Can't eat before colonoscopy? You can eat this

Author: Lv Zemin Han

Many people have had the experience of having a colonoscopy. When recalling the process of having a colonoscopy, the first thing that comes to mind is probably being "forced" to drink 2-3 liters of laxatives on an empty stomach before the examination and going to the toilet constantly.

If you have a colonoscopy without general anesthesia, the feeling may be even more difficult to talk about. In fact, drinking so many bowel cleansers is just to prepare for it, so that we can have a cleaner intestine when doing colonoscopy. And this bowel preparation not only includes drinking laxatives, but also needs to control our diet before colonoscopy.

Why should we control our diet?

After some foods are fully digested, some residue will still remain in the intestines, which affects the doctor's observation of the intestines. The main components of these residues are mostly fiber.

In order to eliminate these residues, we have been relatively conservative in the past. Doctors often recommend that we only eat clear liquid foods before colonoscopy, which usually include rice soup, fruit juice without pulp, sports drinks, carbonated drinks, etc. When choosing, you should also pay attention to the fact that the food cannot be red, orange, purple and blue, because these colors will affect the doctor's judgment of our intestines.

But if we only drink these things, we will easily feel hungry before the colonoscopy, and in serious cases, we will feel nausea, vomiting, or even stomach pain.

It’s so painful!

Later, doctors found that it was not necessary to control it so strictly. We don’t have to drink only, we can also eat....

What foods can we eat

Doctors recommend that we eat a low-residue diet, which is actually some food with low fiber content and not easy to produce residue, such as porridge, white steamed bread, and soft noodles; we can also eat a small amount of cucumbers, tomatoes, winter melon and other vegetables; we can eat meat, such as a little bit of fish and shrimp, but it should be noted that even if the meat has a low fiber content, eating too much is not good!

Image source: Tuchong Creative

In addition, you should also be careful not to eat root vegetables! Only a low-residue diet can ensure that our intestines are as clean as a clear liquid diet, and we can choose according to our usual eating habits.

In addition to these regular foods, we can also chew gum a few days before the colonoscopy. It can "trick" our intestines into moving in advance and help us empty impurities.

How long will the diet last?

The longer the better?

Many people would suggest that since controlling our diet can help us empty our intestines, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for us to control it for a few more days?

The answer is not like that.

In fact, many studies have found that restricting your diet for 3 days does not make our intestines cleaner. On the contrary, because the restriction time is too long, many people will feel hungry and even refuse to do another colonoscopy, which invisibly increases the burden on many patients. Therefore, experts currently recommend that we only strictly restrict our diet for 1 day. Of course, we must not relax for this reason. Eating and drinking a lot in the first few days is also not allowed.

Kind tips

In short, after you have successfully made an appointment for colonoscopy, you should pay attention to the contents on the colonoscopy appointment form given to you by the hospital. The most important thing is to complete the entire process as required, control your diet one day in advance, eat foods that are low in fiber and not easy to produce residue, and you don't have to drink only soup. Find out what foods are available and don't act carelessly.

Let's relax.

Get ready for a gut checkup!

// References//

[1]Chen EG, Chen L, Wang F, et al. Low-residue versus clear liquid diet before colonoscopy: An updated meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials.[J]. Medicine, 2020, 99(49).

[2]Filipe T, Miguel A, Luís E, et al. A 3-day low-fibre diet does not improve colonoscopy preparation results compared to a 1-day diet: A randomized, single-blind, controlled trial[J]. United European Gastroenterology Journal, 2019, 7(10).

丨Editor: Liu Yang Zhao Na

丨Reviewed by: Li Na, Li Yule, Dong Zhe

丨Producer: Wu Wenming

Source: Peking Union Medical College Journal

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