Hi guys,
I feel somewhat obliged to write this as I'm having some recent success relating to my Ileostomy and how I feel physically. After a recent hospital visit (my only intestine, the small intestine, had become infected and my Crohn's flared) I realized that my diet needed to change and radically so. I've set about making changes to what I eat as below;
(Out of my diet > Replaced By)
Fizzy drinks > Yogurt drinks (Activia, Yakult, etc), Cranberry Juice
I find that the more gassy I am the more pain I am in so I've decided to completely replace fizzy drinks for healthy yogurt drinks and cranberry juice. Not a huge amount of people like yogurt drinks and even less like cranberry juice so you may have to find different flavors and consistency of yogurt drinks that suit you. You can also try other fruit juices, such as apple juice over cranberry juice though I feel cranberry juice is far more efficient for me.
Boiled sweets, other confectioneries
I've always had a sweet tooth and so I have always had a packet of sweets close by. I haven't completely removed these from my diet but I have certainly limited them and I think it's pretty obvious why. If I have a sugar craving I'll go for a cake (cherry bakewell for example) over sweets.
Coffee>Water, cranberry juice, etc
You've more than likely read up that caffeine isn't exactly Crohn's diseases' best friend and so, after years of drinking the stuff, I've completely given up on coffee and now drink water or another alternative instead. I've found this possibly the easiest change and I can feel the benefits of cutting caffeine from my diet in relation to my aches and pains.
Milk
I'm banging on about yogurt drinks yet I've included milk in this list, and why? I found that drinking milk straight (or in cereal) often caused bloating and caused my output to be inconsistent and more times than naught, runny. I now don't drink milk straight, use very little and cereal and stick to my yogurt drinks as a replacement. A very easy change for me as I'm not a huge milk drinker anyway.
Beer
I'm nineteen years of age so this has been a massive struggle. I can't stand going out and not having a beer in my hand so it has never happened; I just can't put down the bottle because I don't have a replacement. I'm not going to sit and drink cranberry juice whilst my mates are getting hammered so I've seen myself (dangerously) going down the 'shot' route (jager, etc). It's pretty obvious why I should limit or cut out beer because of the gassing and the effect it has on consistency but I haven't found a replacement as of yet, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
In conclusion
Cutting out food & drink that relate to gas should be hugely beneficial to you and you'll feel the change within a week. I used to feel very sluggish and lethargic but now I'm full of life and feeling great. I understand that everyone is different and that change is a difficult process but give it a shot and let me know how you get on below!
- Good luck!
I feel somewhat obliged to write this as I'm having some recent success relating to my Ileostomy and how I feel physically. After a recent hospital visit (my only intestine, the small intestine, had become infected and my Crohn's flared) I realized that my diet needed to change and radically so. I've set about making changes to what I eat as below;
(Out of my diet > Replaced By)
Fizzy drinks > Yogurt drinks (Activia, Yakult, etc), Cranberry Juice
I find that the more gassy I am the more pain I am in so I've decided to completely replace fizzy drinks for healthy yogurt drinks and cranberry juice. Not a huge amount of people like yogurt drinks and even less like cranberry juice so you may have to find different flavors and consistency of yogurt drinks that suit you. You can also try other fruit juices, such as apple juice over cranberry juice though I feel cranberry juice is far more efficient for me.
Boiled sweets, other confectioneries
I've always had a sweet tooth and so I have always had a packet of sweets close by. I haven't completely removed these from my diet but I have certainly limited them and I think it's pretty obvious why. If I have a sugar craving I'll go for a cake (cherry bakewell for example) over sweets.
Coffee>Water, cranberry juice, etc
You've more than likely read up that caffeine isn't exactly Crohn's diseases' best friend and so, after years of drinking the stuff, I've completely given up on coffee and now drink water or another alternative instead. I've found this possibly the easiest change and I can feel the benefits of cutting caffeine from my diet in relation to my aches and pains.
Milk
I'm banging on about yogurt drinks yet I've included milk in this list, and why? I found that drinking milk straight (or in cereal) often caused bloating and caused my output to be inconsistent and more times than naught, runny. I now don't drink milk straight, use very little and cereal and stick to my yogurt drinks as a replacement. A very easy change for me as I'm not a huge milk drinker anyway.
Beer
I'm nineteen years of age so this has been a massive struggle. I can't stand going out and not having a beer in my hand so it has never happened; I just can't put down the bottle because I don't have a replacement. I'm not going to sit and drink cranberry juice whilst my mates are getting hammered so I've seen myself (dangerously) going down the 'shot' route (jager, etc). It's pretty obvious why I should limit or cut out beer because of the gassing and the effect it has on consistency but I haven't found a replacement as of yet, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
In conclusion
Cutting out food & drink that relate to gas should be hugely beneficial to you and you'll feel the change within a week. I used to feel very sluggish and lethargic but now I'm full of life and feeling great. I understand that everyone is different and that change is a difficult process but give it a shot and let me know how you get on below!
- Good luck!
