Husband is on an anal fissure diet! I need help!

Okay, so hubby has an anal fissure (I know, ouch!) and has been sentenced to a high-fiber, low-sugar, low-fat, low-acid, low-dairy, no-caffeine diet for the next four to six weeks.  The good news is that I'll be forced to eat less processed stuff.

It would be so much easier to manage if he was allowed cheese, milk, tomatoes and oranges, but he's not.

We are now loaded up on even more fresh fruit, veggies and greens than usual, plus I always have only bought whole grain breads to begin with.  But dang, tomatoes and spicy foods are a staple around here and I'm going to run out of ideas very quickly. 

Tonight we had whole grain wraps filled with hummus, lean turkey, and sauteed zucchini, mushrooms and spinach with roasted red peppers, and a side of baby carrots.  I can make a mean black bean soup, but that gets boring fast.  After that... I don't know.

Has anyone else had to follow a similar diet?  What were your favorite meals?  What recipes can you suggest? 

I've never had the problem, fortunately... but here are some of my recipes that don't contain the things he has to avoid...

Chicken Fried Rice

Avocado Stuffed Mushrooms  (tiny amount of cheese, can be omitted)

Chicken Ham and Spinach Parcels

Pea & Mint Soup

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Saffron Seafood Risotto

Spinach Frittata  (omit the small amount of cheese again)

Tuna Pasta Salad with Griddled Vegetables  (omit small amount of tomato)

BTW... assume he's been told to drink lots and lots of fluids?  All that fibre's going to bulk up the stools otherwise and could be quite painful on the way out.

These are life-savers, Jane.  Thanks!

And yes, he's on LOTS of fluids.  I'm told that the goal is "toothpaste-consistency" stools.  Ew.

Luckily, I can do breakfast and lunch on my own so that I'm not completely on his diet train and can maintain my normal (healthy, thank goodness) digestive process.

something we do when we get in a food rut is have a picnic on the living room floor.  you can go for lean meat sandwiches with lots of veggies on a hearty bread.  potato salad and/or pasta salad as a side.  fresh fruit dipped in honey for desert.

and breakfast always makes for a fun dinner.  veggie stuffed egg white omelets & whole grain toast.  or maybe whole grain pancakes with fresh fruit? 

now i want an omelet.  *goes to see if there are any eggs in the fridge*

Original Post by apophenia:

Okay, so hubby has an anal fissure (I know, ouch!) and has been sentenced to a high-fiber, low-sugar, low-fat, low-acid, low-dairy, no-caffeine diet for the next four to six weeks. 

Apop, they have a name for that kind of diet.  Hold on let me look it up...here it is...it's called Healthy Eating for Life...lol.   That's the way we should all eat and none of us will have anal fissures if we do...lol.   I read a short book once about colon health by Dr Ruud (Rudd?) and it described and showed a drawing of an anal fissure.  It was enough to convince me to start eating more fibre..lol..because if there's one thing you don't want, it's an anal fissure!!!!

Except for maybe the acid part, which I assume he can go back to eating once the fissure is cleared up, it sounds like a very healthy diet.  It means he can eat almost all vegetables, most fruits, lots of whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, lean meat, fish or in other words, a healthy way of eating for your entire lives.  Count this as a blessing and use it as a jumping off point for everyone in your family to eat more healthy.

Thanks for the ideas and support, guys!  And yes, that diet is super-healthy, so that's the plus side.  I just never realized how tomato-based my usual recipes are until now!  Thankfully, we can put tomatoes back in once the fissure heals.  But I think that his "diet" is really going to be more of a beneficial lifestyle change for both of us.  Not that we were eating total crap before, but now we're having to take it up a notch.

Could you try some vegan dairy substitutes? I've heard the tufutti sour cream and cream cheese are really good. Those could help make a base for a 'cream' sauce. Even if it sounds gross once you add spices to it the flavor will totally change.