The gastric bypass diet is designed for individuals who are recovering from a gastric bypass surgery. This diet will help patients to change their dietary habits while they heal. Your physician is a registered dietician who can help create a gastric bypass diet and will work with you to create a meal plan based on your likes and dislikes. This diet will specify the type of food and the amount you can have at each meal. Closely following this diet can help a patient to safely lose weight.
Gastric Bypass Diet: After Surgery
This diet has a number of purposes, such as to allow the staple line in the stomach to mend without being stretched out by the food you consume and it also allows you to get accustomed to eating smaller meals that can be digested safely and comfortably with your smaller stomach. The diet will also help you to lose weight and can teach you how to avoid gaining an excess amount of weight. Following the diet also helps you to avoid complications and side effects.
The dietary recommendations after the surgery will vary and depend on where the surgery is performed as well as your specific case and situation. This diet will typically have four phases, which help a person to slowly ease back into eating solid food. How quickly a person progresses from each step will depend on how fast their body adjusts to the dietary changes. Usually, you will be able to begin eating regular food twelve weeks after the surgery. After the procedure you will need to pay close attention to the signs that you’re full or hungry. It’s common for a patient to develop some food aversions or intolerances.
Different Dietary Phases after Gastric Bypass Surgery
The first phase is referred to as the liquid diet. During phase one you won’t be allowed to eat for the first 24 to 48 hours following the surgery, in order to promote healing. During your hospital stay, you will begin a diet of semisolid and liquid foods in order to determine your food tolerance. The food you’re allowed to have during this phase includes: strained cream soup, broth, unsweetened juice, and milk and sugar free gelatin. During this phase you’ll need to slowly sip fluids, drinking only two to three ounces at one time. You will not be allowed to drink caffeinated or carbonated beverages. You will also need to avoid drinking and eating at the same time. Wait half an hour after eating before drinking any fluids.
Once you’ve eaten and tolerated liquid foods for three days, you’ll be able to eat pureed foods. During the two to five week long diet you’ll only be able to eat foods that have a paste-like consistency. When pureeing your food, choose solid food that can blend easily, such as beans, lean ground meat, yogurt, fish, egg whites, cottage cheese and soft veggies and fruits.
You should blend the soft food with liquids such as broth, water, unsweetened juice, fat free milk and gravy.
Keep in mind that your digestive system will be sensitive during this time so it’s recommended that you avoid most dairy products and spicy foods. If you must eat these foods, try adding them slowly into your diet, in small amounts.
During the third phase, after three weeks of eating only pureed foods, you can add solid soft foods to your diet. If you can mash the food with a fork, it’s soft enough for this dietary phase. During the third phase, your diet can include such foods as canned or fresh soft fruits, cooked veggies and finely diced or ground meats. Physician’s usually recommend eating soft food for two months before eating foods that are described as regular in consistency. After the two month period you will be able to gradually return to eating firm foods. You might still experience sensitivity to spicy foods or food that is crunchy in texture. Start off slow in order to determine which foods you can tolerate. Even during this stage you’ll still need to avoid such foods as dried fruit, seeds and nuts, all carbonated beverages, popcorn, bread, granola, tough meats and fibrous and stringy veggies. These foods need to be avoided because they might cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Over a period of time, you might be able to add these foods back into your diet, with the guidance of your physician.
Resuming a Normal Diet after Gastric Bypass Surgery
Four months after the procedure you can begin eating a healthy, normal diet, depending on the foods you’re able to tolerate. Even some foods that initially irritated your stomach after the surgery can become more tolerable over time. In order to ensure that you get enough minerals and vitamins and to keep your weight loss progress on track, during each phase of the diet you should keep your meals small, take vitamin and mineral supplements, drink plenty of liquids between meals, drink and eat slowly, chew your food thoroughly, focus on foods that are high in protein and avoid foods that are high in fat and sugar.
[QUIZZIN 1]