid meal replacement that breaks down nutrients into their most basic form, making them easier for the body to absorb – making it great for people with Crohn’s disease, but perhaps less appetising for everyone else.
Is it actually good for me?
The Elemental diet is of course having a bit of a moment because of TikTok – the platform guaranteed to make qualified nutritionists/PTs/just about anyone grind their teeth at all the misinformation and fads flying about.
It turns out there isn’t much science backing up the Elemental diet either, despite what your favourite influencer says.
Most studies took place in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, but not only are they outdated, Ruani says the methods used lack modern rigour.
“Studies have mainly focused on the diet’s effectiveness for supporting short-term symptom alleviation in acute conditions. But there’s limited evidence supporting its use for maintaining the remission of symptoms or improving outcomes over the long run,” Ruani says, pointing to a recent study review that carefully sifts through most of the available data.
In short, if you’re having digestive issues and your doctor recommends it, it might work for you. Otherwise there isn’t a lot to endear it.
Who can benefit and why?
Still keen to give it a go?
In the study Elemental Diet as a Therapeutic Modality: A Comprehensive Review, the authors aim to find out once and for all if there’s something to the diet.
It turns out that, as per a 2018 Cochrane review, an exclusive short-term elemental diet lasting 3 to 6 weeks helped to reduce Chron’s symptoms and acute gastrointestinal inflammation in 63 percent of cases, although relapse rates were high when the diet finished.
What’s more, in eosinophilic esophagitis – a chronic allergic condition that causes inflammation in the esophagus – an elemental diet did seem promising, but in Ruani’s opinion, the studies weren’t continued for long enough to give a proper set of data.
There’s another issue.
“It’s not surprising given how difficult it is for patients to stick to it,” she says. “It’s very restrictive and taste acceptance is a problem. Another big challenge is designing an appropriate diet after discontinuation, since symptoms often return once the diet is stopped.”
Source: bing.com
