Bariatric surgery ( Gastric bypass procedure) alters the anatomy of your digestive system in order to cause an individual to lose weight. What you eat, how much you eat and how you eat will change after you have had a gastric bypass procedure.
Your stomach has been reduced to the size of a small egg and portions of your small intestine bypassed, there are specific diet guidelines that will need to be followed. Usually after the procedure, a dietitian will meet with you and create a diet for you to follow. This is vital so that you will have a healthy weight loss and maintain a stable nutritional status.
The first two days after surgery you will remain NPO, which means you will not be allowed to eat. They will add foods to your diet acording to a specific diet progression. Diet progression is a necessity when you are in a process of healing after the surgery. Diet progression allows an individual to adapt to adding new foods. The first 3 months after surgery will follow phases in the bypass diet progression.
The first two days after surgery you will stay on a liquid diet. These are foods that are liquid at room temperature and contain mostly water. Examples of the foods you are allowed are broths, juice, milk and sometimes a strained cream soup.
The next three to four weeks you will be put on a pureed diet. These are foods that have an appearance of pasty or thick liquids. Pureed food have no distinct food particles in them.
For the next 8 weeks you will be put of a soft food diet, soft foods are easy to chew. Examples of soft foods are canned or soft fresh fruit or ground or finely diced meats. After eight weeks you will progress to foods with regular consistency as recommended by your doctor or dietitian.
There are lifelong changes and new eating habits because the changes in your digestive system will restrict how much you can eat and drink. There are guidelines you will given to follow.
You will be told to eat small amounts of food. After the surgery, your stomach holds only about 1 ounce of food. Over time your stomach will stretch to hold more food, and usually by the end of the third month you will be able to eat 1 cup to 1 & 1/2 cups of food with each meal. If you eat too much, it will cause pain, nausea and vomiting. You need to eat only the recommended amounts and stop eating when you feel full.
You need to take time to eat and drink slowly. If you eat or drink quickly, you may experience dumping syndrome. If foods and liquids enter your small intestine rapidly, or in larger amounts than normal, you can develop nausea, vomting, diarrhea. sweating and dizziness. You will be taught to eat foods and lquids that are low in fat and sugar. You need to eat and drink slowly, they will recommend that you wait 30 minutes before or after each meal to drink liquids. You will be instructed to take at least 30 minutes to eat a meal and 30 to 60 minutes to drink 1 cup of liquid. Foods to avoid are foods that are high in fat and sugar, like regular soda pop, candy bars and ice cream.
You need to take the time to chew your food thoroughly. There is a new opening that leads from your stomach into your intestine, and it is very small. If you fail to chew proplerly, large pieces of food can block the opening. A blockage can prevent food from leaving your stomach and can cause vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Learn to take small bites of food and chew them well. A good rule of thumb to follow is that if you cannot chew a certain food, then do not swallow it.
You will need to try foods slowly after surgery. The ability to tolerate certain foods varies among different individuals. If a food is causing you discomfort, then do not eat it. After time your body will adapt and you will eventually be able to add this food back in your diet. Examples of foods that commonly cause discomfort include meat, pasta, raw vegetables and carbonated drinks. Also the texture of certain foods may not be tolerated well, avoid dry, sticky or stringy type foods.
Bariatric surgery causes difficulty with the absorption of certain nutrients because most of your stomach and part of your small intestine are bypassed. You will need to take vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent a vitamin or mineral deficiency. Bariatric surgery is a decision that has altering effects to your lifestyle and causes a change in your diet. Failing to follow the recommended changes can cause serious complications to your health, you need to be the best advocate for your own body and maintain the life styles changes you were told to make.