Pouch &diet

I'm not a menopausal woman in afraid, and only had JPouch for 10 months so you probably know more than me.  One thing I know for sure is that even though we have had colons removed, our nutritional requirements remain the same.

Unfortunately some foods give us gassy pain and some give us frequency or butt burn... Is that a reason not to eat it though?

For example I have home made smoothies and soups with lots of veg in (today's was 4 large carrots, 250g kale, 250g spinach, half a broccoli and a medium sweet potatoes.  This makes 2 servings which I have over 2 days.  My body has adapted to give me less trouble when eating this now. But volume is still higher, so I eat most of it over the weekend (Friday night, sat, Sunday and Monday).

For the rest of the week I eat normally (stir fry, mild chilli or curry, jackets, quiche, fish and chips (yeah I'm British lol), sandwiches, pizza, burgers etc.  Every meal has at least one portion of fruit or vegetable.  The unhealthier food is whenI'm rushed out with friends in a pub etc.  I don't feel guilty because I'm usually really good.  I find a slice of pizza is actually pretty good for helping soak the soup on a Monday morning (I work afternoon/evening)

Regarding weight, i don't think that's a pouch thing, afraid you would probably be facing that struggle with or without a colon.

I can only speak for myself, but I do wonder if people are a bit too quick to eliminate foods from their diet sometimes? Especially people who don't get blockages.

Thankyou for your reply i can tell you if i did what your doing is end up with a bleed and couldn't walk my butt would hurt like hell.  That's great for you that you can tollaret it soon as i have fiber with especially veg In in the loo . Thankyou for your thoughts its interesting how its different with the same op . Cheers Kym 

I feel diet is key to this process.  If I stay strict with diet and try not to eat too much at once or too much fiber I can handle it.  I do k that eating processed food and meat, gluten and lactose doesn't sit well with me; that's just me.   I do get sick and I do bleed and have rectal burning and pain.  It's a every day battle.      

We are all chasing the Holy Grail - Which is Solid pop.

But us Pouch people can't have that any more.

Achieving more solid pop means less trips to the bathroom, since you can hold it in much better and hurts less when it comes out. That equals better quality of life !

So how do you get more solid pop ? that changes from person to person.

I can only tell you what works for me. Not medication. Not probiotics. Not exercise. Not thickeners. Only a strict diet. 

And by diet I mean one ultimate category: cooked vegetables.

Cook them any way you like, but its the main reason I reduced my bathroom visits.

Who knew vegetables would keep me sane and optimistic ?!?

Sunshine  I am like you  If I ate that much fiber I would be going thru the same thing   but burn  bleeding and much bathroom visits with gas and bloody stool ending up with a case of pouchitis. I wish I could eat healthy.  the vegetables that I can eat have to be cooked very well and small portions. 

Before anything I need to put out this disclaimer that I am not one to jump on the lasted diet wave... and as always I won't pretend to know what causes other people's ailments.

There has been a lot of discussion about gluten and I found gluten was a huge culprit for me. Additionally Dr. Shen recommended the Atkins diet for me which I followed now and then and skipping the gluten seemed to help the most.

It was a fairly easy test for me to verify. I play hockey with a group of guys and we all stay and have beers afterwards - aftera ll it is a beer league. When I began skipping the beer and had something different I would sleep a whole lot better that night. I've extended this "test" and began avoiding breads (  I love bread! ) and my days were going better for me now as well! For the past few weeks I've avoided breads, beer, and pasta - although I'll eat gluten free pasta - and I've been feeling really well with the odd bad day. Much different than before where I would have only the odd good day.

Here it is 11am and I've used the bathroom once when I got up. This is now the norm for me where in the past I would have gone at least 3x.

Anyway, if you find this helpful great, and if not I'm sure there is a diet that will work for you. It'll just be a matter of finding it. Stay in there and know relief is coming!