Low-residue diets: a reappraisal of their meaning and content

Dietary fibre appears to be the only constituent of food that markedly affects faecal weight and probably total colonic content in normal individuals. It is proposed that low-residue diets intended to reduce large-bowel contents should be renamed low-dietary-fibre diets and be put on a quantitative basis. A low-dietary-fibre diet would contain 10 g or less. Other dietary modifications may also be necessary in diseases causing malabsorption.