Skip to content

Top Navigation

Health.com Health.com
  • Health Conditions A-Z
  • News
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition
  • Fitness
  • Beauty
  • Mind & Body
  • Lifestyle
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences this link opens in a new tab
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Health.com

Health.com Health.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Is Your Doctor Gaslighting You? Here's What to Do

      How to handle a physician who doubts or dismisses your symptoms. Read More Next
    • 9 Signs It's More Serious Than the Common Cold

      Doctors explain how to tell if you have a head cold or something more serious that requires medical attention, such as the flu, strep throat, meningitis, or mono. Read More Next
    • How Your Period Changes During Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

      From easier cramps to a heavier flow, here's a guide on what to expect decade by decade. Read More Next
  • Health Conditions A-Z

    Health Conditions A-Z

    See All Health Conditions A-Z

    12 Anxiety Symptoms That Might Point to a Disorder

    The symptoms of anxiety can be hard to detect. Here are the ones you need to pay attention to, and how to know if you may have an anxiety disorder.
    • Allergies
    • Anxiety
    • Birth Control
    • Breast Cancer
    • Coronavirus
    • Chronic Pain
    • Cold, Flu, and Sinus
    • Depression
    • Digestive Health
    • Diabetes (Type 2)
    • Eczema
    • Eye Health
    • Fibromyalgia
    • Heart Disease
    • Headaches and Migraines
    • Oral Health
    • Pregnancy
    • Psoriasis
    • Sexual Health
    • Skin Conditions
    • Sleep
    • Thyroid
  • News

    News

    See All News

    Shannen Doherty Reveals Stage 4 Breast Cancer Diagnosis—Here's What It Means

    "I'm petrified," the actress said when she shared the news that her breast cancer came back. Here's why a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis can be so frightening.
    • Celebrities
  • Coronavirus
  • Diet & Nutrition

    Diet & Nutrition

    The Best (and Worst) Diets of 2020, According to Experts

    FYI: The keto diet isĀ not number one.
    • Food
    • Nutrition
    • Vitamins and Supplements
    • Groceries
    • Restaurants
    • Diets
    • Keto Diet
    • Mediterranean Diet
    • Whole30
    • Recipes
  • Fitness

    Fitness

    See All Fitness

    10 Moves for a Cardio Workout at Home—No Equipment Required

    Stay in your living room and still spike your heart rate.
    • Cardio Workouts
    • Strength Training
    • Yoga
    • Ab Workouts
    • Arm Workouts
    • Leg Workouts
    • Butt Workouts
    • Fitness Gear
  • Beauty

    Beauty

    See All Beauty

    These 13 Women Prove Every Body Is a Bikini Body

    We're loving their inspirational, body-positive messages.
    • Skincare
    • Makeup
    • Hair
    • Nails
  • Mind & Body

    Mind & Body

    See All Mind & Body

    Why Do People Lie? We Asked an Expert

    Here's the truth about lying.
    • Body Positivity
    • Self-Care
    • Misdiagnosed
    • Invisible Illness
    • LGBTQ+ Health
    • Health Diversity and Inclusion
    • Resolution Reboot
    • Wellness Warriors
  • Lifestyle

    Lifestyle

    20 Things You Should Throw Away for Better Health

    Clean out expired products and clutter to make way for a healthier you.
    • Healthy Home
    • Pets
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Style
    • Holidays
    • Sex
    • Gifts
    • Money
    • Tech
    • Medicare
    • Best Life Now
    • Health Reviews
  • Weight Loss
  • Newsletter
  • Promo

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences this link opens in a new tab
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Crohn's Disease Chevron Right
  3. How to Eat a Low-Fiber Diet

How to Eat a Low-Fiber Diet

By Tammy Worth
Updated February 26, 2021
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Getty Images
It's seems like the opposite of a healthy diet. Who tries to eat less fiber? People with Crohn's disease, that's who. Here are 9 tips for eating a low-fiber diet, along with some recipes that fit the bill.
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cut back on fiber

Credit: Getty Images

It seems like the opposite of a healthy diet. Who tries to eat less fiber? People with Crohn's disease, that's who.

That's because roughage, which stimulates the bowels, is great for healthy people, but not for those with cramps and diarrhea due to Crohn's.

A diet low in fiber and residue (residue is any indigestible portion of food including fiber, skins, seeds, and hulls), may ease symptoms in Crohn's.

Here are 9 tips for eating a low-fiber diet. (Although your doctor may recommend a diet that is more or less strict, depending on your circumstances.)

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

It's a short-term diet

Credit: Getty Images

A low-fiber diet is best for a short period of time.

It can be challenging to get all the nutrients you need on this diet, so people should only use a low-fiber diet when they are in a flare-up, says Sally Suen, a registered dietician with the Cambridge Health Alliance in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

After you begin to feel better, you should slowly return to normal eating patterns. "When patients are healthy, they should eat fruits and vegetables and if they are having carbs, they should eat whole grains and wheats," she says.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cook your veggies

Credit: Getty Images

On this diet, most raw fruits and vegetables are off limits. One way to fit them in is by eating ones that are cooked or canned.

"With many of these, when they are cooked, there will still be fiber, but not as much residue," says Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Vegetables like spinach, butternut squash, pumpkin, parsnips, and carrots should be fine if eaten this way. Potatoes can be eaten without their skins, and broccoli and kale are okay too, if cooked very soft.

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

You may need vitamins

Credit: Getty Images

If you eat as wide a variety of foods as possible on this diet, you should be able to get the vitamins and minerals you need each day. But Gazzaniga-Moloo says it can be difficult to get vitamin B12, calcium, folic acid, and iron, so you may need to take a vitamin supplement. (Check out 10 Vitamins You May Need if You Have Crohn's.)

This diet will also slow down your bowels, so you may want to drink more water and other liquids that you can tolerate to avoid constipation.

4 of 10

5 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Choose lean meat or fish

Credit: Getty Images

Fatty foods can be a problem, so Suen recommends chicken and turkey as good protein choices for a low-fiber diet. Remove the skin, and select leaner red meats, like ground sirloin, if you can tolerate them at all. Avoid processed or smoked meats like hot dogs, bacon, deli meat, sausage, and bologna.

Other good protein sources are fish, eggs, and tofu.

Try to poach, stew, or steam your food as other methods—like roasting or grilling—can make food tougher, drier, and harder to digest.

5 of 10

6 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Avoid whole grains

Credit: Getty Images

When on a low-fiber diet, it's a good rule to stick to refined, white grains. Things like rice crackers, Cheerios, Rice Krispies, oatmeal, and white breads and pastas are the best options.

Oatmeal contains fiber, but it's the soluble kind, meaning it absorbs water and passes through the digestive tract more slowly than the insoluble type you're trying to avoid.

Look for grains with less than one-half gram of fiber per serving and avoid whole grains of all kinds.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Use caution with lettuce

Credit: Getty Images

Almost all raw vegetables are a no-no when on a low-fiber diet. However, if you are craving a salad, iceberg lettuce should be fine if eaten in small quantities, say Suen.

The

Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) also recommends Bibb or Boston lettuce.

Try a salad with iceberg lettuce, chicken, avocado, and low-fat dressing without seeds.

7 of 10

8 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Avoid raw fruit

Credit: Getty Images

In general, raw fruit should be avoided if you're on a low-fiber diet. Berries, oranges, and fruits with seeds and more fiber—like prunes, raisins, and figs – can be a particular problem.

However, many fruits can be eaten as long as they are canned, cooked, or pureed, such as applesauce. Fruit juice without pulp or flavored water are also be fine.

Bananas, mangos, papayas, avocados, and cantaloupes are some types of fruit that can be eaten raw, according to the CCFA.

8 of 10

9 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Choose low-fat dairy or dairy substitutes

Credit: Getty Images

Many Crohn's patients can't tolerate dairy even when in remission.

If this is the case, lactose-free, soy, or almond milk may be your best bets. If dairy works for you, aim to get no more than about two cups a day.

Also, when eating a low-fiber diet, it's best to stick with low-fat varieties of your favorite ice cream, milk or yogurt.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Use trial and error

Credit: Getty Images

A low-fiber diet is very individualized, and you may not be able to tolerate some foods and not others, says Gazzaniga-Moloo.

You may also need to avoid alcohol and high-fat foods like butter and mayonnaise, she says.

"If someone finds a food that bothers them, they can try to cook it, chose a lower fat option or with dairy, go for a lactose-free version."

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Tammy Worth

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 10 Cut back on fiber
2 of 10 It's a short-term diet
3 of 10 Cook your veggies
4 of 10 You may need vitamins
5 of 10 Choose lean meat or fish
6 of 10 Avoid whole grains
7 of 10 Use caution with lettuce
8 of 10 Avoid raw fruit
9 of 10 Choose low-fat dairy or dairy substitutes
10 of 10 Use trial and error

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Health.com

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • About Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact us
  • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Health.com is part of the Meredith Health Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments. All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Health.com may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.health.com

View image

How to Eat a Low-Fiber Diet
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.