Your ileostomy is either a temporary or permanent stoma, which is diverting the flow of digestion before it would have entered the large bowel. The output from the ileostomy is not true waste in nature, and therefore contains corrosive digestives enzymes. Fibre is the part of our food that does not digest once eaten. Its function is to pass through the digestive tract with the aid of fluid and the natural waving motion of the digestive tract, called peristalsis.

Fibre, therefore, is the vehicle, which allows waste products to leave the body. This natural bodily function is called defaecation. The name given to the fibre in its remaining form is residue. A low-residue diet consists of foods that will leave the least amount of residue in the bowel after digestion is complete. The purpose of a low residue diet is to prevent irritation or over-stimulation during the post-operative recovery phase following an operation that results in an ileostomy.

A low-residue diet does not mean No-Residue at all. The recipes in this book contain some fibre, which is soft or tender, e.g. canned peaches. A low-residue diet is strictly for short-term use only, until your output is thick in consistency, less in volume and easier to manage. You can then slowly introduce new foods into your diet.