Vegan with a j-pouch?

It's harder to digest vegetables with a J Pouch, for example spinach, corn, mushrooms and to some extent raw carrots. I eat salads and often much of it comes out undigested. You have to chew your food really, really well, and even then the digestive part is harder and some veggies will come out partially digested.

I GOTCHU!!!! I am a vegetarian ( 6 years) and I have a pouch. The number one thing you need to know is to get extra protein!!! With a J-pouch there is not colon to absorb stuff- you have diarrhea all of the time, when you have diarrhea, you lose protein, so make sure you get EXTRA EXTRA protein.

Watch Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, and Iron Especially.

I learned all of that the hard way lol. Vegetarian to vegetarian

Thank you both! So it sounds like it's possible, I may just have to be a little more careful and also deal with things not being fully digested. I guess that wouldn't bother me as long as it's not causing pain. Someone had mentioned blockages to me? Is that a concern with eating roughage or is that more for the bag? Thanks again.

I think blockages are more a concern with the temporary ileostomy. I did have one from eating raw carrots when I had the bag. Most important thing is chewing your food well. Pretend you are a cow- 28 chews minimum before you swallow those veggies! 40 chews is even better! I am sometimes guilty of eating fast, especially when hungry, and later on I will see half chewed salad in the toilet bowl. You really need to let your teeth and jaw muscles go to work. Minimize what you gut has to do!

@Sara14 posted:

Thank you both! So it sounds like it's possible, I may just have to be a little more careful and also deal with things not being fully digested. I guess that wouldn't bother me as long as it's not causing pain. Someone had mentioned blockages to me? Is that a concern with eating roughage or is that more for the bag? Thanks again.

I avoid blockages by drinking water: before, during, and after every meal, that definitely works

Remember Extra Extra protein!!!!! I learned that the hard way!!! LOL. Diarrhea makes you lose protein so definitely get extra extra protein.

Thank you both!

@Sara14 posted:

Thank you both!

You are so welcome! I love helping other vegans and vegetarians on here with the protein situation. Since I learned the hard way, I like to educated others so they do not experience what I experienced, which was EXTREMELY LOW protein levels, its normal now though since I get extra extra protein.

Good luck with everything Vegetarian Sister

I am celebrating 6 years in July

Thanks again! There are so many vegan products in the stores these days that it wouldn't be too hard for me to eat more of the more processed veggie burgers/faux meats and stuff like that and less "roughage" if I had to. I love tofu as well, so I'm sure that would probably be easy to digest.

What were some of the symptoms you experienced when you were low on protein if you don't mind me asking? Just so I know what to look out for. I've honestly never really focused on my protein much.

@Sara14 posted:

Thanks again! There are so many vegan products in the stores these days that it wouldn't be too hard for me to eat more of the more processed veggie burgers/faux meats and stuff like that and less "roughage" if I had to. I love tofu as well, so I'm sure that would probably be easy to digest.

What were some of the symptoms you experienced when you were low on protein if you don't mind me asking? Just so I know what to look out for. I've honestly never really focused on my protein much.

I hear you on that girl!!! Gardein is pretty good!!! They have Vegan Chicken with noodles, its a little bit by the MorningStar section

Symptoms I experienced with protein: My hair stayed the same length for years!!! I never knew why it did and it was thinning as well My nails barely grew and I only had to clip my toenails like once or twice a year. I started looking up protein info and I realized I was not getting enough protein!!!

I increased my protein by triple!!!! And my hair is growing VERY VERY FAST AND SUPER THICK!!!! My toenails and fingernails are growing tooo!!!!! I have to clip them all of the time now!!! LOL!!!! And I even lost weight too!!!!

Wow, that's crazy! Thanks for the info.!

@Sara14 posted:

Wow, that's crazy! Thanks for the info.!

Your welcome, has any of that stuff happened to you???

No, never. I clip my nails every few weeks. And my hair has always grown fast. I'm glad you figured it out!

@Sara14 posted:

No, never. I clip my nails every few weeks. And my hair has always grown fast. I'm glad you figured it out!

Me too!!! LOL! I never had those problems until I got my J-pouch, when you get your j-pouch, at least you know now to get extra extra protein.

If your pouch acts funny with veggies you can always just throw them in a blender and make a smoothie.

Yeah, I guess that's true. It's just hard to think of having to blend all my food for the rest of my life. I'm only 37. Lol. I really enjoy cooking and eating. I do enjoy smoothies as well though. Thank you.

@Sara14 posted:

Yeah, I guess that's true. It's just hard to think of having to blend all my food for the rest of my life. I'm only 37. Lol. I really enjoy cooking and eating. I do enjoy smoothies as well though. Thank you.

It's not like you have to blend all of your food for the rest of your life. But it's an option for certain foods that may cause your pouch problems but you still want to eat for health reasons

@Jaydog posted:

It's not like you have to blend all of your food for the rest of your life. But it's an option for certain foods that may cause your pouch problems but you still want to eat for health reasons

That's true. Thank you.

As a vegetarian myself, I can’t imagine being raw vegan with J pouch.  I would be in the bathroom all day long and very uncomfortable.    😟. On the other hand, if you cook those veggies well and eat it along with something like a sweet potato that’s easy for me to digest, I’d be a happy camper.  I just generally keep my uncooked veggies & fruit minimal.  But there are times when I can eat those foods more successfully depending on my hormones and inflammation at the time.  But like someone else said, even when I eat raw foods, the majority isn’t even digested.  I would think you might get a better absorption & health benefit from the cooked veggies since it digests slower? It’s an adjustment and I think being vegetarian and not vegan,  would be a lot easier but you could always try.  

Thank you!

Folks vary a lot with respect to their tolerance for insoluble fiber and raw vegetables. I frequently enjoy a salad without particular consequences, though I’d usually be disinclined to make a full meal of salad. Folks are calling the residue they see in the toilet “undigested,” but that’s not quite right. The most important part of digestion occurs pretty normally in the small bowel of a J-poucher, *if their upper GI tract and small bowel is functioning well*. The visible residue can look significant but tends to be mostly undigestable cellulose. The colon camouflages this residue much better than a J-pouch, but cellulose is never truly digested, and the nutritional value of food is extracted in the small bowel.

Thank you so much. I was actually wondering that exact question about if it was truly undigested. You read my mind, lol. As long as I'm absorbing the nutrients and it isn't causing pain, I'm okay with it looking weird.

It sounds like it would probably be doable for me to continue with my diet, maybe with a few adjustments. I would miss salad and berries if I couldn't tolerate them raw, but I could definitely make do with cooked veggies and smoothies, etc. Im not a raw vegan. I eat lots of cooked stuff.

Thanks again everyone. Glad I found this forum!

@Leeloo posted:

As a vegetarian myself, I can’t imagine being raw vegan with J pouch.  I would be in the bathroom all day long and very uncomfortable.    😟. On the other hand, if you cook those veggies well and eat it along with something like a sweet potato that’s easy for me to digest, I’d be a happy camper.  I just generally keep my uncooked veggies & fruit minimal.  But there are times when I can eat those foods more successfully depending on my hormones and inflammation at the time.  But like someone else said, even when I eat raw foods, the majority isn’t even digested.  I would think you might get a better absorption & health benefit from the cooked veggies since it digests slower? It’s an adjustment and I think being vegetarian and not vegan,  would be a lot easier but you could always try.  

I rarely meet to other vegetarians on here!!! HEY! How long have you been one??? I have been one for almost 6 years

I stopped eating red meat in 1992!   I think a year later I stopped eating chicken and a couple years after that stopped eating fish.  I’m currently a lacto ovo vegetarian for probably 25 or 26 years now!  Nice to meet you!  I’m not on here as much these days but had my digestive work done a while ago.  I think it has been around 10 yrs now.  🙂

@Leeloo posted:

I stopped eating red meat in 1992!   I think a year later I stopped eating chicken and a couple years after that stopped eating fish.  I’m currently a lacto ovo vegetarian for probably 25 or 26 years now!  Nice to meet you!  I’m not on here as much these days but had my digestive work done a while ago.  I think it has been around 10 yrs now.  🙂

WOW COOL!!!! I am so happy to see other vegetarians on here, I think out lifestyle is better for our pouch since its naturally high in probiotics and prebiotics. Did you have low protein levels in the past too???

I hope you’re right!  No, I haven’t noticed abnormal protein levels.  But I do eat eggs, cheese & drink milk.  

@Leeloo posted:

I hope you’re right!  No, I haven’t noticed abnormal protein levels.  But I do eat eggs, cheese & drink milk.  

I had bad protein levels for over 5 years lol. Its been good since this March

Cheese is usually not vegetarian because it has animal rennet in it. I always eat rennet free cheese, like Cabot Cheese for example and Target Market pantry Cheese. Some companies use rennet free cheese but you have to do lots of research unfortunately.

@Scott F posted:

I frequently enjoy a salad without particular consequences, though I’d usually be disinclined to make a full meal of salad.

I have a salad every day for lunch, although it's usually topped with a protein. This week my proteins are diced ham alternating which chopped Tyson's Buffalo Chicken Bites, which I bake the day before, then have a salad out of the chopped bites the next day.

The veggie portion of the salad is chopped Romaine hearts (which I buy fresh) roasted red peppers (I buy fresh and roast 45 minutes in olive oil and salt and pepper at 400 degrees, then chill for later use in salads), shredded carrots, chopped fresh Haas Avocados, and chopped red onions. The salad is topped with whatever happens to be the salad dressing of the week. I am an utter freak on salad dressings and try a new one almost every week. The "Dressing of the Week" this week is the nondairy ranch dressing made by a company called Organicville, which I not surprisingly found in the Organic foods aisle of my supermarket. I don't necessarily prefer organic over non organic dressings or non dairy over dairy ranch dressings, I just wanted to try it. It's made with coconut cream as the substitute for dairy, but I can't taste coconut in it and it's not sweet. It's good, but tastes more like a creamy Italian dressing than it does like a ranch dressing.

One thing I have learned about using avocados in salad is you can't let them get too ripe, otherwise you can't easily peel their skins and cut them up properly for a salad. They also hold their color better and don't blacken as easily if slightly firm and rubbed with lemon juice after being cut.

Glad to hear that you’re doing better with protein now.    I wonder what turned it around.  Yes, I am aware of the rennet and so I do look for vegetarian rennet in the ingredients.  Trader Joe’s and some other companies are good about listing it but some are unclear what type it is.  And I’m picky.  Lol.

@Leeloo posted:

Glad to hear that you’re doing better with protein now.    I wonder what turned it around.  Yes, I am aware of the rennet and so I do look for vegetarian rennet in the ingredients.  Trader Joe’s and some other companies are good about listing it but some are unclear what type it is.  And I’m picky.  Lol.

Thank-you!  I doubled sometimes tripled my protein intake. Since I have done that my nails and hair grow super fast

Oh good!!!!! I am glad you know that!!!!! Most vegetarians I talk to do not know that lol! When I tell them, they get shocked or they do not want to learn about it and make that that change lol.  

I am picky too! I have to see hard core evidence in order for me to eat it! I know CHEZZITS are veggie rennet and Little Caesars Pizza lol.

@CTBarrister posted:

I have a salad every day for lunch, although it's usually topped with a protein. This week my proteins are diced ham alternating which chopped Tyson's Buffalo Chicken Bites, which I bake the day before, then have a salad out of the chopped bites the next day.

The veggie portion of the salad is chopped Romaine hearts (which I buy fresh) roasted red peppers (I buy fresh and roast 45 minutes in olive oil and salt and pepper at 400 degrees, then chill for later use in salads), shredded carrots, chopped fresh Haas Avocados, and chopped red onions. The salad is topped with whatever happens to be the salad dressing of the week. I am an utter freak on salad dressings and try a new one almost every week. The "Dressing of the Week" this week is the nondairy ranch dressing made by a company called Organicville, which I not surprisingly found in the Organic foods aisle of my supermarket. I don't necessarily prefer organic over non organic dressings or non dairy over dairy ranch dressings, I just wanted to try it. It's made with coconut cream as the substitute for dairy, but I can't taste coconut in it and it's not sweet. It's good, but tastes more like a creamy Italian dressing than it does like a ranch dressing.

One thing I have learned about using avocados in salad is you can't let them get too ripe, otherwise you can't easily peel their skins and cut them up properly for a salad. They also hold their color better and don't blacken as easily if slightly firm and rubbed with lemon juice after being cut.

That sounds delicious. You are making me hungry for lunch now! I love avocadoes and roasted red peppers.

Someone made me a salad once with grilled romaine and it was delish.  

I have grilled romaine hearts by slicing them in half lengthwise, brushing them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then putting them under the broiler until browned, topping them with shredded Parmesan Cheese for the last 2 minutes of cooking time. More often I eat them raw, but if they are hanging around the refrigerator for a week or more, they are usually good candidates to be grilled or broiled.

Grilled romaine sounds amazing! Romaine is the lettuce I usually buy for my salads.