Dietary Changes You'll Need After Gastric Sleeve Surgery

OakBend Medical Group Blog Dietary Changes You'll Need After Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Gastric sleeve surgery is a specialty of skilled bariatric surgeon, Christopher Reilly, MD, FACS. This type of procedure is highly effective for weight loss and works by decreasing the size of your stomach to help you feel fuller faster after eating.

Dr. Reilly’s expertise in gastric sleeve surgery not only ensures your surgery is a success, he also works with you afterward on the lifestyle changes necessary once you have a gastric sleeve.

While it’s important to regain your strength and increase your overall physical activity following any surgery, a gastric sleeve procedure also requires considerable changes to your diet.

Expectations for gastric sleeve surgery

During a gastric sleeve procedure, Dr. Reilly fashions your stomach into a sleeve-like shape that’s about one-quarter smaller than your original one. This smaller size prohibits you from overeating and helps you lose a significant amount of body weight in a relatively short period of time.

In addition to altering your stomach, gastric sleeve surgery also limits your body’s production of ghrelin, a hormone linked to hunger. With less ghrelin, you can expect to feel less hungry than you used to, further boosting the success of your weight loss surgery.

With the smaller stomach size and less hunger pangs, you’ll need to adapt to a new lifestyle and diet plan that supports healthy weight loss and prevents post-surgical complications, like abnormal stretching of your smaller stomach.

The right foods matter after gastric sleeve surgery

Immediately after your surgery as you begin your recovery, your diet consists mainly of clear liquids for 1-2 days. You should start incorporating other liquids like milk and yogurt within the first week.

As you continue recovering from gastric sleeve surgery, you can start adding in mashed and pureed vegetables, fruits, and soups for your meals. It can take up to a month or more before you can begin eating more solid foods, like whole grains and fresh produce, and another month of recovery before you can resume a normal diet.

Dr. Reilly may recommend specific foods to add or avoid based on your individual health and medical history. Difficulties with the absorption of nutrients following gastric sleeve surgery is common, so you may also need to take supplements to ensure you are absorbing the full benefit of nutrients you get from your diet.

Other vital components you must include in your diet following gastric sleeve surgery are proteins and fiber, both of which are needed for good health and for the support of your weight loss.

Carbohydrates, like refined sugars and processed foods, are foods you need to avoid, especially in the early stages of your recovery.

Dietary changes to make right now

In addition to changing up your diet to healthier foods, Dr. Reilly also recommends changing your eating habits to achieve optimal results of your gastric sleeve surgery.

Some of the most common lifestyle changes made to support healthy weight loss include:

You should also become proactive about finding activities to do to stay physically and mentally active in addition to daily exercise. By engaging in stress-relieving tasks, hobbies, and other enjoyable activities, you can reduce your risk factors for stress-eating and boredom-eating, which disrupts your weight loss.

If you are considering gastric sleeve surgery and want to learn more about changes you’ll need to make, schedule a consultation at West Houston Surgical Associates today by calling the office or by requesting an appointment online now.

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