By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of nutrition and dietetics practitioners, publishes the Nutrition Care Manual® This manual, which may also be referred to as a diet manual, is used by many hospital nutrition departments and dietetics practitioners. It is a web-based publication that includes comprehensive information about different diets (including diets for those with kidney disease, diabetes, heart disease, and many other conditions) as well as nutrition education materials. Nutrition education materials include sample menus that can be given to clients to help them visualize the foods that are included in their diet. While the Nutrition Care Manual has included a section on vegan/vegetarian diets for a long time, there were no resources for those needing to modify their diet so that it was both vegan/vegetarian and suitable for use with conditions like allergies, hypertension, or stroke. That has changed. The Nutrition Care Manual now has vegan and lacto-ovo vegetarian menus for every type of sample menu. So, for example there is a sample menu that is vegan and that meets the needs of someone with a wheat allergy, one that is vegan and suitable for someone with chronic kidney disease, and so on.

This resource is available for purchase. Many hospitals subscribe to it so hospitalized vegans can suggest that their dietitian check the Nutrition Care Manual if they have questions about how to combine a vegan diet with a diet to treat a medical condition.

 For more information, go to the Nutrition Care Manual website.