About 18 most post take-down, with a very slight narrowing at pouch inlet that alerts me if I've eaten too much insoluble fiber, and with one partial obstruction-ER visit under my belt (so to speak), I have settled on a few diet hacks that might be useful to others who cook their own food (or are willing to try.)
1 Oats. great for soluble fiber (the stuff that makes Metamucil/ psyllium so useful) but include too much insoluble fiber. These are the forms that are hardware to digest (first) to easiest (last): Steel cut, Thick rolled, Regular rolled, Quick cooking, Oat bran. I've migrated mostly to oat bran, prepared hot alone or in combination (see below) and added to baked goods.
2. Cream of Wheat/ Farina - though it's refined wheat, which I was told to limit, it's highly digestible, cooks fast, and one serving has a good amount of iron, calcium, potassium. I prepare with unsweetened almond milk for more calcium and potassium and add a tablespoon of oat bran or wheat germ for fiber. I also whisk a scoop of protein powder (see below) into 1/4 cup of liquid and add at the end of cooking. I add banana or applesauce, cinnamon, a little honey or maple syrup for my sweet tooth. Great way to break the overnight fast.
3. Protein powder - the dietician who put me onto this after the first surgery recommended Jarrow brand. I add unflavored whey protein to hot cereal or smoothies, to peanut butter and yogurt. There are vegetable based varieties too, but the whey is easy for me to digest.
4. Veggies. I have a hard time with insoluble fiber, so have been skipping anything that crunches. These work well:
-steamed string beans and asparagus tips
- kale - stripped of stems and blanched (drop in boiling water 2 minutes, strain and submerge in cold water). frozen (air dry, pat with paper towels, spread out on wax paper and put in freezer for 15-30 min), stored in a plastic bag. I crumble this into smoothies or soups. Works great.
- cabbage - red or green. No more raw for me, but roasted is wonderful - soft, sweet and digestible. There are many recipes online to follow. Or just core, slice, add to a buttered casserole, add sliced onion, apple, salt and pepper, cover and bake, 400 degrees for about 30 min. Add a bit of balsamic vinegar and uncover for another 10 minutes or so.
-pepper & tomato. I miss fresh peppers both the crunch and the taste Tomato, especially tomato sauce, is very hard to deal with. So I was really happy to find a rice dish that starts with tomato, pepper & onion liquified in a blender or food processor. If this is something you want to try, look up recipes for Jollof Rice. Really delicious. You can adjust spices to taste (Skip or limit the hot pepper of course.). Surprisingly the tomato is easy to digest this way. This technique is becoming a regular part of my rotation, including a riff on it adding celery to the blended veggies, using Arborio rice, Italian spices and finishing with Parmesan.
- Corn - fresh corn season is past where I am but during the height of it I discovered an amazing recipe for "corn butter." https://food52.com/recipes/837...t-corn-butter-recipe. A bit fussy but for fresh-corn lovers who can't handle the fiber, but crave the taste, it's a winner.
5. Beans, lentils, barley- I did some research and found pink beans, white beans, and pinto beans are relatively low in insoluble fiber Same with chick peas - I use canned and remove skins. Lentils also great as is barley, both with fairly high soluble fiber content relative to insoluble. All should be well cooked and for anyone just introducing these to your diet, start slow to see how much you can manage.
6. Fruit - watermelon is the easiest to digest. Other melons ok in moderate amounts. And just about any tree fruit, peeled, in small amounts seem to be fine. I also cook apples, pears or peaches (in a bit of meted butter over low heat). Seems cooking breaks down the fiber. Drizzle with maple or honey, cooked fruit is great with plain yogurt, cheese, ice cream or added to to smoothies. And of course, applesauce. Such a great food for slowing down digestion and so easy and gratifying to prepare your own.
7. Meat cooked low and slow. The slow cooker is just a great solution for all kinds of meats: beef chuck roast, brisket or short ribs, pork shoulder or loin, lamb. I usually have some cut of meat prepared and chicken roasted each week. This helps me keep my diet from slipping into the carbohydrate abyss.
8. I love popcorn and have just started back in with baby-steps. "Hull-less" varieties are seems to be working fine - just taking care to limit portions. This is where I get mine. https://amishcountrypopcorn.co...ite-hulless-popcorn/
I hope some of these are useful to others who love cooking, eating, and easily digesting! Would love to hear what others are doing in the kitchen. Maybe a new FOOD! Forum could be added to this site to gather together our best collective advice. I'm also on the lookout for reliable sources that identify soluble v non-soluble fiber content in foods. There is no requirement that food labels identify this, so what I've found on the web is not authoritative and much of it is contradictory. In the meantime - I keep experimenting.