Gastric bypass surgery is one of the fastest growing weight loss programs that help people shed their excess fats.
The treatment though claims of helping people shed all those extra weight, it still depends on gastric bypass diet both before and after the surgery to get the desired results.
Therefore it is important for you to know the basics of gastric bypass diet. So, when you go through gastric surgical procedure, it should be easy for you to follow the diet and get the desired results.
Why Should I Go for Gastric Bypass Diet?
Everything that we do has one or the other purpose linked to it. Diets in a layman’s language means limiting self from having excess amount of food and instead have small proportions of meals at regular intervals. It is the same when it comes to gastric bypass diet as well.
- First and foremost the gastric bypass diet is recommended not only to lose weight but also maintain it throughout.
- The staple line that has been created in your stomach needs to be healed without getting stretched and the only means by which this could be achieved is by limiting yourself to smaller proportions of meals
- The new smaller stomach in you has to be treated with smaller amount of meals so that you might not find any difficulty in digesting the food taken in by you, safely and comfortably
- Lastly the diet helps you in avoiding any complications or side effects that may otherwise risk your life or your surgery.
What Does Gastric Bypass Diet Include?
When a patient follows the recommended gastric bypass diet he has to make sure that the food his intakes have high amount of minerals, vitamins and proteins. Not only that, he should have limited or no sugar, fiber, fat and calories.
It is a known fact that the gastric bypass diet doesn’t supply adequate natural minerals and vitamins to the person in concern. So, it is advisable that they take extra iron, multivitamin, vitamin b-12 and calcium tablets if necessary.
There are both pre and post-surgery diet that needs to be strictly followed by the person opting it for the treatment.
Pre surgery Diet Includes
- Saying no to alcohol and smoke
- Making drastic change in ones eating habits in order to lose all the extra fat
These small changes allow the individual to prepare themselves for the surgery. The surgeon may advice the patient to start the pre surgery diet before 3 months to 3 weeks depending on the amount of weight to be reduced by them.
The good news is the more weight you lose before the surgery the less are the chances of any complications or side effects.
Post Surgery Diet
There are usually four phases that are to be followed in gastric bypass diet, these include:
- Liquid diet
- Semi liquid (pureed) diet
- Soft & solid diet
- Solid diet
Phase 1
You are allowed to have only liquid food such as milk, broth, strained cream soup, sugar free gelatin, unsweetened juice. Sugar, fat or any fibrous food should be strictly avoided.
Phase 2
You are allowed to have semi liquid (pureed) diet that includes beans, egg white, cottage cheese, fish, lean grounded meat, soft fruits and vegetables, yogurt and so on.
Only select food that can be made into a thick paste easily, refrain from having any type of solid food as your digestive system still needs to be taken care of.
Phase 3
You may choose to have soft and solid foods that include cooked vegetables, fresh fruits, canned or soft food, and grounded meat.
Phase 4
You are allowed to have solid food like dried fruits, nuts, popcorn, breads, vegetables, tough meat, and granola.
At the End
Once the four phases of the diet is completed and as and how the patient recovers from the surgery they can get back to their normal diet.
As mentioned before it completely depends on the individual to take care of themselves pre and post-surgery to get better results.
Gastric bypass diet details are discussed in the post to help our readers. You can make a note of the diet and take it accordingly. However, to be sure about what to eat, consult a surgeon.
