Our Dieticians will recommend that you supplement your daily nutritional intake with a high quality protein during periods of rapid weight loss. This is especially true for the post Bypass and Sleeve patients. But the Band patients will usually experience some significant weight loss in the perioperative period, too.
Supplemental protein is a good idea for a variety of reasons. (1) Most importantly, during periods of rapid weight loss, the weight you lose will encompass 20-30% of lean muscle mass. This is the good stuff that you want to keep. Increasing your protein intake has been shown to decrease this percentage of good tissue weight loss. (2) Protein has been shown to increase a greater feeling of fullness than other macronutrients. (3) Protein has been shown to have a greater thermogenic effect than other macronutrients. This means that your body tends to burn more energy utilizing this fuel.
I get a lot of questions about what is the best type of protein. In general, the best type is one that comes from a reputable source, tastes good to you, mixes well, and is affordable.
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Adjustable Gastric Band patients are still recommended to take vitamins. It is true, that the chance of a nutritional deficiency is uncommon if one is eating a healthy diet since there is no “malabsorption” of the food that is being consumed. But two main factors influence this recommendation. Of note, many patients come to surgery with a nutritional deficit and many of our lives are busy making it difficult to ensure a proper food balance on a daily basis. Standard multivitamin preparations located at grocery stores, vitamin shops, and Costco are probably fine. Make sure to clear your decision with our dietitians Mary and Allison. Calcium is the other recommended supplement. Most dietary professionals agree on 1200 mg per day of Calcium. This mineral is packaged in a variety of forms, from tablets, chews, powder, and shakes. My office carries the Bariatric Advantage product line for your convenience. Try to find a product that has Vitamin D incorporated into the supplement.
So all you Band patients, stay healthy and remember your multivitamin and Calcium!
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If you guys have heard about a new research article in the British Medical Journal that associated an increase in heart attacks with people who take calcium supplements, you’re probably wondering what it means to you.
Basically, the paper was a meta-analysis (pooling data from a lot of different papers) showing a 30% increase in heart attacks. This paper DOES NOT apply to you! Here’s why…
1)This is the first article of its kind… We never make sweeping decisions about health care based on one study. Many times one article can be misleading, so further studies are needed to have a clearer picture.
2)The study did not account for people taking Vitamin D with their calcium. All prior research has shown this to be beneficial for a variety of functions in your body. You guys are taking your calcium with Vitamin D, so the article can not be translated to your situation.
The field of nutritional supplements is rapidly changing, and often is filled with science that is less than exact. Best advice is to tread lightly and be sceptical of new claims. I’ll do my best to keep our vitamin supplement recommendations up to date and backed by good research.
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Thiamine, Vitamin B1, is an important vitamin to be aware of. Although I don’t usually talk with my patients about this vitamin in terms of ongoing daily supplements, it does deserve some attention.
This vitamin is within the “B complex” family of vitamins and plays a part in sugar and protein breakdown. It is widely abundant in grains and meats, so healthy diets rarely put someone at risk of low levels. General multivitamins almost always have Vitamin B1 in the formulary.
This vitamin can be incredibly crucial when body stores are insufficient. You may have heard of medical terms like “Beriberi” or “Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome”, which describe specific symptoms of Thiamine deficiency. Basically, low levels of Thiamine can cause irreversible nerve injury. I have seen this before with traveling bariatric patients, and I can attest to the devastating consequences.
Not to scare you, but if you have chronic vomiting and you are not taking vitamin supplements, you are at high risk of developing Thiamine deficiency.
Low Thiamine can be easily reversed with many over-the-counter supplements. Like always, we will monitor your levels on a regular basis to ensure your safety. But remember your responsibility to maintain a healthy body through daily supplements recommended by our dieticians.
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So what is a Hiatal Hernia and why should I care about it?
Hiatal Hernia is a condition where the opening from your chest to your abdominal cavity is abnormally large. The esophagus passes through this opening, or ‘hiatus”, so the most common problem associated with this condition is where part of the stomach gets pushed up into the chest. Hiatal Hernias are often small and asymptomatic. Less than 10% of the population has one, and usually the only thing they notice is acid reflux symptoms. So if you have strong heart burn and have to watch what you eat, there is a possibility that you have this condition.
It is very important for your weight loss surgeon to fix this defect if it is found during the operation. Recent data suggests that an unrepaired Hiatal Hernia during placement of an adjustable Gastric Band is associated with early Band failure… i.e. slippage, pouch dilation, band intollernce, etc. For Bypass and Sleeve patients, the Hiatal Hernia should be fixed to ensure that the gastric pouch size or sleeve creation are the correct size. Repairing a Hiatal Hernia almost always can be done laparoscopically through the same incisions I create, and usually adds just a little extra time to the original procedure.
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