A Few Days Before Colonoscopy
You will need to start cleansing your bowel three to four days prior to your procedure. During this time, you will need to be on a low-fiber diet, which means you can't eat raw fruits or vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, etc.
Oatmeal, grits and plain corn flakes are types of cereals that are okay, along with cooked fruits, bananas and applesauce.
You will usually be asked to avoid eating all solid foods the day before your colonoscopy, including eggs. However in the week preceding your colonoscopy, you can eat eggs.
Foods allowed:
Canned or cooked fruit without skins or seeds (peaches, pears, apricots, apples) Applesauce. Banana.
Avoid products containing Olestra (a fat substitute found in some fat-free and low-fat foods) for one week. A few examples of foods you may eat are dairy products, meats, poultry, fish, pasta, white rice, white bread, eggs, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots or squash. *** Take NO SOLID FOODS – CLEAR LIQUIDS ONLY.
Low fiber, low roughage foods include white bread, white rice, pasta, flour tortillas, eggs, rice cereal, well-cooked or canned vegetables, canned fruits without seeds, lean meat (fish, seafood, ground beef, well-cooked chicken, turkey, ham, pork).
Two Days Before Your Appointment
Drink at least eight glasses of water today. STOP eating high-fiber foods such as vegetables and beans until after your colonoscopy. You can eat all other types of foods today.
The day before the colonoscopy procedure — Don't eat solid foods. Instead, consume only clear liquids like clear broth or bouillon, black coffee or tea, clear juice (apple, white grape), clear soft drinks or sports drinks, Jell-O, popsicles, etc.
How long does it take a colonoscopy prep to clear bowels completely? It can take 12 to 16 hours for the bowels to completely clear. Eating a low-residue, soft diet for a day or more before starting the prep can help make it easier and faster.
Examples of a light breakfast are: eggs, soup or broth with noodles (no meat or vegetables), white crackers, white rice, white potatoes, white bread, Boost® or Ensure®. At 10:00 am, begin a clear liquid diet. Do not eat anything solid. No red, orange or purple products.
It is acceptable to eat chocolate a few days before your colonoscopy, but avoid hard candies. If you are experiencing difficulty with indigestion, you should avoid any hard foods that may stay in your colon for a long time.
What to choose: White bread, biscuits, muffins, and rolls; plain crackers; white pasta; white rice; cream of wheat; grits; white pancakes; cornflakes; cooked potatoes without skin. Fiber content of these foods should be less than 0.5 (half) gram per serving.
For Breakfast You may have a light breakfast consisting of plain or vanilla yogurt, 2 slices of dry or buttered toast, coffee or tea (with a little cream or milk) and clear liquids. After Breakfast Start on a clear liquid diet. Clear liquids are those you can “see through”. NOTE: CLEAR LIQUIDS ONLY.
NO tough meat with gristle
Two days before, continue eating only low-fiber foods. See the clear liquid chart for the day before, and day of, your colonoscopy.
DO NOT EAT: Whole grain breads and pastas, corn bread or corn muffins, any other foods made with whole grains. Strong cheese, yogurt containing fruit skins or seeds, raw vegetables (except romaine lettuce)
Yep! You Can Eat Solid Foods The Day Before Getting Scoped.
Two to Three Days before Your Colonoscopy
This means that you cannot eat: Whole grains: Including brown rice, whole grain breads and cereals, and high-fiber cereals and muffins.
Don't eat these foods
Avocado, mushrooms Beans, nuts, peas, lentils – all other vegetables including salads. Fish, chicken, tofu, eggs, oils Red meats, processed meats; ham, sausage.
Three Days Prior
Tender lean meat-not stringy Beef, Lamb, Lean Pork, Fillet Of Chicken, Fillet of Fish, Shellfish-Oysters, Calamari Scallops, Crab. Canned fish in brine, not oil. Fried or fatty meat, Fat on meat, skin on Chicken, rich gravy or sauce, anything Crumbed, spiced or Seasoned. Sausage or Salami etc.
It is recommended that you follow a low-fiber diet (simply put, stay away from foods that can't be digested as easily, such as fiber, seeds, or nuts, for example) for two to three days before your colonoscopy.