Stomach problems with eating veg.

[Blooz_mummy]

Hi there. I was diagnosed with bowel cancer 4.5 years ago and it was successfully removed. I have an ileostomy now. I want to lose weight, but find that a lot of healthy foods cause a blockage in my small intestine. For example, I can't eat sweet corn, salad vegetables, a lot of other vegetables, mushrooms, bean sprouts and minced beef just to name a few. Meals tend to be boring and I really miss salads and vegetables. Does anyone else have a problem similar to this?

[Zest]

Hi Blooz_mummy ,

There is some information in NHS Choices about 'Living with Ileostomy' - which I hope you will find helpful:

nhs.uk/conditions/ileostomy...

Discussing your issues with your medical care practitioner would be advisable, but I hope that the information in the NHS pages will be helpful to you.

Zest

[Blooz_mummy in reply to Zest]

Hi Zest, thank you for your reply. I've spoken to several people and ended up at a dietician who was more interested in telling me not to eat potato crisps (????) instead of pointing me in the right direction.

[Zest]

HI again Blooz_mummy ,

What may be of more help might be this community (in Health Unlocked), as it is specifically related to Colostomy Care - so I'd like to give you the link, so you can have a look:

healthunlocked.com/colostom...

Wishing you the best, and hope you'll perhaps enjoy the Healthy eating community and have a look around it as well.

Zest

[Blooz_mummy in reply to Zest]

Oh this could be an answer Zest, thank you. So far any ostomy information on eating tells you to eat normallly but because mines is an ileostomy (I have no colon) it's trial and error, but I will certainly have a look at this group. Thank you for the link. 😊

[BadHare]

Sorry to hear of your condition, & that I can't offer much practical help. Have you tried avoiding very high fibre vegetables, &/or using a blender to make them easier to pass through your digestive system?

[Blooz_mummy]

Hi thank you for your reply. I can't blend them as it then becomes thick and porridge causing more problems. I think I'm going to have to just omit them and try and find other healthy ways to eat healthily. It's so frustrating 😕

[Bong1968]

Howdy!

I had a temporary Ileostomy (for 11 months).

Best advice I received was that I should thoroughly chew (and I mean REALLY chew!) my food. I was told avoid nuts, sweetcorn/popcorn and raw fibrous foods like coleslaw, pineapple and skin from fruits - including to tomatoes and pith from oranges.

I found that I could still eat mushrooms if they were cut into tiny pieces. Eggs and baked bean were a nightmare as they produced liquid overload (if you know what I mean!).

I'm vegetarian so didn't have 'meat issues' and Quorn products were fine. I even regularly indulged in my favourite food - curry!

I generally didn't have too many issues apart from the odd frustrating leak which always occurred at the most inconvenient time.

I did, however, find a site that proved to be an invaluable source of information.

It's 'Inspire.com'

If you take a look at the site search under 'ostomy' and then under 'foods to avoid'. You should then get a whole load of discussions on what people have tried and what they avoid.

The Ostomy 'community' are a really friendly bunch and offer a lot of support and advice. Some of the members share the most hilarious stories of their experiences. Most are American but there are UK based members too. I was always made to feel very welcome.

I definitely recommend taking a look at the site. I can almost guarantee that someone will have some tips on how they handled their approach to weight loss.

Hope this helps! 😊

[Blooz_mummy in reply to Bong1968]

Hi Bong1968, thank you for your reply. lol I know what you mean about the beans, although I'm fine with eggs. Minced beef is the only meat products that I have problems with, even when made into burgers. I shall certainly look at that site and I appreciate you pointing me in that direction. Thanks again😊

[andyswarbs]

I recommend for people who have an extreme vegetable intolerance to start by juicing vegetables. This takes the fibre out makes and so them easier to digest. Start with cucumber and celery juice.

After a while as the body begins to be able to tolerate the vegetables I would move from juicing to smoothies. The smoothie has the fibre again but, because of the blending this breaks down the plant cell walls again making it easier to digest.

If you want to read / see more about this in practice check out paddisonprogram.com/no-more.... I know this is primarily about an amazing story of recovery from Rheumatoid Arthritis in just a few weeks. However if you read down this woman had gastroparesis and was unable to digest vegetables as well. She talks about how she went about successfully solving that problem, despite her gastroenterologist saying don't eat greens!

[Blooz_mummy in reply to andyswarbs]

Thanks for your reply andyswarbs. Fibre is something I must avoid as I don't have a large bowel now. I think I'll just need to try and eat healthy - low fat but without the veg. 😕

[andyswarbs in reply to Blooz_mummy]

That's why I recommend juicing over smoothies - no fibre and yet all the nutrition.

[kevinLG]

Juice it

[kevinLG]

Watch a documentary called fat sick and nearly dead

[Blooz_mummy in reply to kevinLG]

Why?

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to kevinLG]

kevinLG ,

What is the documentary about?

[andyswarbs in reply to Activity2004]

Fat, Sick & Nearly dead is on youtube. It was the first documentary that I watched back late 2015, and that started my own journey. It follows a guy who was very successful in business but not his health which deteriorated as he got fatter and fatter. His main health issue was hives as I remember. The film follows a journey he takes across America juicing for each and every meal and talking to people he comes across. I was inspired by this film so much, even though I only juice now once every few days. (Mind you some days I do nothing but juice.)

youtube.com/watch?v=V-WUP5p...(Not working as expected?)