Table of Contents Show
Hemorrhoid high fibre diet is an important diet plan for you. Hemorrhoid1 make your life painful. Swollen blood vessels of the outer rectum2 and anus make bowel movement extremely difficult.
Symptoms of Hemorrhoid such as itching, rectal pain, and bleeding make the pain unbearable. To your escape comes haemorrhoid’s high fibre diet, which is not a solution but surely prevention.
Having swollen veins in the lowest part of the rectum or anus are termed Hemorrhoid. In layman, language haemorrhoids are known as piles. Doctors often suggest a haemorrhoid high fibre diet to prevent Hemorrhoid or to diagnose Hemorrhoid.
Different Sources of Fiber
Hemorrhoid high fibre diet is a source of two kinds of fibres3 that are soluble and insoluble.
1. Soluble Fibers
These fibres form a gel in the digestive tract4, and friendly bacteria help in digesting the gel.
2. Insoluble Fibers
This helps in bulking up the stool.
5 Things to Add to Hemorrhoid High Fibre Diet
Things to add to the diet are:
1. Legumes
Legumes5 are one of the essential parts of a Hemorrhoid high fibre diet. Legumes help people symptomatic of haemorrhoids control flare-ups as legumes are important high-fibre foods. They are edible seeds of plants from the Fabaceae family.6
Legumes are a good source of fibre. Thus bowel movement is swift with the help of legumes. Legumes examples are beans, lentils, peas, soybeans, and many other edible seeds.
As suggested, an adult requires 21-38 grams of fibre per day. This fibre intake varies as it depends on the age and sex of an individual.
It’s recommended to have legumes such as cooked lentils, which are nearly 198 grams and can provide 16 grams of fiber. This fulfills almost half the requirement. Thus Hemorrhoid high-fiber diet includes legumes.
2. Bell Pepper and Celery
Bell pepper is not as fibrous as many other green leafy vegetables. Then why is it included in a hemorrhoid high-fiber diet? The reason is that bell peppers provide a lot of water to the body.
Thus it helps in maintaining bowel movement as this makes stool easier to pass with much less strain.
One cup of bell pepper provides 2 grams of fiber.
Celery, similar to bell pepper, provides a lot of water along with fibre. Thus it has the same reason as bell pepper to be on the hemorrhoid high fibre diet. It is mostly taken in salads.
Celery helps you reduce the strain during stool, and it softens the stools. One large stalk of celery provides 1 gram of fibre where water intake assists it in a high amount, nearly 95%.
3. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cauliflowers, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage are some of the famous examples of cruciferous vegetables.
Cruciferous vegetables are included in hemorrhoid high-fibre diets due to their anti-cancerous properties, and it is a source of a high amount of insoluble fibre. 7
Cruciferous vegetables are all linked to the diversity of gut bacteria. Gut bacteria help in improving immunity and controlling gastrointestinal systems. This all is possible as cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolate, which is broken down by gut bacteria.
Thus including cruciferous vegetables in your hemorrhoid high-fibre diet helps you prevent piles.
4. Fruits
Fruits that you should include in your hemorrhoid high-fibre diet
1. Pear
You need to have the fruits with their peel because that peel has fibre that your body needs to fight hemorrhoid.
2. Apples
Apples have a high amount of fibre. Apple has the fibre pectin, a soluble fibre that helps in softening of stools. Apples also help in easing the strain during piles.
3. Banana
This is rich in pectin and resistant starch. This helps you in two ways: pectin creates a gel in your digestive tract, and the resistant starch is the food for the gut-friendly bacteria. Thus this combination helps you to overcome hemorrhoids.
5. Intake of Fluids
Hemorrhoid high-fiber diets are incomplete without the inclusion of water. Hemorrhoids are related to stool. So, hydrating yourself helps your stools to become softer and pass with ease.
The amount of water one needs to take depends on age, sex, and the kind of activity one does.
There’s no scientific evidence on how much water one must take, but it’s said to have at least 8 glasses of water daily.
Other fluid options must also be explored, which have low sugar amounts.
Foods to be Avoided
These are low-fibre foods and should be avoided.
1. Red Meat
This takes longer to digest, and thus it complicates the process of digestion.
2. Fried Flour
To stay healthy, you need to give up some of your favourite foods like fries, as it is hard on your digestive tract and difficult to digest.
3. White Flour
This is less fibrous as all bran and germ are removed. White bread and pasta are products that involve white flour.
4. Salty Foods
One must avoid salty food as it causes bloating, and your hemorrhoid become more sensitive.
Preventions to Avoid Hemorrhoids
One should avoid straining during bowel movements. This is how one can prevent hemorrhoid or further worsening of hemorrhoid if one already has them.
- Be regular in your bowel movements along with following hemorrhoid high fibre diet. One needs to exercise and prevent constipation. Avoid sitting for long without physical movement and sitting on hard surfaces like concrete or tiles.
- With high fibre intake, one needs to include a fine amount of water for a proper bowel movement.
- Adding fibre to your diet is a vital thing to do. Foods rich in fibre help this, but some people have to take fibre supplements to get 20-30 gm of fibre per day in a few cases.
- You can try psyllium husk fibre supplements like Metamucil or a generic equivalent. If you face any side effects of psyllium husk fibre, you must try supplements that have wheat dextrin and methylcellulose.
- You must consume food that is high in dietary fibre. This minimizes the chances of further counter with hemorrhoid.
If you want to leap away from hemorrhoid; then a hemorrhoid high fibre diet is the essential precaution you need to take. Including fibre-rich foods in your daily diet, will result in your saviour, along with exercising daily.
Key Takeaways
Hemorrhoid can be controlled and overcome with the help of proper procedures and precautions. Haemorrhoids high-fibre diet in your habit, and avoiding foods that increase the strain and pain like white bread are all precautions for better health.
If you still see that your condition isn’t improving or worsening, please see your doctor. Treatment and hemorrhoid high-fibre diets at the correct time can save you from a hell of a lot of pain in the future.
Click here for another article.
- Hulme-Moir, M., and D. C. Bartolo. “Hemorrhoids.” Gastroenterology Clinics of North America 30.1 (2001): 183-197. ↩︎
- Symington, J. O. H. N. S. O. N. “The rectum and anus.” Journal of Anatomy and Physiology 23.Pt 1 (1888): 106. ↩︎
- Prosky, Leon. “What is fibre? Current controversies.” Trends in food science & technology 10.8 (1999): 271-275. ↩︎
- Mackie, Alan. “The digestive tract: A complex system.” Interdisciplinary approaches to food digestion (2019): 11-27. ↩︎
- Kay, Daisy E. “Food legumes.” Food legumes. 3 (1979). ↩︎
- Maroyi, Alfred. “Medicinal uses of the Fabaceae family in Zimbabwe: A review.” Plants 12.6 (2023): 1255. ↩︎
- Gidley, Michael J., and Gleb E. Yakubov. “Functional categorisation of dietary fibre in foods: Beyond ‘soluble’vs ‘insoluble’.” Trends in Food Science & Technology 86 (2019): 563-568. ↩︎
Last Updated on by Sathi Chakraborty, MSc Biology