Maintaining a healthy diet after getting gastric bypass surgery
Gastric bypass surgery has plenty of pros and cons. It's one of the most effective methods available for helping an obese patient to lose most of their excess weight, but it also can cause damaging effects to the health. For one, your body loses a bit of its ability to absorb nutrients from the foods that you eat. That can lead to a lack of proper nutrition in your diet, and not getting enough vitamins and minerals can lead to deficiencies. To that end, we've created this article as a way of helping to inform you about the dietary practices you will need to undertake should you decide to get gastric bypass surgery.
One of the most important minerals that your body needs is calcium. Calcium is used in our bones and teeth to help keep them strong. A lack of calcium in the diet can lead to a calcium deficiency, which can cause you to have osteoporosis, making your bones fragile and weak. To that end, those who have gastric bypass surgery need to take special care to ensure that they are getting all the calcium that they need. You can supplement your calcium intake in a number of ways, with coral calcium supplements being one of them. Iron is another important mineral that you need to ensure that you are getting enough of. A lack of iron can lead to a condition of anemia, so it's of utmost importance to keep track of your iron levels. You can get the iron that you need in multi-vitamins to meet your daily values. The B-complex vitamins are another nutrient that those who get gastric bypass surgery often lack. To help solve the problem, you can take Vitamin B supplements. If your lack of Vitamin B is severe, a dietitian may recommend that you get injections of B12 to boost your levels.
One of the most important things to remember when creating your gastric bypass diet is how much food your stomach can actually hold. It can hold roughly an ounce of food at a time, so you should estimate around a half cup worth of food for every meal. Since this isn't very much food, you may find yourself having to eat between three and six times per day in order to get your body the energy that it needs. It's important not to overeat, as it can cause added stress to your newly formed stomach. In some severe cases of overeating, the staples that secure the stomach pouch may come undone leading to lots of problems.
When you first get the surgery performed, you're going to want to stick exclusively to a clear liquid diet. For a few days, you're going to want to stick to mainly water, ensuring that you drink only two to three ounces of it at a time. After your stomach begins to adjust to the surgery, you'll be able to switch off to thicker liquids. Liquids like Ensure and Sustacal can provide the nutrition that you need during this period of time without the need for solid foods. After one to two weeks, you can graduate to a diet of soft and pureed foods. Scrambled eggs and meats like shredded tuna fish are a good idea at this stage in your diet. After around 8 weeks after your surgery, you should be able to switch on to a regular diet, eating the foods that you desire, albeit in limited quantities.
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