Hello pouchie buddies, I have been living with my new pouch now for 3months, i can tell you there has been days where i wished i could have my stoma back. I would like to hear from you as regards foods that you think are pouch friendly and of cause i would also like to know what foods you think are definately a no no.
Thank you all for any advice given. Cheers.

I still have my temp ileo (pouch surgery in one month!), but I think there is general consensus that, when all else fails, resort to the BRAT diet for a few days to see how that goes. Universally, it seems that greasy, fried foods can prove temperamental, and I know I have a problem with fruit and vegetable skins. Mushrooms are notorious for causing blockages in some; I've found that when I eat them, they come out almost whole, despite chewing a lot. Go figure.

Yeah, those mushrooms are amazing things. Chew them up, swallow them, and somehow they put themselves back together in there and come out almost whole :-)

Just kidding, but I couldn't resist.

Mushrooms and olives don't break down any more than what you do by chewing. Although, I haven't noticed having any problems eating them.

Michelle is right - greasy foods and sugary foods are bad (looser stool), and fruits and veggies cause some people problems.

I have found that corn is a great food to eat to bulk things up. Rice works pretty well too, as do bananas. Applesauce and toast - not as helpful.

Grape, apple, etc. juices are a no-no for sure unless you are trying to get things moving. They run right through in a few hours.

You may not want to hear this - but it took about a year or more for my J-Pouch to function properly, regardless of what I ate. I think you just have to be patient. For ages, I ate mostly stodgy, binding foods, like mashed potatoes, bananas, rice and pasta, and relied on cooked vegetables, rather than salad. I had tea instead of coffee, and apple juice rather than orange. It all seemed pretty pointless for quite a long time - but gradually things got better. Now I eat absolutely anything - with no trouble worth worrying about.

I agree with Steve. What doesn't work one week/month or even day, will all of a sudden be pouch-friendly! Olives, for instance.....maybe it is the gin I soak them in as I have my nightly martini, but....I have no problems with olives or gin! Mushrooms, too.....they go right through whether cooked or raw. And, one of the comfort foods when I do have a minimum amount of discomfort are French fries! Go figure! Anyway, hang in there! Things will change for the better.

Hello Georgie,

I know exactly what you mean, there were days when I wondered if I had done the right thing. I am at 5 1/2 months now and things are definitely improving.
I have recently found that mashed potatoes and pickled beets are very bad - Christmas dinner foods. Dairy products don't agree with me either but soy milk allows me to eat cereal every day.

Do you take any anti-diarrheal medication? I have found that one Loperamide before each meal and at bedtime helps.

Hang in and you should see some improvement in a couple of months.

Paul R

Hello Paul thanks for your encouraging words, I was under the impression potato was actually good for you, some pouchies seem to think it helps the situation.
Yes i do take loperamide 2mg x 2 capsules 4 times a day. That was the last instructions from my surgeon, cause i was going to the toilet up to 12 times a day, it has since reduced to about 8 a day, thanks to the medicine.
Have a nice day Cheers Georgie.

Hi there Georgie and everyone -

For me, fried food is fine - I have the best nights after burger and fries, even with a bit of salad. Seems that starchy high carb foods, pasta, rice, potatoes work well. A whole salad still comes straight out - juiced, with added acid!

Sandwiches are good and roast meat, roast potatoes, lots of cooked veg - works well. I had the worst night after a chinese, even though I ate loads of rice, but can manage a mild curry now no problem. Maybe it's the MSG in the chinese.

I agree it's different for everyone, you just have to find your way. I gave up on the immodium as it made me uncomfortable but still take metamucil or fybogel occasionally. I had a cranberry chew yesterday and was burning and acid for ages afterwards and I leave fruit alone for now.

I had my takedown on 4 October so am 3 1/2 months on. I see real progress when I look back in weeks, not usually day to day. I still go pretty much every time I have a pee, but the texture is better. I have to wear a pad at night but have had four nights this week without accidents which is amazing although I do get up between 1 and 3 times a night.

Hope this helps, try not to get despondent, it is a slow process. Best, gillian

For me, the first three months were a nightmare and I had serious second thoughts about the j-pouch. At about the three month mark, I noticed improvement. Then at six months things were much better. However, I still have problems related to food and have to be very careful about what I eat.

Off the top of my head...

I'm a coffee addict but found out pretty quickly that coffee was not helping. Coffee just stimulates the intestines and increases trips to the bathroom. I changed to a cold-brew method for decaf using a "Tody Coffee" system. This kind of coffee is dramatically less acidic that hot-brewed coffee and works very well for me.

I'm prone to pouchitis and eat yogurt a few times a day. It helps add "good" bacteria, thickens things up and helps me with gas issues. Buttermilk is very helpful for me too and helps with gas, heartburn and also thickens things up a bit. I also take a probiotic supplement daily.

Applesauce is a thickener but I don't seem to tolerate it well. Baked potatoes kill me, yet french fries from the fast food joint don't bother me at all. Boiled potatoes work as long as they're a bit over cooked. Eggs are okay but raise the terror alert in the bathroom due to odor. Potato chips feel like shrapnel when they come out, no matter how well I chew. I love crispy microwave bacon but it feels better in the end if I settle for softer bacon. Steak and other broiled, red meats are out, but red meats that are boiled or stewed for a long time are great. Chicken in any form is great. Fish is fine but sometimes adds to odor and gas for me.

I try to limit my sugar due to my issues with pouchitis, but I have discovered that white sugar in any food does me in (butt burn), yet cookies or other foods made with confectioners sugar or brown sugar are fine in moderation. Different sugars have different structures and dissolve points, so from a baker's perspective this seems to make sense to me, but your mileage may vary.

Cranberries and raisins bother me, yet "craisins" or sweetened cranberries are fine in small amounts. Some of the softer nuts like cashews are fine as long as I chew them very thoroughly and I eat something with them, like bread, etc. Harder nuts turn my rear end into a sandblaster.

Ice cream gives me the pasties and gas usually. Bummer.

Sourdough bread and other breads made with oats and other whole grains help thicken things up and seem to work pretty well for me. Ack, I used to hate whole grains but I'm starting to love them.

Rice Chex cereal and bananas are good thickeners. Regular rice just doesn't feel right on the way out, no matter how well I chew.

Anything with a high fat content, whether dairy or meat, gives me the trots and second thoughts.

I don't drink juice, other than a veggie drink similiar to V-8. I'm scared of apple juice and orange juice and avoid them. LOL. I used to think Freddy Krueger was scary. This may be irrational, but I fear having my butt become a flame thrower.

I eat pizza without problems unless I'm already experiencing butt burn.

I can also eat various berries like blueberries and strawberries without problems.

Oddly, broccoli is fine for me in moderation. I would have expected it to cause major gas. Cauliflower fills me up with gas and causes burning in my ....

That's all I can think of right now.

Sorry to hear about your frustrations - we've all had (have) days like that. In my experience, the biggest no-no has been tomato sauce, which is like torture because I love Italian food.

The single biggest help has been adding a probiotic (Flora-Q) and some chewable fiber tablets (Benefiber). Adding these cut the number of my bathroom trips in half, and now I get a full night's rest every night without interrupts (except the ones from my 5 and 6 year olds).

When in doubt, keep a food log and change only one or two things in your diet at a time. It's a long, tedious process, but you've got the rest of your life to figure it out.

Good luck - it will get better!

As you can see from all the responses, we all react so differently to food. Keeping a log and adding new foods one at a time is the best way to help the pouch adjust. Someone mentioned having problems with beets, that could possibly be the high sugar content in them and some of us can't handle that in the beginning. Sugar flavored drinks and gatorade will cause frequency and burning. If you do drink gatorade, water it down for a while.

Pasta, potatoes, bagels, rice, peanut butter, oatmeal, and lean ground meat, all help to thicken things up and slow them down. Stay away from spicy foods and some tomato based sauces, they can be irritating in the beginning. The good news is that if you have some patience, the pouch will adjust and you will be able to eat just about anything you want. Within a year after my surgery, I was eating salads, popcorn and peanuts and I still remember the shock on my surgeon's face when I told him that....lol

Good luck, hope things settle down soon,

janna

WOW...it's amazing how different everyone is. I had a burger and fries on the run last week, and thought I was gonna die. I actually had to go home and lay down. No fried foods for me!

Hello to my pouch buddies,
After asking you all for your advice on different foods, i think i found out for myself a food which is now on my NO NO list.
We were having a barbeque at the weekend, ham steaks with pineapple, I so enjoyed eating it, but woke in the early hours of the morning with real bad butt burn, so i'm blaming the pineapple. I'll just have to have the ham steak without the pineapple next time.
Keep the advice and different food experinces coming they make interesting reading, we are certinaly all very different.
Cheers from Georgie

I had my takedown Oct 31st 06. I eat just about anything I want,I just make sure I chew real well(as well as I can with no back teeth).The only thing that has given me trouble is the fried sesame rice balls at the chinese food place,And I really love those things.

I have problems with spicy food, beans, split pea soup and Mexican food is a big NO for me. I make myself a "smoothy" with Ensure and a banana in the morning followed by a dose of Metamucil and that works for me on the pain issue. The Ensure is very easily digested and has lots of vitamins (I also take a vitamin/mineral pill) and the banana seems to help with the consistency problem. I eat one real meal a day and have that not too late and take Metamucil again before bedtime. I seem to have a choice, eat bland food like this or have a little "butt burn". I wonder how much willpower I will have at the chili cook-off Super Bowl party I will be attending tomorrow!