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Low-fiber diet
By Mayo Clinic staffDefinition
Fiber is the part of fruits, vegetables and grains not digested by your body. A low-fiber diet limits these foods and, in doing so, limits the amount of undigested materials that pass through your large intestine and lessens stool bulk. A low-fiber diet may be recommended for a number of conditions or situations.
Purpose
Your doctor may prescribe a low-fiber diet if you have certain digestive concerns, such as after bowel surgery or if you have certain digestive problems, such as inflammation of your intestine (enteritis) or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Diet details
A low-fiber diet limits the amount of undigested material that passes through your large intestine. Eating a low-fiber diet can be helpful when you have diarrhea or experience a flare-up of certain digestive problems, such as IBD. As your digestive system returns to normal, you usually can slowly add more fiber back into your diet.
The following foods are allowed on a low-fiber diet:
- Enriched white bread
- White rice
- Plain pasta, noodles or macaroni
- Cereals with no more than 1 gram of dietary fiber per serving
- Most canned or cooked fruits without skins, seeds or membranes
- Raw fruit without skin or membranes
- Fruit and vegetable juice with little or no pulp
- Canned or well-cooked vegetables without seeds, hulls or skins, such as carrots, string beans and peppers
- Tender meat, poultry and fish
- Eggs
- Smooth (creamy) peanut butter — up to 2 tablespoons a day
- Milk
- Yogurt or cheese without seeds or nuts
- Fats, oils and dressings without seeds
- Desserts with no seeds or nuts
While eating a low-fiber diet, limit fruits and vegetables to one to two servings a day. One serving is 1/2 cup or one small whole fruit.
You should also avoid:
- Whole-grain breads, cereals and pasta
- Brown or wild rice
- Dried fruits
- Raw fruit with skin or membranes, such as oranges and grapefruit
- Pears
- Raw vegetables
- Dried beans or peas
- Baked beans
- Luncheon meats and cheese with seeds
- Chunky peanut butter
- Seeds and nuts, and foods containing them
- Coconut
- Popcorn
If you're eating a low-fiber diet, a typical one-day menu might look like this.
Breakfast:
One glass milk
One egg
One-half cup canned peaches
Snack:
One cup yogurt (without seeds or nuts)
Lunch:
One glass milk
One serving pasta topped with tomato sauce, cooked spinach and onions, and Parmesan cheese
Snack:
Two slices toasted enriched white bread with smooth (creamy) peanut butter
One-half cup applesauce
Dinner:
Six to 8 ounces grape juice
Three ounces lean meat, poultry or fish
One-half cup white rice
One enriched white dinner roll with butter
One-half cup cooked vegetables, such as carrots or green beans
Results
Eating a low-fiber diet will limit your bowel movements and help ease diarrhea or other symptoms of abdominal conditions, such as abdominal pain. Once your digestive system has returned to normal, you can slowly reintroduce fiber into your diet.
Risks
If you don't follow the low-fiber diet as prescribed by your doctor, you risk irritating or obstructing your digestive tract.
- Gatrointestinal complications: Radiation enteritis. National Cancer Institute. Accessed July 2, 2009.
- Zeratsky KA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 2, 2009.
