Gastric Bypass Diet

Undertaking gastric bypass surgery is a potentially lifesaving surgery that results in weight loss for those who get it. Patients who are suffering from morbid obesity statistically lose between 15 and 20 years of their life and are exposed to a range of other co-morbidity diseases and conditions.

Getting gastric bypass surgery is a lifesaving procedure that sees patients losing weight, looking better and feeling better. But, in order to be successful with your gastric bypass surgery, you must change your diet.

Because gastric bypass surgery involves a surgical procedure wherein your stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a lower pouch, you are only able to eat very small amounts following your surgery, and for the rest of your life.

In order to be successful with weight loss, and to avoid the complications that can follow from eating too much after surgery, you must follow a strict diet.

While this may sound relatively straightforward, you must be aware that it can be challenging. The gastric bypass diet requires a great deal of discipline, at least initially until it becomes a habit.

Change Your Habits, Change Your Life

In the first five weeks after your surgery (and in the weeks prior to your surgery), the diet you follow has a dual purpose:

To ensure your safety following on from your procedure
To reset your previous eating habits and to replace them with new, healthy habits

Emotional eating has most likely played a role in you getting to the stage of obesity where a gastric bypass is the best option for you. In fact, it has been found that 83 percent of overweight or obese Australians are eating emotionally. While the adage of “eat less exercise more” is espoused, it’s not that simple, and in a study published by psychologist Dr Ali Dale, she asserts that the relationship between comfort eating and behaviour is complicated. As a result, you will need to do plenty of work as part of your surgery to ensure that you are mentally ready for the huge shift in eating habits. Where once you could eat an entire meal and feel full afterwards, following your surgery you will be full after a few bites of something!

It is a challenge, but know that gastric bypass surgery undertaken with the right level of support is a highly effective method for weight loss, and improving the quality and duration of your life.

One-to-Two Weeks Pre-Operation – Liquid Diet

When you are 7-14 days out from your surgery, you will need to start following a liquid-only diet as a means to shrink your liver. If you don’t follow this diet and shrink the amount of fat on and around your liver and spleen, your surgery may be delayed or even cancelled during the procedure.

It is vital that you follow this diet to the letter because if you don’t, you risk not getting the surgery at all. It’s vital to shrink your liver because it allows your surgeon to see the site of the surgery correctly. If your liver is too large, it’s not safe to do the procedure, and it may have to be cancelled.

The diet

Your diet will consist of:

Protein or meal replacement shakes
Sugar-free drinks
Soup broth – no solid pieces of food
V8 and vegetable juice
Very thin cream of wheat/rice

You must avoid all caffeinated and carbonated beverages, and you may also be allowed to eat a small amount of lean meat or vegetables – provided that they are approved by your surgeon or dietician.

How to eat

It’s vital that you consume everything very slowly. Sips are ok. In order to get maximum benefit for your surgery, you must not consume drinks with meals – and you should wait at least half an hour before and after a meal to drink any liquid. The separation of your liquids and meals is a practice for post-surgery, but it’s a good idea to get into the habit now!

Other Pre-Surgery Considerations

The reason for your severe calorie restriction is to allow your body to enter a stage called ketosis. Ketosis is a state in which your body uses fat for energy instead of carbohydrates and is vital for your successful surgery.

Your doctor will also speak to you about stopping certain medications prior to surgery, and you may need to taper your dose off to ensure safe and successful reduction of medication. It goes without saying that all smokers should stop before the surgery and give up permanently. Smokers have a bigger risk of blood clots and complications following on from surgery, and you need to be aware of these risks.

Post-Operation Diet

You’ve done it! Your gastric surgery is complete, and now you must ensure that you follow a strict diet plan. You have a staple line in your stomach which needs to heal, and certain foods can cause complications with your healing which can result in further problems down the line.

Your gastric bypass diet is going to have four stages, which we outline below. The weeks are not set, and your surgeon may recommend that you progress to certain stages sooner or later than we have outlined. This is intended as a guide only.

Week One – Clear Liquid Diet

For the first seven days following on from your gastric bypass surgery, you are only allowed to consume clear liquids. You can drink these at a rate of 30 to 60 ml per hour, but your doctor will outline the exact amounts and foods that you may consume.

You need to ensure that your drinks are smooth. Sip your drinks and make sure that you are always comfortable in your stomach. Don’t gulp, and stop as soon as you are full.

Your doctor will recommend that you consume:

Bone broth
Sugar-free jelly
Water

It’s vital that you stay hydrated, so always follow your guidelines and stick to what your surgeon recommends.

Week Two and Three – Pureed Food and Protein Shakes

You can now drink liquefied food, and protein shakes. Because your stomach is smaller now, you need to have several small meals a day instead of three large ones. You need to ensure you’re getting 60-70 grams of protein per day (from sources like egg whites, protein shakes and pureed foods) and around two litres of water a day.

You need to avoid caffeine and carbonated drinks, and refined sugars and simple carbs as well. You will be directed to consume:

Protein shakes
Egg whites
Pureed foods and vegetables

It’s important not to eat and drink at the same time as this can stretch your pouch. You’ll also need to take a multivitamin which should be chewable or in liquid form so that you get the right amounts of vitamins.

Week Four and Five – Soft Textured Food

You can now start to reintroduce soft foods into your diet, and this stage usually runs for around two weeks. Your food needs to be able to mash with a fork, a knife or a spoon. If the food meets this criterion, you probably will be able to eat it! Usual foods include:

Lean meats like chicken and fish
Egg whites
Non-fat cottage cheese
Tofu
Steamed or boiled vegetables like potato, carrots, beans and pumpkin
Avocado
Bananas
Soft fruits

You need to make sure that you are focused on getting your dietary intake from lean protein sources and that you are limiting the number of fats you can eat – fats will most likely come from the consumption of avocado.

You need to keep up your multivitamins and your dietary supplements, and your doctor will speak with you about what you need to take to ensure you get the right amount of nutrients for your health.

Week Six – Solid Food

You can now eat solid foods again, but this doesn’t mean that you can now eat anything you want. Your diet will need to focus on protein, vegetables, limited amounts of grain and very little – if any – refined sugar. This gastric bypass diet will need to be followed for the rest of your life.

If it sounds tough, don’t worry – it’s not that hard when you consider the alternative, which is gaining back the weight you have done so well to lose in the past two months!

Starting solid food tips

Introduce solid foods one at a time. Don’t eat lots of different foods in a day so that you can figure out what your body’s reaction is to certain things. You may experience reactions that you didn’t previously, and it’s important to know that your body is different now.
Chew everything really well. Ideally for 15 seconds per bite. Use your phone timer to ensure you are chewing properly!
Don’t eat and drink within 30 minutes of each other to ensure that you don’t stretch your pouch.
Drink at least two litres of water each day in sips.
Make sure you eat protein, followed by vegetables, followed by carbohydrates.
It goes without saying, but steer clear of processed food, snack foods and any other kind of convenience foods. They are empty calories.
Read the labels on food, and focus on the foods that are low in carbs and high in protein.

If you eat sweet and/or high-fat foods and you eat them too quickly, you will get what is known as dumping syndrome. The stomach can’t handle the quantity of the food and dumps the food into the small intestine before it’s been properly broken down.

The consequences of dumping syndrome are not pretty; you will likely feel nauseous, get cramps, may have diarrhea, sweating, vomiting or a raised heart rate.

Most people will experience dumping once, and that will be enough to keep them on the right path with their eating! You can reduce the risk of dumping by avoiding high sugar or refined carbohydrate foods, by eating very slowly and by chewing your food really well.

You will figure out what works for you, but some foods are just harder to digest, and you may end up avoiding them altogether. Foods like:

Meat including beef and pork
Shellfish
Grapes
Corn
Whole grains
Nuts
Beans

Nutrition

You need to make sure you keep up your intake of protein, carbohydrates and water. Your doctor/dietician can help you with a meal plan that works for you.

Your total calorie intake per day will usually range from between 800 and 1,200 calories, and up to 1,500 calories 18 months after surgery.

Exercise

You need to exercise in order to get the best possible results from your gastric bypass diet and from your weight loss surgery. Speak to your doctor about the range of activity that you can do safely following your surgery, and make sure you stick to the exercise plan you have to ensure your success.

General Guidelines for Gastric Bypass Diet Success

Choose lean meats
Avoid greasy and spicy food
Don’t drink whole milk and high-fat products
Stick to nutrient dense foods
Have a meal plan
Shop healthy, eat healthily
Get rid of dessert
Get rid of temptation
Get nutritional counselling and follow up with your mental health just as much as you do with your diet
Be kind to yourself
Eat out on special occasions, and invite friends over for home-cooked meals instead of dining out
Keep your nutrients up
Drink enough water