Hemorrhoids Diet: 10 Days Meal Ideas for Piles

What do you eat for hemorrhoids? What kind of foods should you eat to help calm a flareup? What foods should you eat to prevent your piles from acting up in the first place? What should you generally eat for hemorrhoids to get rid of flareups for good and enjoy a good quality of life?

If your hemorrhoids are first and second stage, they are still manageable with just diet and a healthy lifestyle. But finding the right foods to eat can prove daunting, more so making up whole meals.

As someone with hemorrhoids myself, but who’s also been successfully managing them for well over a decade, I want to help. Which is why I present to you a day by day meal plan with meal ideas suited for a hemorrhoids diet.

Breakfast meal ideas for hemorrhoids

1. Oatmeal: oats porridge with 50 to 70 grams of thin rolled oats and 200 to 250 milliliters of dairy or plant milk. May or may not be sweetened (your choice). Great for hemorrhoids if you add toppings such as raw almonds, berries, kiwifruit, banana, dried apricots etc.
   Also see the benefits of oatmeal for a flat stomach.
2. Corn flakes with milk, either dairy or plant milk (rice, almond, oats, soy milk etc.).
3. Half an avocado or one small avocado, mashed and salted, spread on 2 slices of whole grain bread or toast. Pair with a nice cup of digestive tea or a glass of fresh juice or a fruit smoothie.
4. Two soft boiled chicken eggs over whole grain bread, topped with 10 grams of sesame seeds. Alternatively, you can hard boil the eggs, make them scrambled or poached. You can have coffee, but make sure you also drink a glass of water before or after.
5. A big bowl of fresh fruit. Choose fruit you eat with skin or fruits with seeds for a boost in dietary fiber and softer stools that are easy to pass. Options: pears, apples, red raspberries, yellow raspberries, black raspberries, purple raspberries, blackberries, kiwifruit, figs etc.
6. A serving of 200 grams of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt) with 1 piece/serving of fruit (e.g. peaches, nectarines, apples, apricots, banana, figs, sweet cherries, sour cherries, mulberries, cherry plums, plums etc.).
7. A serving of 200 grams of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt) with breakfast cereal or muesli or granola.
8. Crepes or pancakes, 2-3 pieces, with jam or chocolate spread OR banana and walnuts with a drizzle of maple syrup OR chopped and toasted almonds with a tablespoon of raw honey.
9. Jam on bread: 2 or 3 slices of preferably whole grain bread with 2-3 tablespoons of jam. Go for jam made from fruits rich in pectin such as plum jam, peach jam, apricot jam, fig jam, rose hip jam or whole fruit jam such as sweet cherry or sour cherry jam. Pectin helps soften stools which is good for hemorrhoids.
10. Drinkable yogurt, soured milk or fermented milk with 4 breakfast biscuits (e.g. Belvita), whole grain or made with different types of cereal, dried fruit, nuts, seeds.

Lunch meal ideas for hemorrhoids

1. Black rice pudding with jam topping. About 60-70 grams of black rice per serving boiled in water until 90% cooked, then in 200-300 milliliters of milk. Top with a few tablespoons of jam which provides pectin to soften stools. This meal packs and stores really well.
2. Salad idea no. 1: Greek salad with tomatoes, cucumber, olives, onion, feta cheese, extravirgin olive oil, salt, pepper, whole grain bread croutons.
3. Salad idea no. 2: sliced radishes, cucumbers and green onions salad with feta cheese crumbles and whole grain bread croutons.
4. Salad idea no. 3: 100-150 grams of canned tuna, drained, mixed with 150-200 grams of canned white cannellini beans, seasoned with salt, pepper, fresh chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons of extravirgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. Eat as is or with 2-3 slices of whole grain bread.
5. Salad idea no. 4: 150-200 grams of grilled or roasted chicken breast with 200-250 grams of fresh arugula with 150-200 grams of halved cherry tomatoes, seasoned with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoons of extravirgin olive oil, salt and just a bit of pepper.
6. Salad idea no. 5: tuna from a can with 100 grams of cooked peas, 100-150 grams of cherry tomatoes and 60-70 grams of cooked brown rice, all mixed together, seasoned with 1-2 tablespoons of extravirgin olive oil, salt and just a bit of pepper.
7. Salad idea no. 6: 1 large sweet red bell pepper, half a medium red onion, 150 grams of cucumber, 100 grams of lettuce, 50 grams of Belgian endives or other chicory greens, 100 grams of crumbled cheese.
8. Whole wheat pasta such as penne pasta, fusilli etc. with grilled or roasted vegetables – zucchini, eggplant, cherry tomatoes, seasonal sweet bell peppers – and seasoned with salt, pepper, raw extravirgin olive oil, with crumbled feta cheese, cheddar or Parmesan shavings.
9. Brown rice, red rice, quinoa in equal parts mixed with sweet corn and canned tuna.
10. A big wedge of roasted pumpkin. Season to your liking e.g. brown sugar, raw honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. You can also eat the rind to add more fiber to your diet.
    Also see the benefits of pumpkin rind.

Snack ideas for a hemorrhoids diet

1. A big fruit smoothie made with water, a dairy milk or a plant milk of your choice. For the smoothie, go for bananas and raspberries, banana and blueberries, banana and mango, mango and pineapple, strawberries and mango, kiwifruit and watermelon etc.
2. A fistful of raw nuts such as almonds, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, walnuts etc.
3. A fistful of raw seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, red or yellow watermelon seeds etc.
4. A few pieces of of dried fruit such as dried figs, dried plums (prunes), dates, dried apricots, dehydrated apple, dried cranberries, dried peaches etc.
5. One serving of fresh fruit. Examples: 1 large nectarine or peach, 3 apricots, 1 large apple, 1 large pear, 1 medium to large yellow or red banana, 1 medium-sized bunch of white grapes or red grapes or purple grapes or black grapes (eat with skin and seeds for fiber), 1 orange, 1 pomegranate, 1 mango etc.
6. A serving of 200-250 grams of fresh berries: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, yellow raspberries, red raspberries, sweet red or yellow cherries, sweet black cherries, sour cherries, black raspberries, purple raspberries etc.
7. One big wedge of red or yellow watermelon, or orange watermelon or even white fleshed watermelon.
8. One serving of drinkable yogurt.
9. Peanut butter on two slices of whole grain bread, with or without jam.
10. Pistachio or almond butter on two slices of whole grain bread.

Dinner meal ideas for hemorrhoids

1. A serving of 150-200 grams of baked salmon (baked covered) with 200-250 grams of green beans, roasted or stewed.
2. A serving of 100-150 grams of stewed spinach paired with 250 grams of boiled, roasted or baked potatoes. Two chicken drumsticks with skin.
3. One bowl of chicken noodle soup (not spicy).
4. Stewed red cabbage with canned white or red beans, equal amounts.
5. Baked, roasted or grilled white fish (e.g. codfish, Orata or gilt-head sea bream) with 300-350 grams of roasted broccoli.
6. Two chicken thighs with skin with 200-250 grams of baby carrots and 100 grams of brined black olives, topped with fresh chopped parsley or another herb of your liking. Everything can be cooked in the same pan, covered.
7. Broccoli cream soup from 300-350 grams of steamed or boiled broccoli with 30 grams grated Parmesan on top and 50 grams of baked bread croutons (either white bread or whole grain – you are still getting enough of fiber from the broccoli).
8. Green peas cream soup from 300-350 grams of boiled green peas with 30 grams grated cheddar or 2 tablespoons of sour cream on top and 2 slices of bread, fresh or toasted.
9. Grilled chicken or turkey breast with 300 grams of vegetables of your choice.
10. Cream soup from 1 medium zucchini, 1 medium potato, 2 large carrots, all boiled and mashed using a regular food processor, with 2 slices of bread and a drizzle of fresh olive oil on top.

Observations

• Adjust serving size to your individual food requirements. You can eat more or less depending on how active your lifestyle is and how much food you need to maintain your current level of physical activity.
• For best results, eat as varied as possible. Try not to repeat the meals too close together.
• Pick and choose what you eat, but make sure you have different types of foods for each meal. For example, if you have fruits for breakfast, try nuts and seeds for your midday snack.
• Avoid eating spicy to prevent a flareup. Find out more about what types of foods to eat and to avoid for hemorrhoids.
• Customize the meal plan according to your own requirements. If you can’t eat wheat, spelt or durum wheat, try barley, buckwheat or quinoa. If you are gluten intolerant, consider bread made from nut flours. If you are allergic to nuts and seeds, focus on fresh and dried fruit instead.