Dietary Approach
Weight Loss Surgery Home Run: It's All About Your Performance at the Plate
Both of the bariatric procedures that Dr. Manigat performs result in a drastically reduced stomach capacity. For that reason, and to avoid confusion when various dietary options are discussed with patients contemplating bariatric surgery, Dr. Manigat's post-op dietary instructions are almost identical for patients having either surgery.
All patients are on a liquid diet for weeks following the surgery, then phased into a soft diet and finally into more substantial foods.
What may vary is the timing for the dietary stages, since those who have had gastric bypass may spend a longer time on the liquid diet to avoid straining the sutures used in reconfiguring the small intestine.
"When you do a gastric bypass you want to protect the anastomosis (the new connection in the intestine) where the tissue has been sutured, so that is why you go on a liquid diet," said Dr. Manigat. "This gives the tissues time to heal and for adhesions to take place before you go into a solid diet."
Once the healing has occurred, the patient must comply with a diet that restricts the volume and type of food consumed, he said. For example, sugars are not permitted because that carbohydrate load would result in "dumping," a condition similar to food poisoning.
See the diet he prescribes for his post-op patients.
Motivated patients can succeed, according Dr. Manigat. "In fact, aside from an anatomical failure, non-compliance with the diet is the only reasonable explanation for failure with these procedures," he said.
To locate a Lourdes Health System bariatric surgeon by phone, call 1-888-LOURDES.
