Healthy Eating With A Stoma

What you need to know about Healthy Eating with a Stoma

There is no reason why you need to follow a ‘special’ diet when you have a stoma. The most important thing is to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. If you would like more information about diet or any other Ostomy Lifestyle subject, call our Helpline on 0800 731 4264 you can also e-mail advice@ostomylifestyle.org. The following information can be downloaded as a pdf file.

Healthy Diet

A healthy diet contains a mixture of different foods, including plenty of fruit and vegetables and cereal based foods such as bread, rice and pasta. Protein rich foods like meat and dairy products should be eaten in moderation and foods containing high levels of fat, salt and sugar should only be eaten occasionally.

Individual Differences

Whether they have had stoma surgery or not, some people find that certain foods do not agree with them. The best way to establish this is to observe the effects your food intake has on you and then, if necessary adapt your diet. It is often worth trying a food several times before eliminating it completely. It may also be worth re-introducing it at a later date to see how it affects you.

Importance of chewing

Although there are no specific foods you should avoid, some foods should be chewed thoroughly, especially foods which do not break down during digestion and are recognisable when they are passed from the stoma. People who have had any kind of abdominal surgery can have adhesions (which may be thought of as fibrous scar tissue). These can lead to sections of the bowel becoming narrow and may cause large particles of foods to get stuck, if they are not chewed properly.

Fluid Intake

Along with food, it is also very important to maintain a varied fluid intake. You should aim to drink around 2 litres (roughly 8-10 glasses) of fluid every day. This intake can include water, fruit juice, squash and hot drinks, although alcohol and caffeinated drinks should be consumed in moderation.

Salt

Although it is not necessary to add extra salt to your diet, in cases of dehydration a rehydration solution containing salt may be recommended.