Hi, my name's Amy Long Carrera and I'm a corporate dietitian
at Shield Healthcare. Today, we're going to talk about your ostomy,
and food that may cause complications-
such as gas, odor, constipation, and diarrhea.
Gas can be caused by lots of things. Anything from drinking through a straw to
chewing gum,
smoking, and foods as well. You've got the ones that you would think about first
like broccoli,
cauliflower, cabbage... You've also got
onions, garlic, leeks, beans,
and carbonated beverages. Those are foods you might want to limit
if you have an ostomy because they might cause gas. A couple of different things
you can do to
prevent gas is to cook your vegetables;
you also want to make sure that you eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Going for long periods of time without eating can actually cause more gas.
You may also want to avoid chewing gum,
smoking, or drinking through a straw all those things can cause you to swallow air
and increase gas production in your ostomy.
Things like eggs, fish, and unfortunately
alcohol can all produce odor in your ostomy bag.
You may need to limit these foods. Fortunately, there are foods
that can actually help prevent odor from happening in your ostomy.
Cranberry juice is one; kefir,
yogurts, and even parsley
can help prevent odor in your ostomy bag.
Another common problem that can happen with your ostomy is constipation,
or blockage. We want to be sure that
we limit foods that might cause constipation,
or get stuck. Some common foods that can make that problem worse would be:
nuts or seeds, corn (it is difficult to digest),
celery, and fruits with a peel, like apples.
The most important thing to prevent constipation with your ostomy
is to drink plenty of water: at least eight to ten glasses
fluid per day. You may even need a little more than that.
On the other end of the spectrum, we've got diarrhea, or loose bowel movements.
You want to prevent those because you don't wanna lose too much fluid from
your body
through your ostomy. Some foods that might actually help to
thicken your stools would be white rice,
white pasta, potatoes
without the peel, smooth nut butters -
you might want to hold off on chunky nut butters because those can actually cause a blockage -
and then also applesauce and bananas. All of these foods can actually help to thicken
your stool.
Finally, if you have an ileostomy, you might be at an increased risk
for kidney stones. Your doctor may tell you to avoid foods that are high
in oxalates. Those can be nuts and seeds, green leafy vegetables like kale,
chocolate, and instant coffee. These are all high oxalate
foods that might increase the risk of kidney stones.
Of course, back to one of the most important things you can do with your ostomy: drink at least
eight to ten glasses of fluid per day stay hydrated.
If you have an ileostomy, it may be harder for your body to absorb fluid
and to keep sodium and other minerals in your gastrointestinal system.
Your doctor may tell you to make an electrolyte drink. Something that
contains carbohydrate,
sodium, potassium and maybe some other electrolytes.
I'm going to show you a couple different recipes today. The first one
starts with Pedialyte and chicken broth.
That way, you get your carbohydrate, your sodium,
a little bit of potassium, and of course your water. For this one, since we are using
chicken broth,
you might want to use an unflavored Pedialyte. I'm just going to stir in
our two ounces of chicken broth with our six ounces of Pedialyte
and we're just going to mix that up.
Then, we'll pour it into a glass
and you'll sip on that throughout the day. Our second recipe
is using either Gatorade or grape juice,
and some salt for your sodium. Although sports drink do already contain
sodium,
they generally don't contain enough for your ileostomy.
So I've got here my one and a half cups of water.
I'm going to pour that into a large pitcher
there you've got your fluid for hydration.
Then we're going to measure out the same amount of
Gatorade or juice.
We're going to mix that right in with our water. And then for
sodium, we add 3/4 of a teaspoon
of salt.
I'm going to mix that up. When the salt is dissolved you can pour that into a
glass or a pitcher and sip on it throughout the day.
This should help you to retain more of your fluids and to stay hydrated,
as well as decrease your ileostomy output throughout the day.