Weight Loss Surgery And Nutrition

If you've tried unsuccessfully to lose a large amount of weight through diet and exercise, weight-loss surgery may offer a solution to the serious health complications of obesity, such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. However, the surgical procedures that help you lose weight also affect your body's absorption of proteins, fats, iron, calcium and other essential nutrients. After surgery, work with your health-care provider and a registered dietitian to plan small, nutrient-dense meals that will help you maintain a healthy weight and prevent nutritional deficiency disorders, including osteoporosis and anemia.

Effects on Digestion

Surgical procedures for weight loss, or bariatric surgery, either restrict the amount of food that you can consume or limit the amount of nutrients that your digestive system absorbs. Adjustable gastric banding restricts the volume of food and liquids that your stomach can hold by applying a band that narrows the opening between the stomach and esophagus, or food tube. Vertical sleeve gastrectomy reduces stomach size without limiting nutrient absorption. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery both restricts the size of your stomach and limits absorption by bypassing the duodenum, the upper portion of your small intestine, where many nutrients are absorbed during normal digestion. Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch is a less common procedure that combines restrictive and malabsorptive approaches to promote weight loss.

Protein Intake

Malabsorptive procedures, which inhibit your body's absorption of protein, fats, vitamins and minerals, can result in a protein deficiency if you don't get enough of this tissue-building nutrient in your diet. The Hormone Foundation advises that you include at least 60 to 120 grams of protein in your diet each day in order to prevent protein malnutrition after weight-loss surgery. Your body also requires protein for post-operative healing. As you heal after surgery, dietary protein will help you build lean tissue and maintain normal hair growth. To ensure that you consume enough protein with your meals, eat fish, poultry, tofu or other sources of lean protein before filling up on other foods.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

According to the National Anemia Action Council, bariatric surgery may cause deficiencies of vitamin B-12, folate, thiamine, iron and calcium. By interfering with your body's absorption of fat, surgery can also also reduce the amount of vitamins A, D and other fat-soluble nutrients that your digestive system absorbs. After weight-loss surgery, your health-care provider will recommend a multivitamin supplement to prevent nutritional deficiency disorders. Supplements in liquid, chewable or suspension forms may be absorbed more easily than capsules after surgery. Taking iron supplements with foods rich in vitamin C, such as oranges or tomatoes, will help your body absorb the iron. Coffee, tea and carbonated cola can interfere with iron absorption. In order to ensure that you get adequate vitamin B-12, a vitamin that contributes to healthy red blood cell formation, your health-care provider might recommend that you take vitamin B-12 injections as an alternative to oral supplements.

Dietary Modifications

Restrictive weight-loss surgery limits the amount of food and liquid that your stomach can contain comfortably. To prevent abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and other complications of overeating after your procedure, your health-care provider or dietitian might recommend that you separate consumption of food and liquids by 30 minutes. Eating foods that are high in sugar or fat could cause dumping syndrome, a condition in which food passes from your stomach to your intestinal tract too rapidly, causing nausea, abdominal cramps, weakness and dizziness. To promote lasting weight loss while preventing serious nutritional deficiencies, work closely with a registered dietitian to develop new diet and lifestyle patterns that will accommodate the surgical alterations in your digestive system.