Low-Fiber Diet – List of Low-Residue Foods, Menu Examples

What Is a Low-Fiber Diet?

A low-fiber or low-residue diet contains less than 10 grams of dietary fiber per day.

What Is the Aim of a Low-Fiber Diet?

The aim of a low-fiber diet is to prevent irritation of the bowel and therefore provide it a relative rest in the following situations:

• Before or after abdominal surgery
• After radiotherapy in abdominal region or chemotherapy
• During a flare-up of diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis), ischemic colitis or intestinal damage after radiotherapy or chemotherapy
• In bowel obstruction
• In other bowel conditions, according to doctor instructions.

Dietary fiber is not absorbed in the intestine, so it travels through it, stimulates its motility and gives bulk to the stool. Low-fiber foods leave only a low amount of residue and slow down bowel activity. Normally, your doctor should give you written instructions about which foods to avoid and for how long.

Low-fiber diet is usually NOT recommended in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (read about diet in IBS). Diet in acute diarrhea or chronic diarrhea depends on its cause – it often does not need to be low-fiber.

Table 1: List of low fiber foods

ALLOWED (LOW-FIBER) FOODS	FOODS TO AVOID
Plain tender meats and fish	Tough and luncheon meats
Cooked eggs	Fried or raw eggs
Plain milk and dairy products of any kind, but limit it to once a day, since it may stimulate the bowel	Dairy with fruits or seeds
White bread and other goods from white flour: pasta, noodles cookies, pastries	Wholemeal and wholegrain breads, bran, seeds, nuts, coconut
White rice	Brown rice
Corn flakes	Morning cereals containing more than 1g/fiber per serving, popcorn, whole corn grains
Soft vegetables: cooked carrots, peeled potatoes, beets, alfalfa sprouts, celery, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, raw green salad, strained vegetable juice	Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, legumes: beans, peas, soy, lentils, olives, mustard, raw vegetables (except green salad)
Ripe bananas	Raw and dried fruits, also pears, prunes, peaches, raisins, citrus fruits, berries, figs, dates, pineapple
Salt	Vinegar, spiced salad dressings,
Hard candies, honey

NOTE:

1. Besides high-fiber foods, you might need to avoid other foods to lower amount or frequency of stools:

• Dairy, if you have transient or permanent lactose intolerance
• Fruits and foods high in fructose, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or sorbitol, if you have transient or permanent fructose malabsorption
• Chocolate or other sweets
• Caffeinated drinks
• Spices
• Alcohol
• Other foods or drinks, according to your own experience

2. After switching to low-fiber diet you will probably need to drink more to get appropriate amount of water. You can assume, you are well hydrated if you excrete at least 200 mL of clear urine each morning (in absence of kidney disease or other disease affecting urine excretion).

Low-Fiber Menus

DAILY MENUS 1	LOW-FIBER FOODS
BREAKFAST	White bread or toast with margarine or peanut butter A cup of tea
LUNCH	Plain crackers and mineral water
DINNER	Beef soup with white-flour noodles Pureed potatoes Turkey steak Cooked spinach
SNACK	Puffed rice bar
SUPPER	Pancakes with juice of a squeezed lemon
DAILY MENUS 2
BREAKFAST	Two cooked eggs A cup of tea
LUNCH	White flour pastry and orange juice
DINNER	Cooked macaroni or spaghetti covered by breadcrumbs heated on margarine Applesauce A muffin or other pastry from white wheat
SNACK	A plain yogurt
SUPPER	Sandwich from white flour, cooked meat, cheese and cucumbers
DAILY MENUS 3
BREAKFAST	Cornflakes with milk
LUNCH	Rolled pastry and kiwi juice
DINNER	A soup with grits heated on margarine and added mixed egg White cooked rice with carrots Cooked chicken Beet/lettuce salad
SNACK	1-2 bananas
SUPPER	White bread with honey

Related Articles:

• List of High Fiber Foods
• Treatment of Diarrhea
• Low-Fructose Diet
• Low-FODMAP Diet in IBS
• Gluten-Free Diet
• Lactose-Free Diet
• Medical Weight Loss