The days before
What can I eat the days before a colonoscopy?
“You’re joking.” Then “Why?” Then “Actually, that’s a good idea.”
In the days before a colonoscopy you are usually asked to follow a low-residue or white-diet food list from your treating team. Refined carbs, lean protein, dairy if your list allows, peeled or low-fibre fruit patterns — for the few days they name, then clear fluids for the hours they name. The Colonoscopy Cookbook is twenty gourmet low-residue white-diet recipes by Sophie Hansen, compiled by a GESA certified colonoscopist. It is to complement your treating team’s written instructions, not overrule them.
This is generic advice and does not override any specific instructions from your doctor or clinic.
A colonoscopy is an unusual procedure, and not only for the obvious reasons. It depends on the person doing it, and on you. If the bowel is still holding fibrous residue, large parts of the lining cannot be inspected properly. The procedure may even be abandoned and have to be rescheduled.
In the low-fibre days before a colonoscopy, avoid foods with seeds, nuts, grains and peels and skins of fruit and vegetables. These can block the suction channel of the colonoscope.
So you are handed a list of what you may eat, and what you may not. The usual reaction from the health-conscious and inquisitive is “What am I going to be able to eat?!” Here are recipes that fit a low-residue / white-diet prep when they match your treating team’s written list — by former Australian Rural Woman of the Year and food writer Sophie Hansen (local-lovely.com) — for a gourmet colonoscopy experience on the solid-food days.
What “low-residue” usually means in practice
Your treating team’s written food list is the list. Clinics vary. BowlPrep does not publish a national allow/avoid chart. Broad classes sheets often use:
- Refined carbohydrates — white bread, white rice, plain pasta, and similar items your list names
- Dairy, if your list allows — milk, yoghurt, soft cheeses as written
- Peeled or low-fibre fruit patterns — as your list describes (peels and seeds are usually out)
- Lean protein — chicken, white fish, eggs, and other items your list names
If a food is not on your list, do not assume it is fine because it appears in a recipe elsewhere.
Snacks on the solid-food days
Snack types only — still check your written list and timing:
- White toast or white rolls with toppings your list allows
- Yoghurt, if dairy is permitted
- Plain white crackers or rice cakes (seed-free, if listed)
- Soft peeled fruit patterns your list names
- Eggs (boiled or poached), if allowed
- Soft cheese, if dairy is on your list
- Lean leftover chicken or white fish, if your list allows
- Clear fluids belong in the clear-fluid hours, not as a solids-day snack swap — see the handoff below
Recipes, an adjunct to your treating team’s instructions.
Being provided with and using a recipe resource has been proven to improve the patient experience and is associated with improved bowel prep quality. In our 2023 Australian prospective cohort study with historical controls, patients who received a Colonoscopy Cookbook recipe resource were less likely to have inadequate bowel preparation than historical controls (adequate preparation OR 8.54, 95% CI 2.85–25.60).
The recipes evaluated in that study were written by the research team and included in a regional Australian public-hospital pre-colonoscopy pack. The commercial twenty-recipe Sophie Hansen set sold as The Colonoscopy Cookbook is not the same resource evaluated in that 2023 study.
Bennett L, Knox R, Luscombe G, Egan J, Wallace L. The Colonoscopy Cookbook: analysis of effect of a recipe resource on quality and experience of bowel preparation in colonoscopy. Endoscopy International Open 2023; 11: E561–E565. Read the paper
Because if you are going to have a colonoscopy — and congratulations for doing so — make it a quality one.
From the book
Not just a boring list
Gourmet low-residue is still list-compliant cooking — alternatives to a boring list, not alternatives to medical instructions. Sophie’s examples from the book include filo egg and bacon pies, lemon ricotta hotcakes with rockmelon balls, French toast with poached pears, simple pumpkin soup, simple fish cakes, lemon Parmesan pasta, roasted vegetable broth, and fresh orange jellies.
The twenty recipes are by Sophie Hansen for the low-residue / white-diet days. (Clear-fluid hours are a separate phase — see below.) We wrote them with the person eating with you in mind, so a second dinner does not have to be cooked. Optional ingredients are marked with optional extras for whoever is not preparing. Those optional extras are for partners on the solid-food days only; the person preparing should not eat them unless their proceduralist says otherwise.
Try lemon ricotta hotcakes or roasted vegetable broth, or walk a sample 3-day meal plan from the book. The Colonoscopy Cookbook PDF is about A$8.99 — see buy or Square. Free starter recipes are available too; they are not clear-fluid recipes.
Clear-fluid hours are different
Low-residue / white-diet days and clear-fluid hours are not the same phase. When your treating team moves you onto clear fluids, solids and optional extras stop. For that window see what is a clear fluid and clear-fluid recipes. Do not treat a solids-day recipe as a clear-fluid option.
A sample 3-day meal plan from the book
Of course, we encourage you to double-check these recipes comply with your particular endoscopist’s pre-procedure instructions.
The Colonoscopy Cookbook. Recipes by Sophie Hansen. Compiled by a GESA certified colonoscopist.