Hi I am trying to find out if anyone has tried quinoa and if it is safe to eat with an ostomy..

Hi Teresa,

I enjoy quinoa with my ileostomy. No real issues, as long as it's properly cooked. If you do try, take it slow, as it's not as easy to digest as white rice is.

THANK YOU!!!
I am wondering if you feel that this belt is helpful in supporting a hernia around the stoma?

Hi Becky,

You may have posted this comment in the wrong article. Which belt are you referring to?

Hi Eric,

I'm curious.  It was my understanding that vitamin D3 is critical to human health but that it is missing from a vegan diet as it comes from wool. Is this true. If so, do you compensate for the loss of vitamin D3 from your diet? If so, how?

Hi Tony,

Read this:

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

Lots of good info on Vitamin D...and even a section on absorption by people with IBD etc...

Looks like some sunlight might help. I take a small supplement .. ( too much can be bad for you..be aware).

Looks like mushrooms are a good source of D ( chew them well/cook them). Interesting factoid about mushrooms.. leave them in the sun for awhile before you cook them and they will have more vitamin D.

I'm sure Eric knows more about this.

Wool? Don't know about that ( Except that  its is the title of an excellent scifi novel by Hugh Howey).

Posted by: IleosTony

Hi Eric,

 

I'm curious.  It was my understanding that vitamin D3 is critical to human health but that it is missing from a vegan diet as it comes from wool. Is this true. If so, do you compensate for the loss of vitamin D3 from your diet? If so, how?

That's actually a good question and a valid concern. 

There are actually two kinds of Vitamin D - d2 and d3. Vitamin D3 is more commonly found in animal products, however, it can also be synthesized through lichens or mushrooms. Commercially, there are actually quite a few vegan versions of D3 that can be purchased nearly everywhere, including Amazon.

Both D2 and D3 are used and prescribed by doctors. D3 tends to be preferred, but that depends on the dose, status of the person taking it, frequency taken, etc. 

I've used both vegan d2 (this is always vegan) and vegan d3 with success. However, the "best" way to get vitamin D is through natural sunlight - which is not without risks, so supplementation is universally recommended for all ages. 

On a practical note, many foods are fortified with Vitamin D, including dairy and non-dairy products. I know that many kinds of cereal are now being fortified with vitamin D, although it tends to be the non-vegan version, so I'm always cautious when shopping. Plant-based, non-dairy milks always use D2. 

I am really enjoying reading all the information I can get lately on Vitamins and what foods supply what in our diets. I have found that I am doing all the right things, but my guts are not. Dealing with malabsorption for the last year or so. Dona and Eric have answered a lot of my questions on Vit.D's and the article Dona was perfect. They talk about the malabsorption of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Chrohns and other issues. I am now confident that I am doing all the right things, but my guts fail the test horribly. I now have Severe Anemia, Low Blood Pressure, Malabsorption has been proven, and I likely need my valves replaced in my heart. But the Anemia and malabsorption trumps heart repair. Just knowing that I am eating as right as possible is good right now. Iron Infusions in B.C. cost $131.50 each. I live on less then 1400. a month. I pay bills and rent. Do the math. I had to find out what foods are high in Iron and make sure I am eating them. Turns out I defiantly am eating right all along. This article today confirms so much more. Thank you for bringing this up. Malabsorption is no picnic. I noticed things at first that I want to make you all aware of because you too deal with bowel disease also.  The first signs off malabsorption was hair loss, fatigue. Similar to Thyroid issues I was already dealing with. Then the fatigue increased, skin became dry and nails brittle. I noticed fats floating in the toilet water after emptying my pouch. There were a whole sort of other changes and I kept track of them in a journal. I took it to the doctor after the first ten pounds dropped off of me. I stopped keeping track after fourty pounds because the signs were the very same only more of them. Clothes that always fit, stopped fitting, but I kept wearing the clothes I had. My feet hurt. There is no fat left on my feet to make it comfy for walking. Blisters explained ill fitting shoes. My eyes won't always focus. Long story short, 55 lbs. later, I was holding at 140. I dropped below that now. I am 5'6" with larger bones then most women.  Last time this happened I weighed 92 lbs. when I was released from the hospital, they could no longer help me. I recovered. Then, 12 years ago, they admitted me at 140. I was on TPN, Total Peritoneal Nutrition for almost a year. The Banana bag IV. Now the anemia. I have been told that in order to be this continually anemic, I am bleeding from somewhere but they can't find it. Hopefully the CT Scan on Friday will tell them this.  I look like I am anorexic and people always do the double take  at me when I am in public. People, eat, and eat well. That extra 40 lbs. I had on me meant to me, that I was healthy. My doctor did the body mass index thing and said I was obese. I was 182 lbs. Not anymore. Eat yourselves healthy. Make sure you are getting what you need and pay attention to those suttle signs our bodies give us. If in doubt, check it out. Because I have been here, done this before, I new I was in trouble again. Tho I was hoping I was wrong. 

Linda,

Good luck with the upcoming CAT scan. At least we now have all these non invasive tests to help with diagnosis. I hope they find whats wrong and its an easy fix. I'll be thinking of you.

Thank you @dona and @VeganOstomy for so kindly sharing this great information. Linda, I am so sorry you're going through all that. Please let us know, if you will, how things develop for you. I will be thinking of you as well.                                                                                 

Thankyou Dona, Unfortunately, there are no pills or anything they can do to turn the guts back on to absorbing whats needed. I see the Gastroguy again soon to see if they can find if its the guts leaking blood or not. No obvious evidence so far.  After two years of fighting  the last round of malabsorption and my 13 months in Hospital.  Blood work, IV's collapsing, Pic lines replaced, blood thinner pokes twice a day, BP taken more times then you can imagine. Six or seven surgeries and one whopping case of peritonitis leaving the incision area too infected to sew shut. I woke up several times to the crash cart against my bed and nurses watching me sleep. Six hours away from my family, it was a real trial determination and is proving to be again. There are certain aspects of this I have grown very weary of. Ooo, I beat the grey bar, to the right, to the finish this time. Sorry for the above long post.

IleosTony...thank you Tony. I will do my best to keep you up to date. For now, this is the easiest thing I am able to do and I can do it laying down. Twenty two hundred calories, vitamins and minerals thru a pic-line sounds deliciously fattening right now.  Never thought I would say that again. I have to wonder sometimes what the whole purpose of all this is? I have been rendered somewhat useless.