Patent ID: 6866873

Claim:
A method of preparing an individuals digestive tract for a gastrointestinal procedure without requiring the individual to undergo a diet consisting only of liquids over a 20 to 36 hour period prior to the gastrointestinal procedure; wherein the gastrointestinal procedure is selected from the group consisting of colon screening, gastrointestinal testing, fiberoptic screening, colonoscopy, pilloscopy viral colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy barium enema, gastrointestinal surgery, colostomy or ileostomy, the method comprising the steps of: (a) administering to the individual in need of the gastrointestinal procedure a nutritional dietary regimen comprising multiple food items; the multiple food items comprising at least one solid food item to be consumed by the individual within a 24-hour period prior to the gastrointestinal procedure; the multiple food items collectively comprising: i. from about 600 to about 2000 calories: ii. from about 0.5 grams to about 10 grams of dietary fiber iii. from about 0.5% to about 20% of the calories are derived from fat; and iv. from about 10% to about 30% by weight of solid material; (b) administering the nutritional dietary regimen to the individual without prescribing the administration of a diet consisting only of liquids over a 20 to 36 hour period prior to the gastrointestinal procedure: wherein the nutritional dietary regimen is suitable for use in preparing the individual for the gastrointestinal procedure such that a medically or diagnostically useful gastrointestinal procedure can be performed on the individual's digestive tract.