Tips for Eating and Drinking

In the beginning of your weight loss there are a few simple rules.

Eat small amounts. Just after surgery, your stomach holds only a couple of ounces of food. Though your stomach stretches over time to hold more food, by the end of three months, you may be able to eat 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food with each meal. Eating too much food not only adds more calories than you need but also may cause pain, nausea and vomiting. Make sure you eat only the recommended amounts and stop eating before you feel full. You need to learn to stop eating one bite BEFORE you are full. There is a time lag between actually being full and feeling full and exceeding the amount you can tolerate can be painful.

Eat and drink slowly. Eating or drinking too quickly may cause you to fill the stomach too quickly and then not sense the fullness. It can also result in dumping syndrome — when foods and liquids enter your small intestine rapidly and in larger amounts than normal, causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and sweating. To prevent dumping syndrome, choose foods and liquids low in fat and sugar, eat and drink slowly, and wait 30 minutes before or after each meal to drink liquids. Take at least 30 minutes to eat your meals and 30 to 60 minutes to drink liquid very slowly. Limit your consumption of carbonated drinks. The gas they release in the stomach can be painful. Avoid foods high in fat and sugar, such as regular soda, candy and candy bars, and ice cream.

Chew food thoroughly. The new opening that leads from your stomach into your intestine is very small, and larger pieces of food can block the opening. Blockages prevent food from leaving your stomach and could cause vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. Take small bites of food and chew them to a pureed consistency before swallowing. If you can't chew the food thoroughly, don't swallow it.

Drink liquids between meals. Drinking liquids with your meals can cause pain, nausea and vomiting as well as dumping syndrome. Also, drinking too much liquid at or around mealtime can leave you feeling overly full and prevent you from eating enough nutrient-rich foods. Expect to drink at least 6 to 8 cups (48 to 64 ounces) of fluids a day to prevent dehydration.

Try new foods one at a time. After surgery, certain foods may cause nausea, pain, vomiting or may block the opening of the stomach. The ability to tolerate foods varies from person to person.

Try one new food at a time and chew thoroughly before swallowing. If a food causes discomfort, don't eat it. As time passes, you may be able to try this food again. Foods and liquids that commonly cause discomfort include meat, bread, pasta, rice, raw vegetables, milk and carbonated beverages. Food textures not tolerated well include dry, sticky or stringy foods. I have some difficulties with pasta sauce made with tomatoes and red wine. In discussions with my surgeon, he told me this might go away at some point or not. I do take acid-reducing tablets to reduce the potential for pain.

Take recommended vitamin and mineral supplements. After surgery, your body will have difficulty absorbing certain nutrients because of the major alterations in your digestive system. To prevent a vitamin or mineral deficiency, take vitamin and mineral supplements regularly. These generally include a multivitamin with adequate levels of calcium, iron, vitamin D and of significance, vitamin B-12. The vitamin B-12 is not readily assimilated in pill form and you may need to take higher levels of the oral form even if that means taking a second vitamin tablet to ensure you are getting an adequate absorbable amount daily. Talk to your health care provider about recommended vitamin and mineral supplements following gastric bypass surgery.