Colonoscopy prep for plant-based/vegan eaters

Wisdom teeth extraction, colonoscopy…goodness what an exciting summer we had here.

With my gift of turning 45, I became eligible for my first colonoscopy. My husband is switching jobs and we were in a bit of a scurry to figure out if our health insurance will be changing, so I went ahead and got my colonoscopy in and done last week.

Turns out I had four polyps removed, and two were pre-cancerous, including one that was 20 mm in size, which honestly freaked the heck out of me. I was quite relieved to get my biopsy results back yesterday. I need a repeat colonoscopy in three years, and I’ll take that. As a genetic counselor I counseled so many patients on the utility of colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening. It is one of the few screening tools that can actually PREVENT cancer. The fact that I had such an advanced polyp at age 45 when the recommended screening age changed from 50 to 45 only five years ago has me feeling quite a flurry of emotions.

So bottom line- go get your colonoscopy, friends. Please, please, please.

I think it was a sign of how stressful our summer has felt that I actually somewhat enjoyed the days leading up to my colonoscopy (ha- who says this?). After feeling like I had to be so available to everyone in this small apartment while my husband worked his stressful job in our living room, the 5 days before the colonoscopy where I removed myself from what the rest of the family was eating, and then, as my fasting began, removed myself from the family completely, holing myself up in my bedroom to actually Netflix and chill, was the best vacation I’ve had in years. This is sad, in a way, believe me I see this! But it is our current reality, and I just allowed myself to feel into the ease that this allowed me (which, honestly, is key to colonoscopy prep- if you resist the entire process, you will be miserable. If ever there was a time period to go with the flow, it is this one).

I wanted to share a few of the resources that helped me get ready.

First of all, if you eat primarily plant-based, the food restrictions that start 5-6 days in advance of the procedure are tricky. There is so little that we can eat when usually all you eat is packed with fiber. This was one of the best guides that I found online, a Forks Over Knives article from 2021 where Dr. Will Bulsiewicz is interviewed. Dr. Bulsiewicz is a gastroenterologist and my go-to guru on plant-powered eating for a healthy gut (he has a great newsletter and a podcast).

Here are some of the meals that I consumed during days 3-5 (really 3-5.5 as I had my first low-fiber dinner the night before the official start, just out of extra caution!). In addition to what I’ve pictured below, I ate bananas, cantaloupe, table water crackers, oyster crackers, saltines, and the whitest bread I’ve ever had, which honestly for me felt like I was eating croissants, it was so rich:

Thankfully tofu is allowed- but no fortified nutritional yeast, so I had to take care not to automatically add that in as I usually do.

Mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, and mushrooms marinated in a soy/vinegar/maple syrup concoction.

Then I basically took the leftovers above and put them in my waffle iron and let it sit for several minutes to get crispy! Mixing in different textures helped me out during these days.

…AND yet another variation on all of the above!

I made this smoothie with homemade almond milk, frozen banana, cocoa powder, and maple syrup.

On day two (my colonoscopy was on a Wednesday, so this was Monday), all I ate was white bread (toasted, with some plant-based butter) and white rice. I decided to treat myself to some fancy chopsticks, and I found that eating rice using the chopsticks made it feel a bit more substantial. It was totally a mind hack, so I thought I would pass it along.

For full transparency, eating only enriched flour and no fiber for so many days just zaps the energy out of you (almost more than the actual day of fasting where you can only consume clear liquids). I found it to be quite interesting, almost like my own version of the Super Size Me documentary (Fiber Restrict Me ???). How do people exist on such little fiber? You feel so lousy!

The day before the colonoscopy I sipped probably 20 cups of tea and chilled on my bed while watching Queer Eye episodes. And honestly, once I had to start the official prep, the prep solution was NOT as bad as I thought it would be (I think I had expected stomach cramps and whatnot, but that didn’t happen). My biggest tip for getting a glass the solution down every 15 minutes? USE A STRAW. I gulped each glass using a straw, which meant I never had to stop to think about what I was doing or to even taste it. I had to get up at 12:30 am to start my second dose and lined up something to watch for a few hours as I went through that before being able to sleep an hour or so before we finally had to leave for the actual procedure. My husband parked himself on our living room couch overnight which allowed me to move about our bedroom and bathroom without having to tip-toe around.

As I said before, maybe this is a sign of how obnoxious our summer was, but going through this whole process really felt like a welcome disruption from the usual. Again- was I expecting a 20 mm polyp? Um, no- so thank goodness I did this (and please, you do it as well).

To ease your way through these days, because it is a bit anxiety-provoking (and you’re going to a surgery center where you feel very much like a PATIENT, which is hard), I found this guided hypnosis meditation for colonoscopy prep and recovery, and can’t recommend it enough. I went through it twice and found it to be incredibly supportive.

One part of this that was challenging for me in some ways was gauging how much support to receive around getting a colonoscopy. It is something we all have to do for our health (which is what I shared with my kids several times, since they were just bowled over by what a colonoscopy was- oh the horror!). It also just takes your body down to what feels like just wisps of survival towards those last hours (which your body can do- and you trust your body to do). But- how much do you reach out to others when you are going through this process? I really didn’t reach out much, perhaps because I find it is hard to do that for something that is so standard of care (which I admit is a bit old-school). But now that I have gone through it, this strategy did leave me with some feelings of loneliness and isolation, even though I did get my enjoyable Netflix and chill time. So I guess that would be my parting advice here, for anyone reading this. I think I would have benefited from some hugs had I not decided to be so damn stoic about it. At least I get another chance for this in 3 years, to approach that part in a slightly more compassionate way :)

I debated if I should share all of this or not- but hey, am I a health coach or not? The answer- I AM a health and well-being coach. In case it helps, I wanted to share what worked for me, and I send you all my love and support for when you have your colonoscopy as well. <3

Colonoscopy prep for plant-based/vegan eaters

Wisdom Teeth