What to Expect After Gastric Bypass Surgery

Major changes in eating habits are required after having a surgical weight loss procedure. The success of this procedure will depend entirely on your effort and commitment to these changes.

After gastric bypass surgery, your stomach will be reduced to perhaps the size of an egg. Because your stomach is much smaller, you will need to follow the following regimen:

* Instead of three large meals, you will need to eat frequent meals through the day. Your new stomach will not be big enough to hold large meals.

* Chew all of your foods slowly and thoroughly. This may mean it will take you up to an hour to eat your meals and snacks.

* Wait 30 minutes after your meal to drink any fluids, and be sure to drink in sips. Do not drink with your meals or 30 minutes before meals because your smaller stomach may not be able to accommodate food and drink at the same time.

* Limit the amount of friend, added-fat and high fat foods, especially fast food.
Initially, you will need to eat five to six small meals a day, but over time your stomach will stretch more and allow you to eat larger meals. Eventually, you will be able to eat three full-size meals and one to two high-protein snacks per day. Do be aware, however, that in the first three weeks after surgery, you will be on a full liquid diet to include milk, strained cream soups, and commercial protein supplements. You can also drink fluids that do not have sugar, caffeine, or any carbonation such as water, milk, or sugar-free flavored drinks.

You will be able to return to a regular diet about two months after surgery. However, meats are often not well tolerated after GBS, so the dietician will recommend meat substitutes for those patients unable to tolerate meat after surgery. Any foods that cause discomfort should be avoided, and new foods should be introduced in small amounts (spoonful).

After surgery, you may experience the following problems:

* Nausea

* Vomiting

* Stomach bloating

* Diarrhea

* Sweating excessively

* Increase in sounds from the bowel

* Dizziness

These symptoms are related to a condition know as "dumping syndrome" and occur whenever food travels too quickly through the small intestine. In order to prevent these discomforts, you should follow special dietary restrictions:

* Avoid beverages containing caffeine such as coffee, tea, or chocolate

* Avoid citrus food or juices, carbonated beverages, sugar and sweeteners such as dextrose, fructrose, mannitol, sorbitol, white sugar, brown sugar, syrup, molasses, candy, jelly, desserts, jams, or preserves

* Avoid alcohol and sweetened drinks such as soda, Kool-Aid, fruit punch, or undiluted fruit juice

* Do not eat any raw fruits or vegetables except bananas or the skin of any cooked vegetables or fruit

Your doctor and your dietician will work with you on meal-planning to be sure you are getting the proper nutrition. Additionally, your doctor will provide you with vitamin and mineral multi-vitamin supplements to go along with your diet plan.