High Speed Blender and Fibre
With an ileostomy, one has to be careful with fibre. There are two sorts of fibre, soluble and insoluble, and both can cause problems. Initially one is on a low-fibre, low-output diet consisting of white bread and pasta and rice, no fruit or veg, but dairy and eggs are permitted. About a month post-surgery one is permitted to introduce small amounts of fibre, and as time goes on, eventually one should be able to eat a normal diet, but keeping a food diary and seeing how certain foods make the stoma respond.
Insoluble fibre is useful for maintaining the health of the large bowel, but when this has gone, the fibrous material can have disastrous consequences and cause major blockages in the stoma. Foods like fresh pineapple and coconut, sweetcorn, and other foods that pass through the small intestine virtually undigested are to be avoided - onions, mushrooms, and nuts and seeds. I wondered how I was going to exist without all these things! Soluble fibre, while not causing blockages by their physical structure, can still cause them by bulking up the stool and forming boluses of food which do not pass through the stoma easily; they also greatly increase the amount of output. So clearly caution is to be observed, and it is sensible to eat these things together with less problematic foods and to drink plenty of water as well.
Smoothies and juices which are high in fibre need to be sipped slowly, and not taken in too large quantities. Actually this is good advice for non-ostomates too, because smoothies can concentrate fruit to the extent that its acidity can attack tooth enamel, and also greatly increase one's sugar intake, all without one really noticing!
Seeds and nuts can pass through the gut undigested, but if put through a pulverising high-speed blender, all the goodness can be released and made available to the body, which is also the case for fruit skins which can be problematic for ostomates - so much goodness and flavour is contained in the skins! I peeled a grape the other day (huge amount of work for very little result lol!) and the grape was tasteless and bland!
You can make nut butters and milks with this machine. While you can buy peanut butter (which I'm really not very keen on, because I'm not that mad on peanuts) and almond and coconut milks, these sometimes have additives that it might be better to avoid if one can make them fresh and unadulterated - and probably cheaper too! I am looking forward particularly to processing coconut, whose flavour I adore, and almonds and cashews. Nuts may contain quite a bit of fat, but at least it's the right kind!
I've always been a huge fruit eater and have always enjoyed my veges too, especially green ones, many of which can cause problems for ostomates, so now I have the opportunity to enjoy all my favourite foods again, but in a different form, now I have got my Froothie Optimum 4900 high speed blender!
I am going to have a lot of fun with this, and both my hubby and I are going to enjoy the results.
As time goes on, I shall detail my favourite smoothie combinations and recipes on this page.
Later - Trying Out my New Blender
I had a rummage in the freezer to see what I could use to make something nice for my supper while my hubby was out tonight.
Makes enough for one glass:
1/2 cup cold green tea
1 lump of frozen spinach, cooked for 5 mins in a little water
1/2 frozen banana
1/4 cup frozen mixed berries
1 teasp. honey to sweeten
Blitz all together in the blender, putting the tea in first, and adding the cooking water with the spinach. Blend well on full speed till all is blended. Pour into a glass and top up with more green tea if necessary, and stir it in well.
(The frozen spinach I buy comes in small lumps about 2 inches across.)
Delicious! I took care to sip it slowly throughout my meal, so that it was well mixed with other food and should not cause any problems with Kermit, my stoma.
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