Dietary Recommendation for Management of Malnutrition in Cirrhosis Based on Iranian Traditional Medicine, A Systematic Review

Malnutrition is prevalent in cirrhosis and can lead to more complications and reduce the quality of life. Therefore, improving the nutritional status of cirrhotic patients is necessary. The aim of this review was to assess the efficacy of dietary interventions for malnutrition management in cirrhosis suggested by Iranian traditional medicine (ITM). Recent research articles about malnutrition in cirrhotic patients were obtained through Google Scholar and PubMed and were compared with nutritional recommendations in ancient medical books. The recommended foods were classified based on their amino acid content according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) online database. Food is recommended for improving cirrhotic patients in ITM based on the notion that food can produce a good blood supply and can benefit the biliary duct obstructions and work as a tonic for liver. The recommended foods were shown to have beneficial effects they were claimed for based on modern nutrition findings. Nutritional advices in Iranian Traditional Medicine for cirrhosis diet modification can significantly improve malnutrition and living conditions in these patients according to the current knowledge of nutrition.