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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Have you guys heard about the buzz regarding multivitamins linked to increased death rates? This month in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found a slightly increased death rate in individuals who consume multivitamins on a regular basis over a 19 year period. The study gets respect interms of the amount of patinets studied (about 40 thousand women), and the extended follow up period, but needs some serious perspective in stating its results:
-This sudy merely shows and association. It does not prove cause and effect… meaning it doesn’t show that the multivitamins increase your risk.
-It does not address nutritional needs of post surgical weight loss patients. It is clearly shown that bariatric patients need some type of nutritional supplement to prevent vitamin defficiencies.
-It fails to discuss the real issue of overall decreased nutrition of Americsns. Our generation eats greater amounts of simple sugars, modified fats, and highly processed foods with decreased nutritional content. A multivitamin can help offset this poor diet, and it’s certainly better than nothing…. but the real message should be centered on educating and supporting a society towards good nutritional food consumption.
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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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By Aloha Surgery (i)
08 Mar, 2012
Adjustable Gastric Band, Bariatric Surgery, Dietary, Food Tips, Gastric Bypass, Post Operative Problems, Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, Vitamins, Weight Loss Surgery
Aloha Surgery, Biotin, Dr. Steve Fowler, hair loss, iron, supplements, vitamins, zing
Hair Loss after weight loss surgery can be a big issue for some people. Most of my patients would rather not deal with any hair loss, whatsoever! There is a ton of information available about what is the best thing to do to prevent this, but unfortunately a lot of the literature is poor on scientific facts and liberal on anecdotal marketing! Here’s the facts:
- Hair loss is a response to the stress on the body from a surgical procedure and significant weight loss
- Hair loss is temporary, and usually is most prominent at 6 months after surgery
- If hair loss is still present after one year, this is rare and can be associated with a nutritional deficiency
- Supplements may help, but your body needs to go through its normal response to stress
If you want to take something to try and minimize hair loss, be aware that results are not proven with any product out there. We do know that Iron and Zinc and protein stores should be at their normal levels to minimize hair loss. Taking a multivitamin (and iron if you’ve had a Bypass) should be adequate. Biotin has been a popular supplement, but there is no proof of efficacy.
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