20 July 2019

Le régime sans résidu



A "diet without residue" — doesn't that sound awful? I see the term translated as a "low-residue, low-fiber diet" on Wikipedia. The idea is that in preparing for what in French is called une coloscopie or for colon surgery, you need to eat only foods that can be completely and thoroughly digested by the human body. Vegetable and fruit fiber is eliminated from such a régime alimentaire. Here's the diet I'm on this weekend.

Low-fiber, low-residue diets vary widely, according to descriptions and lists I find on the web in English and in French. Some allow canned vegetables and cooked fruit. Some say yogurt and cream are okay. I guess this is just a guideline — it's not science — except maybe for the list of aliments à éviter (to avoid) at the bottom of the page.

And here's what I'm eating. I hope I made the right choice. It's a lamb shoulder roast that Walt cooked on the barbecue grill. I'm eating the lean meat but not the fat (lucky Natasha gets that). I also cooked up a pot of steamed white rice, flavoring it with herbs and spices that I'm not eating — bay leaves, allspice berries, and cloves that can be taken out before I eat the rice. I dress it with a little bit of olive oil (huile crue) and white wine vinegar (liquide clair). I'm also eating some Comté cheese straight out of the fridge — not melted.

Isn't it ironic or just slightly weird that I should be having such a medical procedure this summer,
just as we are getting a new WC put in upstairs?

12 comments:

  1. I'd suggest a biscotte covered with a slice of Comté and placed in the microwave for the cheese to melt and then top it with a poched egg.

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    1. Not sure if melted Comté is advised. The diet specifies huile crue and beurre cru, not cooked. I wonder if the same applies to cheese. I'd rather not risk it and instead eat cheese without heating it up or melting it.

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    2. I don't find the list of aliments autorisés very convincing. For example, it specifies only fromage à pâte cuite is allowed and specifically names St-Nectaire, Cantal, Gruyère. Well both St-Nectaire and Cantal are fromages à pâte pressée non-cuite... Other cheeses that are actually fromages à pâte pressée cuite, including Beaufort, Abondance, Emmental, and Comté, are not mentioned.

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    3. That is really strange. As you said, not convincing.

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  2. Every 5 years. My doctor's instructions are stricter than yours. The worst part is at the end, when you have to down the movicol or whatever it's called. Have fun -- and follow orders so it's as clean as can be and you don't have to do it again in a few months (That happened to a friend on mine.)

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    1. How are your doctor's instructions different?

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  3. "have to do it again in a few months..." Oh no. This is where I change doctors. I can't do la vie de Miralax more than once in a few years. I thought they had blood tests now that could detect colon issues? Non?

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    1. They do, but if they've found a polyp in an earlier colonoscopy then you can't rely on the blood tests. You have to have another colonoscopy. This will be my fourth in 25 years, and five years ago they did find a polyp which turned out to be benign. Even so...

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  4. From the waiting room, one time, I could overhear the checking-in procedure for one man, who was asked, "And, you've eaten nothing for the past 24 hours, right?" To which he replied, "A hamburger last night around midnight." Ha! He had never read the prep information sent to him, so hadn't done anything to prepare for the colonoscopy -- no restrictions, no special yummy drink. They advised him to re-schedule ---I guess so! LOL Anyway, really, the only unpleasant part was a few minutes of drinking that I didn't enjoy, but, really, as you know, the procedure is quick and you're completely out of it. I was just interested to see that your doctor requires that diet.

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    1. The colonoscopy here is done after you've been completely anesthetized. Totally knocked out. There too?

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  5. I could only eat clear liquid and broth, and none of the clear liquid could be red. They don't knock us out completely but give a drug that makes one not care if they were about to explode an atomic bomb next to ones head. And afterwards one doesn't remember much if anything. I've had about 4 of these.

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    1. I remember the colonoscopy I had in San Francisco was like that. I was groggy and there was no pain, but I was conscious. I watched the procedure on a monitor. In France, it's done under full anesthesia.

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