A gastric bypass diet helps people recovering from gastric bypass surgery to allow to heal their wounds and change their eating habits. After the procedure, your doctor will provide you with a set of instructions about your diet by consulting with a dietician. They will tell you what you are supposed to eat and in what quantity.
It is important to follow your doctor’s instructions to retain the results of the surgery. The new diet enables your stomach to heal without stretching it. It also helps you avoid complications and side effects after the surgery. Consult with an expert for gastric bypass northridge to explore your treatment options.
What to eat after gastric bypass surgery
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Liquids.
For the first few days of the surgery, you will be required to drink only clear liquids. You can drink other liquids once your body is handling clear liquids well enough. The primary goal is to keep your body hydrated. Clear liquids to drink include water, broth, sugar-free gelatin, or popsicles. Later, you can add protein shakes and milkshakes to your diet for the necessary protein intake.
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Puree diet.
Once your stomach is handling liquids well, you will need to start introducing soft, pureed foods (think baby food). This diet begins between the third and fourth week after the surgery. You will need to consume protein through chicken/tuna salads with mayo, scrambled eggs, and hummus. Protein shakes should still be in your diet, but your protein intake will mostly be from solid foods. As the fifth and sixth-week approach, you can start incorporating tougher foods.
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Supplements.
Along with eating food, you will also need to take supplements to avoid nutrient deficiencies. Some supplements you will need include the following:
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- Multivitamins: Take a chewable multivitamin with iron, folic acid, selenium, copper, and zinc.
- Calcium supplement: Take 1,200 to 2,000 mg of calcium daily.
- Vitamin D supplement: Take 800 to 1,000 IUs of vitamin D each day.
- Vitamin B12 supplement: Take 500 mcg of vitamin B daily.
- Other supplements: Your dietician will discuss this with you.
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Regular diet.
About seven weeks after the procedure, you can resume your regular diet and take solid foods, such as bread, raw vegetables, sodas, fried foods, tough meats, nuts, seeds, spicy food, etc. Try new foods one at a time, as some may cause pain, vomiting, and nausea. Remember that you have undergone surgery and will experience a full stomach much earlier than before. You may not be able to eat food as much as you did before the surgery to retain the results.
