Home > Health conditions > Stomach & bowel > Diverticular disease & diverticulitis >

Low-fibre diet

Whiringa kai kaka hakahaka

You may be advised to follow a low-fibre diet if:

your large bowel (colon) is narrowed by a tumour or inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
you have severe diarrhoea (the runs)
you have diverticulitis
you've had bowel surgery or you're having treatment that damages or irritates your digestive tract (gut), such as radiotherapy.

Fibre and a low-fibre diet

Fibre is the part of food from plants (fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds) that you do not digest. A low-fibre diet (sometimes also called a fibre-restricted diet or a low-residue diet) is made up of low-fibre foods that you can easily digest and absorb. This means less poo (stools) passes through your large bowel (also called your colon or large intestine).

Useful tips for a low-fibre diet

Have balanced meals. Choose different foods from the list below. You need foods from all four of the groups, so try to make sure you have something from at least three groups at every meal.
Eat slowly and chew your food well before swallowing. Avoid foods that you cannot chew easily, such as corn, popcorn, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, dried fruit and the skins on fruit and vegetables.
Spread your meals evenly through the day and check their size so that you do not eat too much food at once. Try five-to-six small meals instead of three meals a day.
Drink plenty of fluids each day – at least 8 cups. Water is best but milk, diluted fruit juice, hot drinks, soup, custard and ice blocks all count as fluids. If you have diarrhoea (the runs) it may help to limit fruit juice and any drinks with caffeine, such as coffee, tea, cola type soft drinks and energy drinks.
Cooking, chopping or blending food doesn't change the amount of fibre in it. Peeling and removing seeds does lower the amount of fibre.
Prepare all food so it's tender. Simmering, poaching, stewing and steaming are all good cooking methods. You can also bake or microwave food in a covered dish.
Avoid frying, roasting and grilling food, as they can make food dry, tough and harder for your gut to handle. It may also help to avoid spicy food and high-fat food, such as fatty meat, rich desserts and pastry.
If a food makes your symptoms worse, do not eat it again until you feel better.
As your gut returns to normal, you can add foods back one at a time in small amounts. If the food disagrees with you, avoid it and try it again later.

Grain foods

Have at least six servings every day. A serving is one medium slice of bread, ½ to 1 cup of breakfast cereal or ½ cup of cooked rice, pasta or noodles.

	Foods to include	Foods to avoid
Bread and crackers	White bread, white pita bread or panini, plain naan bread or chapati Plain crackers such as water crackers or plain rice crackers	Wholemeal, wholegrain or rye bread, wholemeal pita, naan or chapati bread Bread containing seeds, linseed, chia seeds, nuts, kibbled wheat or dried fruit Wholegrain crackers, such as Ryvita or Vita-Weat
Grains	Refined breakfast cereals such as Cornflakes, Rice Bubbles or Special K Original White rice, pasta or noodles White flour or cornflour	Wholemeal and wholegrain cereals such as All-Bran, Bran Flakes, Sultana Bran, Light 'n' Tasty, Just Right, muesli (plain or toasted), porridge oats or Weet-Bix Brown, red or wild rice or wholemeal pasta Wholemeal flour, wheat bran, wheat germ, oat bran, rice bran, rolled oats, popcorn, psyllium, barley, buckwheat or black, red or white quinoa

Foods to include

Foods to avoid

Bread and crackers

White bread, white pita bread or panini, plain naan bread or chapati

Plain crackers such as water crackers or plain rice crackers

Wholemeal, wholegrain or rye bread, wholemeal pita, naan or chapati bread

Bread containing seeds, linseed, chia seeds, nuts, kibbled wheat or dried fruit

Wholegrain crackers, such as Ryvita or Vita-Weat

Grains

Refined breakfast cereals such as Cornflakes, Rice Bubbles or Special K Original

White rice, pasta or noodles

White flour or cornflour

Wholemeal and wholegrain cereals such as All-Bran, Bran Flakes, Sultana Bran, Light 'n' Tasty, Just Right, muesli (plain or toasted), porridge oats or Weet-Bix

Brown, red or wild rice or wholemeal pasta

Wholemeal flour, wheat bran, wheat germ, oat bran, rice bran, rolled oats, popcorn, psyllium, barley, buckwheat or black, red or white quinoa

Vegetables and fruit

Choose at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit every day. A serving is the size of the palm of your hand.

	Foods to include	Foods to avoid
Vegetables	Asparagus, beetroot, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, courgette, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, peppers, potato (boiled or mashed), pumpkin, tomato or yam You might cope better with well-cooked vegetables	Artichoke, baked potato with its skin, broad beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, spinach, corn, eggplant, kumara, leeks, parsnip, peas, silverbeet or yellow or green beans
Fruit	Ripe, fresh or cooked fruit without pips, seeds, pith or skins. For example, apples, apricots, bananas, honeydew melons, peaches, pears, plums or watermelons Diluted fruit juices Seedless jam, such as apricot or plum	Raw or cooked fruit with seeds, pips, pith or skins, such as berries, grapefruit or oranges All dried fruit, such as apricots, dates, figs, prunes, raisins or sultanas Fruit juice with pulp Jam or marmalade with skin, peel or pips Shredded coconut

Foods to include

Foods to avoid

Vegetables

Asparagus, beetroot, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, courgette, cucumber, lettuce, mushroom, peppers, potato (boiled or mashed), pumpkin, tomato or yam

You might cope better with well-cooked vegetables

Artichoke, baked potato with its skin, broad beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, spinach, corn, eggplant, kumara, leeks, parsnip, peas, silverbeet or yellow or green beans

Fruit

Ripe, fresh or cooked fruit without pips, seeds, pith or skins. For example, apples, apricots, bananas, honeydew melons, peaches, pears, plums or watermelons

Diluted fruit juices

Seedless jam, such as apricot or plum

Raw or cooked fruit with seeds, pips, pith or skins, such as berries, grapefruit or oranges

All dried fruit, such as apricots, dates, figs, prunes, raisins or sultanas

Fruit juice with pulp

Jam or marmalade with skin, peel or pips

Shredded coconut

Milk and milk products

Choose two to three servings every day. A serving is 1 cup (250 ml) milk, ¾ cup (200 g) of yoghurt or 2 slices (40 g) of cheese.

	Foods to include	Foods to avoid
Milk and milk products	Milk, yoghurt, dairy food, cheese or ice cream	Any milk product containing dried fruit, nuts or seeds

Lean meats, chicken, seafood, eggs, legumes, nuts and seeds

Choose at least two servings every day. A serving is a piece of meat, chicken or fish the size and thickness of the palm of your hand, 2 large eggs, 1 cup (150 g) cooked dried beans, a small handful (30 g) nuts or seeds or 170 g tofu.

	Foods to include	Foods to avoid
Meat, fish, chicken and eggs	Tender lean meat, chicken or fish Lean bacon or ham Smooth pates or spreads Boiled, scrambled or poached eggs	Gristly and fatty meat, tough skin, fish skin and bones (these foods do not contain fibre but are more difficult for your gut to handle)
Nuts and seeds	Finely ground nuts (use sparingly) Smooth peanut butter	Seeds, such as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax or linseed Whole or chopped nuts Crunchy peanut butter Chia or flaxseed peanut butter LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds)
Legumes and tofu (legumes include cooked dried beans, peas and lentils)	Tofu	Baked beans, black beans, lentils, chickpeas (also hummus and falafel), cannellini beans, kidney beans, soybeans or split peas

Foods to include

Foods to avoid

Meat, fish, chicken and eggs

Tender lean meat, chicken or fish

Lean bacon or ham

Smooth pates or spreads

Boiled, scrambled or poached eggs

Gristly and fatty meat, tough skin, fish skin and bones (these foods do not contain fibre but are more difficult for your gut to handle)

Nuts and seeds

Finely ground nuts (use sparingly)

Smooth peanut butter

Seeds, such as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax or linseed

Whole or chopped nuts

Crunchy peanut butter

Chia or flaxseed peanut butter

LSA (ground linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds)

Legumes and tofu

(legumes include cooked dried beans, peas and lentils)

Tofu

Baked beans, black beans, lentils, chickpeas (also hummus and falafel), cannellini beans, kidney beans, soybeans or split peas

Other food and drinks

	Foods to include	Foods to avoid
Cakes and biscuits	Plain biscuits, such as wine, arrowroot or malt biscuits Plain sponge cake, scones or pikelets	Wholemeal or bran biscuits Cakes, biscuits, muffins or scones with wholemeal flour, bran, nuts, seeds, coconut or dried fruit Muesli bars or fruit leathers
Desserts	Plain desserts or milk puddings Yoghurt or ice cream Stewed or canned fruit (with no skin)	Desserts containing seeds, pips, skins, dried fruit or coconut
Fats	Butter, margarine or oil (use sparingly)
Drinks	Tea, coffee, milk, soft drinks or fruit and vegetable juices	Fruit and vegetable juices with pulp, prune juice or Kiwi Crush

Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed July 2022.

Sources

Page reference: 147492

Review key: HIDIV-114745