Diet for Diabetics With Colostomy

According to information from the medical website Medline Plus, a colostomy is a procedure that involves circumventing the final portion of the digestive tract (the rectum), attaching the end of the large intestine to the abdominal wall and securing a bag through which waste can pass. While having a colostomy performed will change your diet slightly, it should still be possible to follow both the restrictions of a colostomy while adhering to the rules of a diabetic diet.

Colostomy Dieting Rules

• Adhere to the general rules of colostomy dieting to find a balance that will allow you to deal with both your colostomy and diabetes. According to information from the digestive disease website gIcare.com, avoid the consumption of foods that are incompletely digested (foods which are excessively fibrous and pass through the digestive tract somewhat intact), which can result in a blocking of the stoma (the hole through which waste must pass). These foods include peppers, olives, peas, pineapple, dried fruit, coconut, corn, cabbage, celery, nuts, mushrooms, lettuce and pickles. Additionally, limit your consumption of foods that cause gas, such as beans, cruciferous vegetables, large quantities of fruit, large amounts of dairy or wheat and excessively fatty foods.

Diabetes Diet

• According to the Mayo Clinic, dieting for diabetes means controlling blood sugar levels by limiting both the type and the quantity of carbohydrates consumed. Limit yourself to between 100 to 200 grams of carbs per day, split evenly across your daily meals. Only consume carbs that are from the following groups: fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Be careful to limit your fruit intake in accordance with the recommendations for a colostomy above, along with watching out for the veggies that are forbidden on the colostomy plan.

  Aside from managing your carb intake according to those rules, consume lean protein with every meal (to keep your fat intake down, per colostomy instructions). Be sure to chew your food completely to avoid digestive issues and you should have little to no problem combining the needs of a colostomy with the needs of a diabetes diet.