Sorry to bring up such a subject, but I needed some information about this recently, and it wasn't so easy to find, believe it or not. Anyway, now that I've found the information I was looking for, I'm sharing what I learned, because I'm sure I can't be the only one who wanted -needed - to know these things.
Not peculiar to people 50 and over, colonoscopies are recommended for most folks beginning at age 50, and then every ten years thereafter. Here's the thing: the week or so of diet change and prep is the hardest part. Unfortunately, my first time, my doctor said, "You didn't do enough," and sent me home to prep some MORE, so I basically had to undergo the procedure twice the first time. This time I was determined not to have to go through that again.
When I had my appointment with the gastroenterologist, they gave me a sheaf of papers, which explained what I'm supposed to do to get ready for the procedure. The first thing is that about a week before the procedure, you're supposed to change your diet, and the information packet did a pretty good job of telling me what NOT to eat - nuts, seeds, whole grains, and pretty much anything with fiber.
This was not happy news for someone like me who has spent the last ten years consciously re-learning how to eat healthier - MORE nuts, seeds, whole grains, salad, vegetables, fruits, all containing fiber - as much as possible, whole foods, as close to natural as possible, which by their nature contain lots of fiber. In order to prepare for this colonoscopy my instructions were basically to stop eating everything I usually eat. Unfortunately, this instruction did not offer a suggestion as to what to eat. Remembering my previous experience of having to go and prep some more, and undergoing the procedure twice, I wanted very much to to get this right the first time, this time. But what troubled me was, what could I eat?
Since the focus seemed to be on fiber, I Googled the term, "low fiber diet," and found an actual menu which included white bread, small servings of white rice, egg, baked chicken, well-cooked or canned green beans and carrots, canned peaches, jello, yogurt and milk. I thought as I read this that it sounded like what my grandmother might have known as a "bland diet." More details include:
- white bread
- white rice
- plain white pasta
- saltines
- refined hot cereals, such as cream of wheat
- cold cereals with less than 1 g. fiber per serving
- pancakes or waffles made with white flour
- canned or well-ccoked vegetables and fruits without skins or seeds
- fruit and vegetable juice with little or no pulp
- fruit flavored drinks
- flavored waters
- tender meat, poultry, fish, eggs, tofu
- milk and dairy products (as long as they're 0g. fat and less than 1g. fiber)
- butter & oils
- salad dressings without seeds
Since I'd had that do-over experience the first time, I started this diet change a day before the doctor's instructions said to. A couple days in, I switched over to low fiber protein smoothies. From there it was fairly easy to transition to the "clear liquid" segment of prep.
Fast-forward to post-procedure, I am happy to report that I was successful in "clearing out" my system with this bland diet and subsequent steps of liquids-only days. The doctor could easily see what he needed to see, and I'm fine until the next one.
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