The festive season doesn’t have to be a huge letdown for ostomy patients as long as you take a few extra precautions to protect your stoma. Ostomates face a few certain challenges with holiday feasting, but we’d like to offer you some practical tips to keep you safe, healthy, and happy.
Be Deliberate About Holiday Meals
Whether you’ve recently undergone your surgery or have been a veteran ostomate for a while, you’ll want to pay attention to portion sizes and meal volume. Ostomy patients are usually better off with smaller and more frequent meals. You will, however, probably end up with at least one big dinner at some point on Christmas or New Year. It would help to position that around the middle of the day to give your digestive system ample time to process everything.
Eat & Chew Slowly
As always, it’s so important to pace yourself during any meal to avoid gassiness and other trouble. Remember that the slower you eat, the easier your body can tell you’ve had enough, which will decrease the chances of over-doing it.
Focus on Hydration & Moderate Exercise
You can do yourself a big favor by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. It’s also a wise move to move around a little, perhaps go for a walk, right after eating.
Best Foods for Your Stoma (and Others to Avoid)
These are a few foods you should include on your holiday meal menu. At a minimum, they’ll help you balance out any mistakes you make.
- Skinless Sweet Potatoes
- Blended Cranberry Sauce
- Thin-Sliced Turkey (don’t let it get too dry and coarse)
- Shortbread
- Seedless Veggies
- Steamed Broccoli
- Strawberries
What should you avoid? We recommend staying away from meats like ham or beef since they’re tougher to chew and have more sodium content. It’s also risky to consume too many high-fiber foods like sweetcorn, celery, and citrus fruit.
What about alcohol? Check with your physician, but you may be able to handle alcohol in moderation. Never drink too much or you’ll almost certainly experience loose stool and gas.
For more information, don’t forget to read our previous post on getting through the holidays with an ostomy. That one provides additional insight into pressing travel concerns.
Cymed MicroSkin manufactures, patents, and sells outstanding ostomy pouches and other products for stoma care. You can learn more about holiday preparations and all of our products and services by contacting us at 800-582-0707.