Ideas on how i can improve the quality of my diet ?

[AgedCitizen]

Six years now since my op and i find that if i eat anything that takes a bit of digesting , root veg , onion, even salad and some fruits (apples, pears etc) , then it returns to the "bag" in the same state in which it was eaten. This means blockages are a real problem if i eat this sort of food, unless these products are puree'd prior to consumption, so i tend to eat easily digested items such as milk products cheese, eggs , meat, - But I'm sure this is doing little for my overall health, and would prefer to eat a much more balanced diet, but hate the idea of living on "baby food" for life-- any ideas, suggestions ?

[flamingo1973]

hi,know how you feel. the way i dealt with vedg is too really chew ya food a little more than normal.the smaller the bits then its easier to digest.chop your food into smaller pieces too will help.

[GilliT]

I hope this is helpful, my dad is 86 and is managing his bag well, although my sisters and I do his meals, we use a little arrowroot in gravy or sauces, we make him stewed apple and custard, the stewed apple is suppose to be good for a stoma as is salt, we were told that our dad had to increase his input of salt, at first his output was very watery and would leak, he was exhausted after having to empty it so often, we were told to give him marsh mellows to eat, you know the pink and white ones, these have really helped. You have to be careful with any root vegetable they do not digest well and unfortunately if you like your veg it does have to be softened more to assist in the digestion also we have found that the more water he drinks this aids it well. There is something you can get from your stoma nurse that you can put in the bag that thickens up the liquid, I can't remember what it is called but the nurses will know, we haven't had to do this for dad as he prefers the marsh mellows, he can't have chocolate this effects it. I hope this has been some help to someone, it has been trial and error but our dad is doing well.

[AgedCitizen in reply to GilliT]

Thanks for the stewed apple idea, it seems to help and ive tried the Marsh mallows - not sure if they are helping (but they sure taste good -lol) Your comments started me thinking and i've also added shredded lettuce to many meals and it also seems to be providing a good source of fibre which is also helping. the lettuce is a bit bland on its own , so i have spun some Salad cream into the mix when i use it - quite tasty.

thanks again

Minty (Aged Citizen)

[retep]

I always make sure that my root veg is cooked through. That way even if it does come out the same way at least it shouldn't cause a blockage. Works for me.