An appropriate food choices and a Bariatric post surgery diet will help you lose weight and stay healthy for the rest of your life.
Bariatric surgery requires a good diet and a profound shift in habits and lifestyle, as it is likely that you will not eat as well as before. The nutritional goal is for the patient to eat a well-balanced diet: that includes adequate servings from all food groups; limit consumption of added sugars, concentrated sweets, fried foods, soft drinks, caffeine and alcohol; Cover the minimum daily requirement of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Decreased stomach capacity causes the stomach to shrink to the size of an egg (50 to 150 ml) with the ability to barely digest food. This new stomach will be more sensitive to a variety of foods and dishes, so there are important restrictions in the consumption of vitamins and minerals.
In the Fitoont, we recommend a relatively slow escalation of food during the first month. After the first month, you have probably started to find the diet that you feel best about.
Vitamin and mineral supplements
After the operation, both the intake and uptake of various vitamins and minerals decreases. To compensate for this, daily supplements of multivitamin and mineral preparations are necessary:
- My choice woman, Apoteket Kvinna or equivalent (dosage as it says on the jar)
- Behepan® tablet, prescription (1 tablet per day in the morning)
- Calcipos-D-forte® or Calcichew-D-forte®, prescription (1 tablet per day in the morning)
- Duroferon® or Niferex®, prescription only, women of childbearing potential (1 tablet every other day in the evening)
You will need to continue with vitamin and mineral supplements for the rest of your life. There are alternatives to the above supplements. These vitamin and mineral supplements cannot be prescribed by a doctor and are taken instead of the supplements described above.
Liquid Bariatric Post Surgery Diet
It can be difficult to get fluids with meals. However, you can drink water, tea and broth in a free amount between meals. Try to drink about 1.5 liters per day. Drink a little at a time and drinking from a bottle with a “pipe cork”, for example a sports bottle, can sometimes make it easier.
Alcohol
Alcohol is absorbed much faster in the body after the operation and even small amounts can lead to high alcohol concentration in the blood. You should therefore drink alcoholic beverages with caution.
Phase 1: Bariatric Post Surgery Liquid diet (week 1)
- Eat every two to three hours in the beginning.
- Eat about six meals a day, and make sure to take advantage of the whole day.
- Start with breakfast in the morning, even if you are not hungry.
- Avoid overly sweet or fatty foods as these can lead to dumping.
- Feel free to let the meals take about 20 minutes.
- Eat with a teaspoon if you have difficulty eating slowly.
- Feel free to use powdered food in the beginning! Mix with skim or medium milk instead of water, as this gives a higher protein intake.
- Try out the volumes you can eat at a time. 1-2 ½ dl per meal is common in the beginning after the operation.
Examples of a day with a Bariatric post surgery liquid diet:
- Breakfast: 1.5-2 dl milk, filet, yoghurt, gruel or powdered food.
- Snacks: Powdered food or smoothies. Smoothie: Mix fruit and berries with filet or yoghurt and quark or cottage cheese
- Lunch: 1.5-2 dl smooth soup or powdered food. Feel free to mix 50 grams of the following suggestions into the soup: minced meat, meat, chicken, seafood, fish, eggs, cottage cheese or quark. Milk in the soup instead of water gives a higher protein content.
- Snacks: Powdered food or smoothies.
- Dinner: See lunch.
- Evening meal: like breakfast.
Phase 2: Bariatric Post Surgery Diet with a soft texture, week 2-4
- Continue to eat slowly and regularly about 6 times a day.
- Choose foods that can be finely chopped with a fork, such as minced meat dishes, fish balls, keyhole-marked sausages, veal jam, fish, scrambled eggs, boiled potatoes, root vegetables and broccoli flowers.
- Food that cannot be mashed with a fork can be mixed using a hand mixer or food processor.
- Crispbread without whole grains and seeds that are chewed to a soft texture is good to eat. Choose soft toppings, such as keyhole-marked liver pate, mackerel in tomato, spreadable cheese and boiled eggs.
Examples of a day with soft food for Bariatric post surgery diet:
- Breakfast: 1-2 dl milk, filet, yoghurt or gruel and ½-1 Crispbread with a soft spread or 1-2 dl porridge with mashed fruit or jam and a little milk.
- Snack 1: Mashed fruit or powdered food or smoothies with fruit, berries, quark, cottage cheese or protein powder.
- Lunch: 50-75 grams of minced meat loaf, keyhole-marked falu sausage, fish balls or fish, 1 boiled potato, boiled root vegetables or mixed vegetables and a little sauce.
- Snack: See snack 1
- Dinner: See lunch
- Evening meal: 1 boiled egg and 1 Crispbread or 100 grams of cheesecake and 1 tablespoon jam or mixed berries.
Gas-forming foods
Gas-forming foods in the diet can cause discomfort for the first time post Bariatric surgery. The foods and amounts that increase gas formation are individual, but the most common are:
- Different kinds of cabbage
- Lots of onions (e.g., yellow onions, leeks, garlic)
- Legumes (e.g., peas, beans, lentils)
- Carbonated drink
- Chewing gum
You can watch Bariatric surgery full liquid diet
Four Weeks Diet after Bariatric Post Surgery
Gradual escalation of regular food
- Continue to eat regularly.
- Try your hand at the number of meals and the time span between.
- Let the meal take the time you need to avoid discomfort.
- Drink the largest amount of fluid between meals. It’s ok to drink a small amount with the food, try it out.
- As you feel safe eating, you will be introducing stringy and indigestible foods in finely divided form.
- Gas formation and sensitivity to doughy foods are individual, try it out!
- Prioritize protein-rich foods in the first place.
Protein
Bariatric surgery results in a reduction of about 20 percent fat-free mass, including muscle mass. To avoid excessive muscle loss and to not develop malnutrition, it is recommended that the total daily intake of protein is around 60-80g.
Protein-rich foods:
- Beef and pork (including charcuterie)
- Chicken (and other bird)
- Fish (including preserves such as tuna and mackerel)
- Egg
- Dairy products (mainly cottage cheese, kesella and quark)
- Legumes (beans, peas and lentils)
Dumping
Early dumping is a phenomenon in which fluid is drawn from the bloodstream into the intestine to “dilute” sweet and/or high-fat foods.
Late dumping occurs with high intake of fast carbohydrates, which leads to high blood sugar with consequent high insulin load. This can cause your blood sugar to drop to low levels.
Examples of foods that often cause dumping:
Ice cream, sausage, cream, mashed potatoes, French fries, sweet drink, fatty sausages
How to reduce the risk of dumping:
- Avoid (large amounts) sweet and fatty foods.
- Eat slowly.
- Eat regularly (small meals often).
- Avoid large amounts of drink with the meal.
Eating after Bariatric surgery
Some time after the operation, you can eat a “smaller normal portion”.
Example:
- 75-100g meat, chicken or fish
- 1-3 potatoes
- Sauce
- Relatively unlimited with vegetables
Eating large meals on a few occasions during the day increases the risk of overeating and dumping. Eating your meals evenly throughout the day also results in more even blood sugar levels.
Just like before the operation, it is important to make a difference between everyday life and parties when it comes to high-calorie foods such as sweets, coffee bread, snacks, sweet drinks and alcohol.
Alcohol
- Only moderate amounts with caution.
- Studies indicate a risk of increased alcohol cravings after Bariatric surgery.
- After an obesity operation, it takes longer before the alcohol leaves the blood. Make sure you have a good time margin before you go out into the traffic.
References
I’m Kyrillos Mina, CEO and founder of Fitoont. I work as a physiotherapist, I created this platform to treat people with all the diseases and symptoms that physical therapy treats. In addition, I will provide tips to lose weight through diet and exercise plans.
