Butter Lettuce vs. Iceberg Lettuce for Ileostomates

Is butter lettuce as easy to digest as iceberg lettuce for an ileostomate?

Iceberg may be okay for some, but it is harder to break down and has no nutritional value if that is something you are taking into consideration. The three most no colon/ileostomy friendly lettuces are Butter (Boston, Bib), romaine, and spinach.

Miss my lettuce…doesn't really upset me but ends up in my pouch looking like an explosion in a green confetti factory and clings like Saran Wrap when it goes awry…romaine the same…sorry for the visual…hmmm….I may give butter lettuce a try…thx jb

My ostomy can't tolerate spinach at all. It spits it right back out, which means someday it could get stuck in there. I want to try butter lettuce, but I just don't want to have any problems. Blockages. I can eat iceberg okay, without any issues. I know it really isn't nutritious, though. So I am looking for other things that might be possible to eat that might have nutrition in them.

Thanks for your reply.

That is a visual! That is what happens to me when I have eaten spinach before; it just comes right back out. There is a soup at Olive Garden that I really like that has a tiny amount of spinach in it, and even as soft as it is in a soup, it comes right back out in the bag. It loves to stick to the bag and not come out. I want to try butter lettuce, as iceberg doesn't come out in my bag, but there is no good nutrition in it.

My Ostomy Journey: April | Hollister

Shortly after my colostomy surgery, I met with my surgeon. She asked me what I was eating and if I missed eating a certain food. "I replied, I miss salads. Hubby and I eat a variety of greens, a salad every night."

She told me, "Eat salad, just not a bowl."

And so it goes. We eat a bunch of raw lettuces, onion, cucumber, and tomato. All good. I do limit raw green peppers, cabbage, and mushrooms.

So yeah. Eat a salad!

Colostomies are different from ileostomies. I think you can eat more things than I can. But I think everyone can eat more things than I can.

I love a good salad, but they give me watery diarrhea in my bag.

Everything seems to give me that. I have tea consistency output all the time. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat. My dietitian said to bulk up on my protein, but my kidney doctor says to limit protein, so I don't know what to do. But even when I eat protein, I still get watery output. So who knows?

The only thing that helped my liquid output is a daily dose of Psyllium Fiber Sugar-free Powder…made a world of difference! In the very beginning of this journey, I was advised to use this, but I was in “such a state - mentally” that I bypassed/forgot this advice. Over time, I came to my senses and began using this in my morning smoothie. It really helped me - I buy it at Costco (Kirkland Signature) jb

I take psyllium fiber 3 times a day with meals. Still, there is little change in my output. I think I am just doomed to have liquid output. Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe it will help sometime in the near future. I used to take Benefiber, but it didn't help at all. So, I switched back recently to psyllium fiber. Maybe when my body gets used to it, then it will help.

I hope it will get better for you. It seems my body took a long time to adjust to things… I really didn't start to return to normal for about 3 years… but I am wayyyyyyy older than you. Fingers crossed the issues you experience will fade. Hugs, jb

I had a blockage last January that ended with me in the hospital with an NG tube in and no food for 4 days. It was not my idea of fun. I sure hope things get better with time, but that experience has made me a lot more careful than I ever have been before.

I've never heard of taking any sort of fiber powder for watery output. I constantly have watery output, no matter what I eat. My doctors told me to take Imodium and eat carbs to thicken it up. I do that, and about once a week I get a good solid day as everything catches up, then back to water for several days. I usually take between 4-6 Imodium a day.

I struggle with eating because I'm so scared to have a blockage. I've never had one, and I'm not interested. So I avoid all fresh fruits and veggies. Then I think of smoothies or juice, which just makes my watery output worse. I am currently getting weekly IV fluids for dehydration, magnesium, and sometimes potassium because my diet is so poor. And it doesn't seem like I absorb anything.

I noticed you're from IL, me too! Small world. I live with my husband and 2 dogs in Somonauk, which is a tiny town in the middle of the state, about an hour and a half from Chicago and about 2 hours from Iowa.

Fiber is supposed to help watery output, or so I am told. I don't know if it actually does anything. I have liquid output a lot of the time, especially overnight. I get up 1 to 2 times a night to empty my bag so that I don't get a leak from all the liquid output. I only take Imodium if my output reaches 1200 cc; that is what I was told to do in the hospital a year and a half ago, and so that is what I follow. If I took 6 Imodiums a day, I think I would have no output at all. LOL, you must have high volume output. I take magnesium and potassium because mine is always low or borderline. I don't do anything for dehydration, though I try to drink a lot, but it is hard to do because I just don't get thirsty. I avoid most fruits and veggies too. I have had a blockage, and it was really, really no fun. I do eat bananas. Also, I eat peeled and cooked zucchini. But that is about the extent of my fruits and veggies. Sometimes I drink a Boost high protein. My dietitian said getting more protein would thicken my output. But I have to be careful because I have stage 3 kidney disease, so I have to limit my protein to a certain amount a day. So there has to be a balance between more protein and too much protein. I am aiming for 60 g of protein a day. Often, I am under that. Never over that. It does seem to impact my output some. Cool, you live in IL too. I live in the Bloomington/Normal area. I have never heard of your town. But I don't know every little town in IL. LOL