There has been a rise in the prevalence of gastric bypass surgeries over the past decade. With its many advantages, gastric bypass surgery has become a revolutionary solution for those who are affected by obesity.
After undergoing gastric bypass surgery, the patient has to adhere to a strict diet. Diets can be complicated to follow, especially when you’ve just undergone a permanent operation that will change your relationship with food forever. Or else you will have to go through another weight loss surgery. Visit Tonic Weight Loss Surgery for more information.
If you want to learn more about the gastric bypass diet, keep reading. We’ll make the entire process simpler and help you with your personal health journey.
1. You Need To Drink Water
One of the biggest problems that gastric bypass patients have is recurring dehydration. Because they cannot drink any liquids while eating, gastric bypass patients need to sip at least 64 ounces of water throughout the day.
For the first day or two following their gastric bypass procedure, you will only be drinking clear liquids. When you do begin eating solids, you should wait 30 minutes before and after a meal to drink water. This rule can be difficult to follow and makes getting enough water much more difficult.
Also, you should be sure to drinking slowly. If you drink too much at once, you could develop dumping syndrome. This occurs when your stomach passes food to your small intestine too quickly.
2. Introduce New Liquids Slowly
A few days after their gastric bypass procedure, patients will be able to introduce other clear liquids into their diets. These clear liquids include broths, low-fat milk, sugar-free jello, decaffeinated tea, decaffeinated coffee, and low-sugar juices.
Try new liquids slowly. You don’t want to consume all of these liquids in one day and find yourself with an upset stomach.
Try one liquid and see if it sets well. If it does, try another.
3. Find Pureed Foods You’ll Enjoy
If you’re able to tolerate liquids for about a week, you can move on to pureed and strained foods. Everything that you’re eating at this point should have a paste-like consistency.
You should not be ingesting any solids at this point.
There are many foods that you can puree for your meals. You can puree chicken, fish, scrambled eggs, fruits, vegetables, and more.
Typically, patients will blend their food choices with liquids like those we mentioned before:
- Broths
- Low-fat milk
- Low-sugar juice
- Water
4. Eat a Little Food Slowly
When you’re ingesting pureed foods, you should make sure to eat only four to six tablespoons of food for three to six meals a day. You should eat so slowly that each meal takes about 30 minutes to eat.
We know that this is a little food in a lot of time, but you can continue having clear liquids in between soft meals. Just be sure to ingest everything slowly. Don’t try to overwork your stomach before it finishes healing.
5. Adding in Soft Foods
After you have been eating pureed foods for a few weeks, you may get clearance from your doctor to begin eating soft foods. Soft foods are those foods that are small and easily chewable.
When you start eating these foods, you can have three to five meals a day. You may have a third-cup or a half-cup of soft food. When you’re chewing, you should make sure to turn your food into a pureed consistency before swallowing.
If you’re looking for soft foods to try, consider the following:
- Eggs
- Fish
- Cereal
- Chicken
- Rice
- Skinless vegetables
- Skinless fruits
6. Finally Bringing in Solid Foods
Once you’ve been on the gastric bypass diet for about eight weeks, you may be cleared to move on to solid foods. This transition will be gradual as you find out what your stomach can handle.
You may start by eating three meals a day. Each meal will include one to one and a half cups of food. You shouldn’t eat so much food that you begin feeling full.
The reason that you’re transitioning between steps so slowly is so that you don’t bust your stomach open. If you eat until feeling full, you may find that you’ve injured your stomach.
7. Move Along the Diet According to Tolerance
The entire point of the gastric bypass diet is to see what foods your body tolerates, how much of those foods you can have, and when your body can take them in. As you add every new food, you should assess how your body is feeling.
If your body is rejecting the food, you should take a step back. Rejection can show up as nausea, abdominal pain, and/or gas.
If your body is accepting the food, you can keep trying new foods slowly. Your body’s acceptance will show if you don’t have any reactions to the food.
8. Be Extremely Careful With Problematic Foods
There are many foods that doctors warn their gastric bypass patients about. The chemical composition of some foods is more complex and can cause issues with these patients. These foods include – but are not limited to – the following:
- Popcorn
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Red meat
- Spicy foods
- Raw vegetables
- Bread
- Carbonated drinks
Take the longest to introduce your body to these foods. You don’t want to cause any issues.
9. Continue Eating Healthy After This Progression
Even after you’ve taken yourself from clear liquids to solid foods, you should continue to watch your diet. Getting gastric bypass transfers the anatomy of your body. Your stomach will never be the same as before the surgery.
You should continue to eat and drink slowly while keeping meals small. Don’t drink liquids with meals and chew your food thoroughly.
If you need inspiration, check out the top bariatric recipes.
10. Start Taking Supplements
After the surgery, you need to start taking the proper vitamins and minerals. Your body cannot absorb nutrients like before, so you need to make up the difference.
These supplements will be essential to balancing your already restricted diet.
Following the Gastric Bypass Diet
Now that you know our tips for following the gastric bypass diet, you are an expert. Remember to take everything slowly.
There should be few, chewable meals with plenty of liquids between.
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I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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