Diet for Gastric Bypass

From LoveToKnow Diet

The diet for gastric bypass surgery provides dietary guidelines for people who have undergone gastric bypass surgery for weight loss.

Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery changes your digestive system and reduces the size of your stomach to that of a walnut. Some people think that having gastric bypass surgery allows a person to eat whatever they want and that they will still lose weight. That isn't true. The diet for those who have had gastric bypass surgery is designed to aid the healing process and to reinvent the way you eat. Surgery is traumatic for your system and the diet for gastric bypass lessens the stress on the parts of your body that have undergone that trauma. Along with that, the diet also helps you to learn new eating patterns.

Diet for Gastric Bypass

Due to the smaller size of your stomach, once you've had gastric bypass surgery the amount you eat will change. A registered dietician will be able to help you develop an individualized eating plan following surgery. This diet not only provides guidelines for the kinds of foods you can eat, but also how much you should eat for individual meals. It also takes into consideration the texture and consistency of foods to be included in your diet. Following the gastric bypass diet is important in order to make sure your body receives good nutrition for healthy weight loss. The diet has specific steps to follow.

Diet Progression Following Surgery

The first two days after you surgery no food is allowed. Following these two days of fasting, food is slowly reintroduced through the following phases.

Phase 1 - Liquids: The first foods eaten following gastric bypass surgery are liquids or semi-liquids. They are usually eaten for one or two days and should be room temperature. These don't have to be clear liquids but should consist of mostly water. Foods in this category include things like:

Broth
Cooked cereal
Juice
Milk
Strained cream soup

Phase 2 - Pureed Foods: Pureed foods have the consistency of thick liquids or smooth paste. While they are thicker than liquids, they are smooth with no discernable food remnants. This aspect of the diet offers a little more taste to your meals and is generally followed for three or four weeks. Of course your doctor may have a different recommendation, so be sure to follow your personal health care provider's dietary recommendations.

Phase 3 - Soft Foods: Soft foods are foods that are easy to chew. This phase of the diet is followed for another eight weeks before you move on to regular food. Soft foods include things like:

Ground or finely diced meats
Fresh fruit
Cooked vegetables

Eat Many Small Meals

The diet for those who have had weight loss surgery recommends eating many small meals each day as you reintroduce foods to your system. Liquids are also sipped throughout the day, but are not taken with meals. As your body heals, you will gradually cut back on how many meals you eat everyday, and once you work your diet back to regular foods, you will have decreased the number of meals you eat to three a day.

How to Eat

Once your diet returns to regular foods and three meals a day, meals should include proteins. These continue to help your body repair itself following surgery. Protein rich foods include things such as:

Eggs
Lean meat
Low-fat dairy products

Your Doctor Knows Best

Each person's body is unique and how you respond to gastric bypass surgery will determine how soon you move through the phases of this diet. Follow your doctor's instructions as he will monitor how fast your body adjusts to eating again. In general, it usually takes about three months for most people to return to eating regular foods. Your doctor or dietician will be able to help you know when to take the next step in the process as well as when you're ready to eat regular foods again.

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