How could be post-bariatric surgery diets?
Can you eat and drink freely after Weight loss surgery? Weight loss surgery is not like a diet, but after bariatric surgery, you won’t be able to tolerate certain foods.
Although some bariatric experts claim that you can eat whatever you want after the first month, you need to create new eating behaviors if you aim to keep your weight-loss goals on track. Balanced nutrition, well hydration, portion control, circadian eating, not skipping meals, and many other fundamental elements that your healthcare advisors point out should be your new guidelines for a better life. Post-bariatric surgery diets given by your dietician help you recovering from weight loss surgery to heal and to adapt yourself to new eating habits.
A typical post-surgery diet usually follows four phases to help you in this journey back to solid foods. The duration of the stages depends on the surgery type that you undergo, the healing rate of your body. In most cases, one can start eating regular unprocessed foods about 12 weeks after surgery.
Avoid some complications with diet…
There are some significant guidelines below that you should follow during the post-surgery diet to avoid some complications such as Dumping syndrome, constipation, dehydration while providing balanced meals.
- Drink 2 liters of fluid/day, mainly water.
- Do not drink liquids with meals. There should be at least 30 minutes before and after a meal to drink something.
- Eat and drink slowly. Chew foods thoroughly in later stages.
- Consume foods rich in protein daily. Avoid saturated fats.
- Choose sugar-free foods and drinks.
- Do not drink alcohol.
- Avoid caffeine, or limit it.
- Take dietary supplements daily as directed by your dietician.
- Eat balanced meals, prefer small portions.
- Stop eating solid foods around 5 pm.
- Avoid rice, bread, sugar, gluten-containing foods, as well as tough meats (in particular pork and beef). Minced lamb meats are usually easy to tolerate.
- Do not drink carbonated and sweetened beverages.
- Stop sugar and sweeteners intake.
- Daily caloric intake should be below 1,000 calories.
Stage 1: Liquid diet (weeks 1-2)
To stay hydrated after Weight Loss Surgery, the liquid diet stage has vital importance. Right after the surgery, you will tolerate the liquids only.
During this stage, you can drink liquids such as follows:
- Water (noncarbonated, unsweetened)
- Broth (grass feed beef, lamb, free-range chicken, organic vegetable)
- Unsweetened fruit juices (apple, grape, cranberry)
- Decaffeinated tea or coffee
- Skim Goat Milk
- Homemade fruit popsicles
Stage 2: Pureed foods (Weeks 3 and 4)
Depending on the WLS type you undergo, after 2 weeks or more, you can move on with pureed foods. Food should not contain any solid pieces inside but should have a smooth paste texture or a thick liquid consistency.
Recommended foods in the puree phase, such as:
- Minced meat, chicken, turkey, or mashed white fish
- Mashed cottage cheese
- Soft scrambled eggs
- Cooked oatmeal
- Soft fruits and cooked vegetables
- Strained soups
- Plain sugar-free yogurt
- Strained soups (celery, potato, mushroom, or chicken)
- Mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes
- Pureed peaches, apricots, pears, pineapples, melons, mashed bananas
- Pureed spinach, carrots, green beans
Stage 3: Adaptive soft foods (Weeks 4 to 9)
After the pureed-food-stage with the approval of your surgeon, you can start to eat soft, small, easily chewable foods such as soft meat, fish, chicken, cereals, cooked vegetables, and canned and fresh fruits.
Recommended foods of this stage could be:
- Ground meat, chopped free-ranged chicken, or turkey
- Fish
- Eggs
- Cottage cheese
- Cooked hot unsweetened cereals
- Soft fruits, without seeds or skin (bananas, apples, pears, peaches)
- Cooked vegetables,
- Soups
- Baked potatoes, sweet potatoes,
- Bananas
- Cooked vegetables
Stage 4: Solid foods (Lifelong stabilization phase)
Depending on how fast you tolerate solid food, after about eight to nine weeks, you can gradually return to eating solid foods. But this does not suppose to mean that you can eat whatever junk food you want. This post-surgery diet throughout all of these phases aims to help you recover from surgery and assist you to abandon your old eating habits while keeping your weight-loss goals on track. Please note that weight loss surgery itself is not a magic tool unless you change your habits. To keep yourself on track, Dr.Genetrix health care experts will be by your side during your journey to better and healthier you.