Diets and stoma function.

Fifty ileostomy and 50 colostomy patients were questioned as to which foods upset their stoma function. Most patients had no problem in finding a suitable diet and 70 per cent would eat any food on occasions, although half the patients found that side effects with particular foods were a nuisance. Only a small range of foodstuffs seemed to produce symptoms in a significant proportion of patients. We feel that no particular foodstuff should be eliminated from a diet without an adequate trial as most patients are able to eat entirely normally.