When you have gastric bypass surgery to help you with weight loss, you risk developing nutritional deficiencies because your body no longer absorbs nutrients in e same way as it did before surgery. Nutritional supplements, including vitamin D, help to prevent potential negative effects of these deficiencies.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, comes from certain foods, including eggs, fish, fortified milk and cod liver oil. Your body also produces Vitamin D if you expose your skin to the sun for at least 10 minutes every day, according to the Mayo Clinic. Your body needs vitamin D to help it absorb calcium, and it may also help to protect you against osteoporosis, cancer, high blood pressure and autoimmune diseases. Without enough Vitamin D, your bones can weaken and break easily.
Gastric Bypass Surgery
Gastric bypass surgery involves stapling the stomach to restrict it to the size of an egg and rerouting the digestive system to bypass part of the small intestine. Morbidly obese patients lose weight due to the restriction in the amount of food they can eat, as well as the malabsorption factor related to the changes to the digestive system.
Vitamin D Absorption After Gastric Bypass
Two factors affect the gastric bypass patient's vitamin D levels. The normal stomach holds about 3 pints, but the pouch created in a gastric bypass procedure holds only 1 oz of food. Because their intake is limited, gastric surgery patients are able to satisfy only about 50 percent of their daily need for Vitamin D through dietary sources, according to Jason M. Johnson, D.O., lead researcher of a study on long-term effects of gastric bypass on Vitamin D metabolism published in the May 2006 issue of "Annals of Surgery." Because food bypasses the portion of small intestine that normally absorbs vitamin D and calcium, the digestive system of the gastric bypass patient cannot absorb adequate amounts of these nutrients.
Vitamin D Deficiency
As a result of restricted intake and malabsorption, up to 10 percent of gastric bypass patients have calcium deficiencies, and up to 51 percent have vitamin D deficiencies, according to Stacey Brethauer, lead researcher in a report published in the November 2006 issue of the "Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine." These deficiencies may cause secondary hyperparathyroidism, resulting in decreased bone mass within the first three to nine months after surgery.
Vitamin D Supplements
After gastric bypass surgery, take dietary supplements as ordered by your surgeon and follow your postoperative diet plan exactly. In addition to multivitamins, you will take calcium and vitamin D supplements for the rest of your life, says Linda Aills, R.D., lead researcher in a study published in the September 2008 issue of "Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases." Patients need to take supplements -- at least 1,200 mg of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D -- every day, says Johnson. Vendors market these nutrients both separately and in combination products. Choose a calcium citrate product rather than calcium carbonate if you use a combination supplement. Periodic laboratory tests will monitor your levels of Vitamin D and calcium for deficiencies to prevent bone loss and injury.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Obesity: Vitamin D
- ASMBS: ASMBS Allied Health Nutritional Guidelines for the Surgical Weight Loss Patients
- "Annals of Surgery": The Long-Term Effects of Gastric Bypass on Vitamin D Metabolism; May 2006
- Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine: Risks and Benefits of Bariatric Surgery: Current Evidence (PDF)
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