If you have hemorrhoids that do not yet require surgery, then a good diet plan will help prevent flareups and keep the hemorrhoids from progressing, thrombosing or prolapsing. But what does a hemorrhoids diet entail? Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, actually. The simplest foods you can think of, foods that are sitting in your pantry and fridge right now, can help solve your hemorrhoids flareup and put you on the right path to learning how to prevent and manage future flareups. The following menu ideas presented below have been part of my own hemorrhoids diet plan for years, yielding great results.
Anyone with hemorrhoids knows that a flareup can really put life on hold. A hemorrhoids flareup comes with physical symptoms such as pain, discomfort caused by itching, bleeding and swelling, but also affects your disposition, causing annoyance, frustration, irritability and low mood. Especially when all your efforts trying to prevent and manage flareups don’t seem to be yielding any results. Unless your hemorrhoids have prolapsed or are thrombosed to the point of requiring surgical procedures, you can manage the condition quite well and almost exclusively with diet and light exercise. But diet is the first and most important step to undertake if you want to prevent and calm hemorrhoids flareups.
Diet for hemorrhoids: considerations
- The following diet plan is a collection of recipes and meal ideas I resort to in order to prevent my hemorrhoids from acting up or if I want to calm a flareup. The menu is not set in stone and can and should be changed according to your culinary preferences, dietary restrictions, intolerance, allergies or sensitivities, and individual nutritional requirements.
- The diet is meant to be a source of inspiration for anyone finding themselves at a loss when it comes to eating for hemorrhoids. Also see what foods to eat and to avoid for hemorrhoids.
- The main purpose of my diet plan is to achieve regular, soft, well-formed stools that are easy to pass, which is the number one goal when looking to ‘treat’ hemorrhoids flareups, meaning manage symptoms and stall the progression of the hemorrhoids to 4th degree, thrombosis and prolapse.
- The main idea of my hemorrhoids diet plan is to increase fiber intake by eating more plant foods than animal foods, at least for a short while, to arrive at a balance that favors bowel movement regularity and a stool consistency that does not trigger hemorrhoids symptoms as well as helps calm flareups. In other words, relieve constipation in all its forms.
- I wholeheartedly recommend discussing this with your doctor first. Your doctor will likely provide you with precious insight on how to better adapt the eating plan to suit your individual needs.
This is meant to be a temporary diet plan (1 week), but the dishes and food combinations can successfully be introduced into a long-term diet to help increase your fiber intake and help you have regular, soft, but well-formed stools that do not upset your hemorrhoids.
Here are some additional tips:
- If possible, all plant foods should be eaten with skin because that’s where a lot of the fiber is. All foods that require cooking should be lightly seasoned and boiled, steamed, baked, roasted or grilled.
- Make sure you have lots of liquids, preferably water, but also tea and, to a lesser extent, fresh fruit juice.
- If you are a bigger person, lead a more active lifestyle or have a faster metabolism and need to eat more, just eat more (preferably more vegetables than anything else). This is not a weight loss diet. Conversely, if you feel this is too much food for you, make less of it.
- This hemorrhoids diet menu will require you to cook almost everything you eat from scratch. Fortunately, the recipes are easy and simple and it doesn’t usually take more than 15 minutes to prepare breakfast or 20-40 for lunch and dinner.
Day 1 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: A bowl of milk with oats, muesli (whole oats with dried fruit) or other whole-grain breakfast cereals (whole wheat, oats, barley, rye, brown rice, red rice, black rice).
- Lunch: Spinach with peas, seasoned with salt, pepper and fresh olive oil. You can add fresh tomatoes and a few pieces of ham for extra flavor.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: Fish with a vegetable mix of your choice (choose at least 3 vegetables: corn, carrots, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, green peas, beets, radishes, potatoes, celery, celeriac, Brussels sprouts etc.).
Day 2 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: Plain yogurt with oats, nuts and fruits (try to choose 2-3 different options from the following: chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, black or white sesame seeds, red, black or English walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, fruits with skin or dried fruits such as prunes, dried figs, apples, pears, kiwifruit, dates, strawberries, cranberries, cherries etc.).
- Lunch: Canned white beans with canned sweet corn (season with salt, fresh olive oil, fresh parsley).
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: Chicken breast or chicken legs (2-3 pieces) with a big leafy greens salad (Example 1: arugula with cherry tomatoes, olive oil, salt and some lemon juice; Example 2: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, radishes, grated carrot salad, seasoned with salt, olive oil).
Day 3 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: 2-3 soft boiled eggs with 2-3 slices of whole wheat toast or other whole-grain bread and avocado + tea/fresh juice/water.
- Lunch: Feta cheese salad: feta cheese cubes, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion/green onion/leek, brined olives, almonds, salt, olive oil + 1 can of fish at 100-150 g (tuna, sardines, mackerel, cod etc.) if you’re not feeling satiated.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: Stew from peas, carrots and 2-3 chicken legs + 2-3 slices of whole-grain bread.
Day 4 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: omelette with greens (spinach, kale, lettuce, sorrel, leek, green onions, beet tops, dandelion greens, turnip greens or collard greens) and other vegetables, fresh or integrated into the omelette (tomatoes, zucchini, carrots) + 2 slices of whole-grain toast/bread.
- Lunch: 1 can of tuna with couscous, 1 can of white beans + 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz)
- Dinner: Boiled spinach with boiled potato cubes + 2 pieces of chicken legs (boiled, roasted, baked).
Day 5 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: A bowl of milk with oats, and a favorite topping (examples: walnuts with honey, chia seeds with dried apricots or peaches, almonds with dried apple, or just fresh fruit such as nectarines, strawberries, kiwifruit, peaches etc.).
- Lunch: Tuna, beans and corn salad from 1 can of tuna, 1 can of beans, half a can of sweet corn + 1-2 tablespoons of mayonnaise + 2 slices of whole-grain bread.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: Stuffed pasta such as Tortellini, Cannelloni, Ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta (you can usually buy them at the supermarket and they only require boiling).
Day 6 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with 100-150 g of minced chicken, turkey, beef or pork meat + vegetables (example: grated carrots, fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, fresh or pickled beets etc.) + 2 slices of whole-grain bread.
- Lunch: About 100 g of boiled white rice mixed with boiled peas, carrots, green beans and mayonnaise. Alternatively, whole-wheat spaghetti with vegetables, either broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant or a mushroom, parsley and garlic spread.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: A generous serving of purple cabbage with canned white beans. Basically chop red/purple cabbage and boil until soft, then add a can of drained beans and season with salt, pepper, fresh olive oil.
Day 7 hemorrhoids meal plan
- Breakfast: Milk or yogurt with oats or other whole-grain cereals (with whole wheat, oats, barley, rye, brown rice etc.) + a topping of your choice (fresh fruit, dried fruit, seeds, nuts).
- Lunch: Roasted canned chickpeas with 1-2 pieces of breaded, fried chicken/beef/pork meat.
- Snack: Nuts, seeds (1-2 oz), fresh fruit (1-2 pieces) or dried fruit of your choice (1 oz).
- Dinner: Canned beans with pumpkin. For me, a good ratio of beans to pumpkin is 4:1 or 4:2. If the pumpkin is fresh, it should cook in about 15 minutes. You can also get it canned.
Conclusion
Speaking from experience, it is important to eat more plant foods than animal foods and drink plenty of fluids, preferably water, if you want your hemorrhoids to stop bothering you. Just as important, keep active: light physical exercise, going for a bike ride, walking, doing household chores and simply not sitting for too long can really make a difference for your hemorrhoids.
For a successful hemorrhoids diet menu, it’s important to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible and cook your meals yourself, at home. This will also help you balance your intake of plant versus animal foods which is the key to getting enough fiber and managing symptoms and flareups.
