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Hello again!

I'd like to ask a question that my sound a little bit different to some/all of you. I love salad. I love salad with just lettuce, shredded cheese, croutons, maybe a meat, and blue cheese dressing. I'll alsoe use Ranch, or even Rasberry Vinegarette. I'll even eat a good Caeser Salad.

Here's my problem. I don't seem to digest lettuce. And by that I mean that for the next day or so, there is undigested lettuce in my bowel movements.  It doesn't hurt to pass, but it always freaks me out.

After I had surgery to receive my j-pouch my doctor encouraged me to eat salad because the lettuce is a good dietary componet. Did he not know that lettuce wouldn't digest like that with a j-pouch, or am I the only one? I also wonder if I'm getting the nutritional value of the lettuce if it doesn't digest at all.

Hope I haven't grossed anyone out too bad!

Thanks.

Dennis

Replies sorted oldest to newest

I believe that all the so called insoluble fiber aren't completely digested, there are different point of views about that, many doctors allow to eat salads, mine, for example, forbids it. Sometimes I eat it and feel like you, but if you're not having trouble I don't think is a great problem, it's just undigested insoluble fiber exiting.

I

Bits of lettuce in your stool are simply not a problem unless you make it one. You are getting plenty of nutrition from the lettuce. Humans do not digest insoluble fiber, though humans with colons are better at making it unrecognizable. If it causes you urgency or other discomfort, that's a different story, of course. I think it may be easier to chew up the crispier leafy vegetables more thoroughly, and many here report that spinach, in particular, looks on the way out a lot like it did going in.

Scott F

Don't worry too much about it.

I have a k pouch and from entry to exit a salad all by itself takes 30mins.

It looks pretty much the same going in or coming out...I stopped freaking about it as soon I realised that other than the risk of it blocking my catheter (k pouchers use catheter to evacuate things) there was no other problem unless I really overdid it.

Enjoy your salad and don't worry about the aspect.

By the way, pretty much all fruits, especially citrus and green leafy veggies act the same way if I eat them on an empty stomach...if I eat them with other food groups then they take a bit longer and digest a bit better.

Sharon

skn69

I agree with the above. Just because something comes through "looking" undigested, it does not mean it is undigested. Humans just do not digest the cellulose cell walls of plants. Without a colon to compress everything lettuce leaves are simply more noticeable. 

 

Rest assured, your are getting your nutrition. As long as it does not make you feel ill, it is fine.

 

Jan

Jan Dollar

I can almost feel those undigested particles of lettuce sweep through my remaining digestive system and I think of it like a broom!  As those lettuce particles travel they must certainly help clean out other things which need to keep on moving through!  I am so thrilled to be able to eat raw veggies and fruits I don't care how much is coming back out almost as it went in!  Confetti poop!

C

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