Colonoscopy helps to identify at an early stage many dangerous gastrointestinal pathologies. This study recommends that all people older than 50 years of age should have a preventive treatment. The procedure consists in examining the mucous membrane of the colon with an endoscope. For the diagnosis to be accurate, you must carefully prepare for this examination. Doctors prescribe a special diet before colon colonoscopy. What are the nutritional rules on the eve of the procedure? Which foods are allowed and which should be excluded from the diet? We will consider these issues in the article.
Description of procedure
Colonoscopy refers to endoscopic diagnostic methods. A probe is inserted into the patient’s large intestine and the mucous membrane is examined using a special camera. This allows the early detection of tumors, inflammation and polyps.
The procedure may be accompanied by soreness. Unpleasant sensations usually occur when the probe passes through the natural bends of the intestine. Therefore, a colonoscopy is performed in most cases under local anesthesia. With a low pain threshold, general anesthesia is used.
In order for the doctor to examine the organ, the intestines must be freed from feces. It is quite difficult to achieve the necessary cleansing of the digestive tract with an enema. Therefore, before the procedure, the patient is usually prescribed potent laxatives. It is also necessary to adhere to a diet before colonoscopy of the intestine. This will help to clear the digestive tract from toxins.
Indications for the study
Colonoscopy is indicated if the patient has the following symptoms:
- systematic abdominal pain;
- diarrhea or constipation;
- flatulence;
- unusual color of feces;
- causeless weight loss;
- anemia of unknown etiology.
As already mentioned, this examination is carried out for patients older than 50 years as a preventive measure. At this age, the risk of colon diseases increases.
General principles of nutrition
What is the purpose of prescribing a diet before the procedure? Colonoscopy of the intestine requires thorough organ cleansing. Only in this case, the doctor will be able to make an accurate and correct diagnosis. It is necessary to completely empty the intestines from contents and toxins. Nutrition should not contribute to the formation of large amounts of feces.
Consider the basic principles of a non-slag diet before colon colonoscopy:
- The patient's diet should consist of easily digestible foods. Such food is quickly digested and completely leaves the body. It does not contain substances that clog the intestines.
- Fiber-rich foods should be avoided. Such food is very poorly digested, and its remnants settle on the walls of the colon.
- Food that causes increased formation of intestinal gases is excluded from the diet.
- In the evening, it is recommended to eat a minimum amount of food.
- You need to eat in small portions, but often. A rare but plentiful meal contributes to the formation of stool and constipation.
3 days before the procedure, you need to start following a diet. If the patient suffers from constipation, then they switch to a non-slag diet 5 days before the study.
12 hours before colonoscopy, you need to completely stop eating. Immediately before the procedure, only drink clean water and unsweetened tea.
Prohibited Products
The diet before colon colonoscopy provides for the complete exclusion of the following types of food from the diet:
- Raw vegetables and herbs. Three days before the study, such products can only be eaten boiled or grated. However, 2 days before a colonoscopy, even the use of thermally processed vegetables should be discarded. Cabbage should be completely excluded from the menu both in raw and boiled form during the entire period of the diet.
- Fresh berries and fruits. The diet can only include peeled baked apples.
- Mushrooms. This product is strictly prohibited, as it is very difficult to digest.
- Fatty meats and fish. Such food contributes to the abundant formation of feces.
- Fried dishes with a crust. Before the examination, you need to give preference to boiled food.
- Legumes. You can’t eat peas, lentils and beans. Such food causes flatulence.
- Bread made from rye flour and bran. It is allowed to eat only white bread, but it should also be excluded from the menu a day before the study.
- Coarse grains. It is necessary to abandon the use of dishes of brown rice, oatmeal, barley, as well as barley, corn and wheat. It is allowed to eat buckwheat and porridge from white rice, but in very limited quantities.
- Sausages, sausages, sausages and ham. These products have a sinewy structure and slag the intestines.
- All kinds of spicy foods, pickles, pickles, canned food. Such food irritates the intestines and is poorly processed.
- Dairy products. Lactose stimulates intestinal fermentation, which causes increased gas production. It is allowed to eat only dairy products with low fat content. It is necessary to abandon the use of yogurt with cereal supplements.
- Nuts and seeds. Such food clogs the intestines.
- Alcohol and kvass. These drinks irritate the digestive tract and cause fermentation.
What can I eat?
This diet has many limitations. A person has to give up many familiar dishes. However, fasting a few days before the examination is also impossible. You need to try to make a complete diet of the allowed products.
Before colonoscopy, the following types of food are allowed:
- boiled diet meats (chicken breast, turkey, rabbit, veal);
- boiled low-fat fish (pike, pollock, hake);
- dairy products with a low percentage of fat content;
- clear broths;
- boiled and grated vegetables (except cabbage);
- pasta and vermicelli;
- butter and mayonnaise;
- liquid porridge from semolina;
- chicken and quail eggs (soft-boiled or scrambled eggs);
- white rice and buckwheat (in small quantities);
- unsweetened cookies (crackers, biscuits);
- white bread (2 to 3 days before the procedure);
- baking without the addition of nuts and poppy seeds;
- juices without pulp (except grape);
- tea;
- mineral water;
- coffee.
This diet is also called "mucosal transparent." It does not provide for the use of intensely colored and thick liquids.
There are no restrictions on the use of water in this diet. You can drink about 2 liters of fluid per day. It is only necessary to exclude juices with pulp from the diet, as they contain a lot of fiber.
Daily ration
Consider a sample diet menu before colon colonoscopy. The daily diet may consist of the following dishes:
- For breakfast, you can eat a light vegetable salad of grated carrots with olive oil, green tea or a weak coffee with cracker.
- Lunch can consist of chicken broth soup, white bread, low fat cottage cheese and fruit jelly.
- In the afternoon you can eat a baked apple without a peel.
- In the evening, you can dine with boiled fish with pasta and drink green tea or hibiscus with unsweetened cookies. The last meal should be no later than 18 hours. At night, you can only drink a glass of low-fat kefir.
This may be a daily diet 2-3 days before a colonoscopy. However, 1 day before the examination, you need to switch to a more strict diet.
On the eve of the study
How to eat the day before the examination? The last meal is allowed at 14 hours, if a colonoscopy is scheduled for the next morning. For breakfast, you can prepare liquid porridge with oatmeal in non-fat milk. Instead of sugar, honey is added to it. This food is washed down with a glass of weak tea.
At 14 hours you can use non-greasy light broth and drink mineral water without gas. Then the meal is completely stopped before the procedure. Only drink water and unsweetened tea.
After the last meal, you need to do a bowel cleansing:
- At 15 hours you need to take a laxative based on castor oil. It will work in about 2 to 3 hours. Then you need to put a cleansing enema.
- After 19 hours, another 2 enemas with a volume of 1.5 liters are placed with an interval of 1 hour. It is necessary to achieve complete transparency of the fluid leaving the intestines.
- Another 2 enemas with an interval of 1 hour are set at 7 a.m. on the day of the diagnosis.
If you comply with all of the above preparation rules, then on the eve of the study, the intestines will be perfectly clean, and the procedure will be easy.
Preparation with Fortrans
It is far from always possible to thoroughly clean the gastrointestinal tract with the help of castor oil and enemas. Many patients with indications for colonoscopy suffer from chronic constipation. In such cases, doctors prescribe a powerful laxative preparation "Fortrans" before diagnosis.
The rules of the diet before a colon colonoscopy with Fortrans are the same as with conventional methods of cleansing the gastrointestinal tract on the eve of the procedure. Within 3-5 days it is necessary to adhere to a non-slag diet. The day before the study, at 14:00, they eat food for the last time and begin to take the drug. The medicine powder is dissolved in water and drunk. The necessary dosage and dosage regimen is determined by the doctor. This laxative has an unpleasant taste, so it is recommended to take it with fresh lemon juice.
It is recommended to include as much liquid food as possible in the diet menu before colonoscopy with Fortrans. This remedy has a strong laxative effect and can cause dehydration. After taking the drug, food can no longer be consumed, but you should try to drink as much liquid as possible (unsweetened tea or clean water).
Diet and drug "Moviprep"
Before the examination, the doctor may also prescribe the drug "Moviprep". It has a more gentle effect than Fortrans, and to a lesser extent irritates the intestinal mucosa. This medicine tastes better, as lemon flavoring has been added to the medicine.
Within 1 - 2 days, you must strictly adhere to a non-slag diet before colonoscopy of the intestine with Moviprep. A day before the study, meals are stopped at 14:00. Then the drug is dissolved in 2 l of liquid. This composition is drunk in 2 divided doses (1 liter) between 18 and 20 hours. The next morning, take another 2 liters of a laxative solution 3 to 5 hours before the diagnosis.
After research
The basic rule of the diet before and after colonoscopy is the use of light food. In no case should you overeat immediately after the procedure. After all, the intestinal mucosa can be irritated by the action of laxatives and a probe. Excessive amounts of food will lead to an upset digestive tract.
A sparing diet should be followed for several days after the procedure. Do not eat fried, smoked, spicy and salty foods. Such food is added to the diet gradually. You can switch to the usual menu only with the permission of the attending physician.
Patient opinion
Not all patients can easily follow the necessary diet before colonoscopy. Patient reviews reported that on the first day they were worried about a feeling of hunger. This is a natural reaction of the body to the rejection of many familiar types of food. However, at the same time, people write that a strict diet helped them better endure an unpleasant procedure. After all, the probe moves much easier through the cleaned intestines than overflowing. In those patients who did not violate the rules of nutrition, the procedure was virtually painless.
Many patients have found various ways to diversify their diet without taking illicit foods. They consumed products such as boiled dumplings with low-fat sour cream, muffins without poppy seeds and nuts, pasta with cheese. Such food is quite satisfying and at the same time easily digested. It can be included in the diet menu before colon colonoscopy. The reviews reported that eating high-calorie foods did not adversely affect the accuracy of the study. However, at the same time, patients completely excluded vegetables with fiber and other prohibited foods from the diet.
It is important to remember that deviations in the diet can lead to distorted results of a colonoscopy, and sometimes to the impossibility of conducting a study. In some cases, the procedure has to be postponed to another day due to errors in the diet. Therefore, you must carefully observe the above nutritional rules before conducting endoscopic diagnostics.