Xanthan Gum: A Cost-Effective Solution for Thickening Watery Output

Yep! I did it!!

Found some xanthan gum in my pantry, wondered why on earth (?) I'd gotten it - oh yes - to make diabetic jam for hubby (never did since I discovered chia seeds) and thought hmmm I should Google that!

"Generally, for thin sauces, a ratio of 0.1% to 0.3% works best. For thicker sauces, a ratio of 0.3% to 1% is commonly used."

Edit:
I started the experiment the wrong way around, deciding on trying a 1% amount of xanthan gum (which was about 1 teaspoon - I found that to be a little too thick, so I halved it to 1/2 a teaspoon, which gives me the perfect gel-like consistency I was hoping for.

I was telling my husband that I was fairly sure that the gelling sachets must contain either xanthan gum or something similar, except that the sachets had activated charcoal in them - he immediately walked into the bathroom and I saw him open the medicine cupboard, and he showed me a small jar of activated charcoal capsules. He told me that I could always undo the capsule and mix it in with the gum powder; I did as he suggested and the end result was pretty identical to what the results were using the samples of Diamonds™ Gelling and Odor Control Sachets by Convatec!!

I decided since I was going to trial this to start with a 1% solution - and as my high output pouch holds 750ml, I used 7 grams - found that it was a little too thick, so I am going to try 5g next - pretty sure this is what is in the gelling sachets which are horrifically expensive.

Xanthan gum works on cool liquids, so it's even better than rolled oats!!

Hi! I've been reading your posts, and can I say how much I admire your tenacity, creativity, and resourcefulness in general… and even more so with all you've been through and are currently battling daily 🙂

Hey Grace,

I too have some xanthan gum [given to me by a celiac friend] and I haven't used it since making a trifle for when they visited!

Maybe I should move to the loo cupboard when output is imbalanced - TY!

CC - I iterate - your expressed thoughts - and add those of Edward de Bono: CAP [consider all possibilities] i.e. a lateral mind and willingness to think outside of the box is usually worth a go. And yeah, it's hard to keep it together at times, and oddly, it's often those who have the greater challenges, who are prepared to share, who carry the torch for the rest of us .....................

Never Give Up

And keep on trying

BW

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ waves ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

J

Thanks CrappyColon!

But I figured out shortly after my first few operations after first getting my ileostomy that the only way I was going to get through this is to follow my husband's positive attitude in life. To fight and keep fighting as long as I wanted to stay alive. My Dutch husband, John, is a firm believer in doing everything himself, and after 30 years of marriage with him using a mixture of Dutch/Kiwi ingenuity, it is rubbing off on me.

Thanks, Jayne.
When I was first told that the doctors didn't think I'd live to see my 35th birthday, I decided that I was not going to listen to them. I have always believed that it's God's decision if one's time is up....
I've been fighting to stay alive with everything I've got; sometimes I get tired, though, and when that happens, John does the fighting for me until I can have enough strength of mind to keep on going.

I think it's hilarious, though, if I am seen in the hospital by health carers who'd assumed that since they hadn't seen me in a long time, I must have died - they look at me, go pale - as if they have seen a ghost!!

In June, I will be (according to those doctors) 20 years past my supposed expiry date! LOL!

My Ostomy Journey: Kimberly | Hollister

Yes, Grace, I too can identify with that incredulity - particularly from those whose egos lead their paths!

In some ways sad too - for others, unlike ourselves, Grace allows the definition of diagnosis to identify their self-belief - BIG MISTAKE.

Moral of the tale in all this - quite gentle stoicism ... and yes, a little compassion and encouragement for others and recognition for those trailblazers too - for surrounding oneself with the Positive Souls helps to elevate our energies - it's all self-fulfilling.

Keep up the good work and allow gentleness when the going gets exhausting - for a lull is no catastrophe ..... merely a pausing place.

BW

Jayne

Good for you, Gracie! Experimentation beats despair every time. You can grow an appreciation for something you have made a major investment in. Perhaps ostomates would view the result of ostomy surgery differently if it were called a "life investment" instead of a "stoma." I think I will start referring to the stoma as "life investment." 😉

AT

"Life investment"

I like this very much!

T'is pretty well how I thought of the colectomy - prior to TIES - for having battled to overcome without the colectomy, the trade-off as it were was the active life promise [irrespective of the complications and long haul following bowel perforation] .....

So yes 'life investment' sums up all that I have ever 'signed up for' .... But the marketing needs to be fully understood as there are many T+Cs involved!

................

In my case, TIES was to have been the 'insurance' to assure self-management into old age ie to negate nursing care as one is beginning to imagine one may yet become an 'Ancient' !

;-))

One always keeps an eye on the cutting edge - but with rather more skepticism these days !!!

BW

Jayne

My stoma is "Mount Vesuvius" due to the fact that she likes to erupt, especially when I have almost finished putting on a new bag (groan).... and it can shoot up almost a meter high....