Final answer:
Before an occult stool test, avoid consuming red meat, leafy green vegetables, aspirin, and Vitamin C supplements to prevent false results. Iron-rich foods and certain fruits, vegetables, and grains should also be limited.
Step-by-step explanation:
Before an occult stool test, certain foods and medications must be avoided as they can interfere with the test results. You should not consume red meat, as it contains blood that might lead to a false positive. Leafy green vegetables are high in chlorophyll and may also cause false positive results. It is also recommended to avoid aspirin and Vitamin C supplements, along with other medications and supplements that can cause gastrointestinal irritation or bleeding or might affect the test outcomes. Foods such as fruit, dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, cooked dry beans (legumes), starchy vegetables, other vegetables, and whole grains should be limited as well. Additionally, foods rich in iron such as liver, heart, kidney, spleen, and those containing non-heme iron like egg yolk, fish, nuts, dates, beans, spinach, molasses, apples, and bananas should be avoided due to their potential to affect test results.