Bowel-Prep Diet Planner

It's an eating plan in the few days before your procedure that leaves as little residue in the bowel as possible, so the prep solution can clean you out properly. You stick to easy-to-digest foods like white bread, white rice and pasta, eggs, tender meat or fish, well-cooked skinless vegetables and smooth yoghurt, and you avoid high-fibre foods such as wholegrains, nuts, seeds, skins, pips, beans and raw vegetables. Many clinics start it about 3 days before, though some say 3–5 days — follow your own letter.

The day before is usually clear liquids only — water, clear broth, apple juice, plain tea or coffee without milk, and clear jelly. Avoid anything red, purple or orange, because the dye can look like blood inside the bowel. This is also when you start the prep (bowel-cleansing) solution at the times your clinic gives you. Always follow your specific instructions, as they vary.

Most clinics ask for a low-fibre diet for about 3 days before, but some say 3–5 days, and a few only need 1–2 days. Your appointment letter is the authority here — start on the day it tells you. This planner lays the steps out against your date as a general guide.

This planner is about what you EAT in the days leading up — the low-fibre diet and the switch to clear liquids. The colonoscopy prep timing calculator works out the clock for your prep SOLUTION and clear-liquid window on the day before and morning of. Use them together: this one to shop and eat, that one to time your prep doses.