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- The low residue diet is a diet designed for people with digestive problems like IBD or colitis.
- Low residue diet foods include liquids, canned or cooked fruits and vegetables, and processed carbs.
- The low residue diet differs from low-fiber diets because it also cuts out some meat and dairy.
- Visit Insider's Health Reference library for more advice.
The low residue diet is not meant to help you lose weight. Instead, it's supposed to help heal your gut.
The word "residue" here refers to the undigested food that makes up the bulk of stool. Therefore, the goal of a low-residue diet is to reduce the size and frequency of your bowel movements.
Doctors often prescribe a low residue diet for people with digestive problems like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease, and colitis. But recent research calls into question whether this approach actually helps.
Here's what you need to know about low residue diets.
What to eat on the low residue diet
Low residue foods are usually thoroughly cooked so that they break down easily in your body. Here is a list of do's and don'ts for the low residue diet according to the University of Michigan's Bowel Control Program.
Foods allowed:
- Liquids: Clear fluids and broth or strained fruit and vegetables juices
- Grains: Processed carbohydrates like enriched white bread, puffed rice, grits, white rice, and pasta, as well as skinless
- Fruits and veggies: Canned or cooked fruits and vegetables and strained fruit and vegetable juices
And depending on your specific needs you may also be able to eat:
- Meat and protein: Eggs, cooked fished, and well-cooked, ground meat - it can be beef, lamb, pork, or poultry
- Dairy: Yogurt, custard, ice cream, cottage cheese
Foods not allowed:
- Grains: Whole grain bread, brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, cornbread, bread or cereals with nuts or seeds
- Fruits and veggies: Raw fruits and veggies, prune juice, coconut, dried fruit, all berries, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, corn, and baked beans
- Meat and protein: Legumes, nuts, seeds, and fibrous meats with gristle
- Dairy: Yogurt with nuts and seeds
- Desserts and snack foods: Pickled foods, popcorn, jam, and other fruit preserves
Low residue vs. low fiber
On a low residue diet, you're recommended to eat no more than 10 to 15 grams of fiber per day. For comparison, health recommendations call for 25 to 38 grams of fiber each day.
Because of the low fiber intake, people often use a low residue diet and a low-fiber diet interchangeably. But they're not synonymous.
Low-fiber diets focus only on cutting out high fiber foods. Whereas low residue diets aim to reduce fiber and also cut down on anything that can increase your bowel movements, which, for some people, can include low-fiber foods like meat and dairy.
Regardless, both low residue and low fiber diets are meant to put the least amount of strain possible on your digestive tract.
The foods you eat on either diet, like white rice, cooked vegetables, and fish, should move slowly through your digestive tract. And this slower movement usually means less waste, fewer bowel movements, and reduced cramping, bloating, and gas.
The low residue diet can help with bowel disease
The low residue diet is a short-term plan to give your digestive system a break from breaking down hard-to-digest foods.
"It is not recommended to be lifelong in most cases," says Lori Welstead, a dietician who works in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The Mayo Clinic recommends following the low fiber diet only as long as you are having symptoms like diarrhea. Once your symptoms have improved, you can start slowly reintroducing fiber into your diet.
However, research is divided on whether a low fiber diet is truly helpful for all types of inflammatory conditions.
For example, a 2016 study found that among patients in remission, avoiding fiber was linked to an increased risk of flare-ups for people with Crohn's disease.
In addition, a 2014 review of 23 studies found that overall, there is no evidence to support restricting fiber when treating IBD.
And other studies have found similar results, suggesting that diets that cut out specific foods like gluten or legumes worked better for IBD than a low-fiber diet.
The low-residue diet and GI procedure prep
If you've ever had a colonoscopy and dreaded the preparation, the low-residue diet might help abate some discomfort. Traditionally, patients who are going in for a GI procedure are told that they must stick to a clear liquid diet the day before.
But a number of studies have shown that a low-residue diet may be just as effective at colon preparation while vastly improving patient satisfaction. If you're going in for a GI procedure, ask your doctor if you can swap water and broth for more filling, low-residue options.
A daily meal plan on the low residue diet
Breakfast:
- Refined cereal like cream of wheat
- Eggs
- Clear fruit juice or water
Lunch:
- Grilled chicken sandwich on a white bread bun
- Salad with lettuce, cooked beets, and olive oil
Snacks:
- Yogurt
- Pretzels
Dinner:
- Baked salmon
- Cooked vegetables like spinach, green beans, and carrots
- Baked potato without the skin with a dollop of sour cream
Low-fiber diets aren't meant to last
The low residue diet is not the only diet out there that can help with gastrointestinal symptoms. The following other diets can be used to help control diarrhea in the short term, but none of them are long-term solutions.
- The BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) diet is meant to help your body recover from symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, usually from a stomach bug. Because it's so restrictive, you should only follow it for one to two days.
- The low FODMAP (Fermentable, Oligo, Disaccharides, and Polyols) diet limits certain types of carbohydrates that can cause gastro symptoms like gas, bloating, and diarrhea, Welstead says. However, this diet is used more as a diagnostic tool than a long-term meal plan. "The low FODMAP diet is only recommended for a short period to determine what foods are trigger foods," Welstead says.
Insider's takeaway
Welstead warns that sticking to a restrictive diet like the low residue diet can cause deficiencies in vitamin or protein levels. "For most patients, they are able to transition to a normal diet over time," Welstead adds.
That's why you should speak with a registered dietitian before starting any of these diets, including the low residue diet.