Gastric bypass surgery dramatically alters the structure of your digestive tract to jump start weight loss. Because the surgery creates a smaller stomach pouch, you need to permanently adjust your eating habits to accommodate the physical change. Although your diet may eventually include smaller portions of your old favorite foods, your initial diet will transition through stages of increasingly thick liquids.
Clear Liquids
The initial stage of your gastric bypass diet last through the first day to week after surgery. During this stage, clear liquids such as water, diet gelatin, clear broth, sugarless ice pops, decaffeinated tea, flat diet soda and diluted and pulp-free juices are allowed in small amounts. You will likely begin with small sips of water and then slowly increase your intake of other clear liquids. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation states that you should drink about 2 oz. every 15 minutes, or about 8 oz. per hour.
Modified Full Liquids
You will be upgraded to a modified full liquids diet as soon as your medical team assesses that you're having no problems with clear liquids. This stage may begin a few days to a few weeks after your surgery. The liquids allowed in this stage of your diet include anything from the previous stage, no-sugar-added instant breakfast drink, low-fat cream soups, cream porridge-type cereals, sugarless yogurt and pudding, plain soy milk and non-fat acidophilus milk, according to the Rush University Medical Center. During this time, you should try to stay well-hydrated and get enough protein to heal properly. Your doctor will likely recommend that you drink small amounts of liquids until you take in about 6 to 8 cups of fluid per day and also drink about ¼ cup of a high-protein liquid supplement per hour.
Thick Liquids
Your doctor may allow you to enter the thick liquids stage of your post-op diet as early as two weeks after you have left the hospital, but you may need to wait a bit longer. This stage of the diet allows you to eat soft fruits, soft vegetables and other easy-to-blend foods such as fish, egg whites, beans, lean ground meats and yogurt. However, you will need to puree them with a liquid such as water, non-fat milk, broth or fat-free gravy. You may also eat strained baby foods if it is more convenient. This stage last 2 to 4 weeks. As you progress in this stage, your doctor may allow you to start reducing the liquids and eat foods with more of a ground texture. You should continue taking protein supplements throughout this stage.
Moving On
You will progress through liquid diet stages with less trouble if you avoid using straws, emphasize small sips and begin with room temperature liquids, according to MedlinePlus. You may initially struggle to meet your liquid nutrition goals in the first several days after your surgery, but this should become less of a problem as you progress. You will eventually graduate to soft solids and then solids, but will have to add new foods one at a time. Your goal diet will eventually be about 1,000 daily calories and emphasize protein, though it should include all the food groups.
References
- MedlinePlus; Your Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery; Dec. 2, 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Gastric Bypass Surgery; Oct. 9, 2009
- Duke Medicine: The Recommended Diet Following Bariatric Surgery
- MedlinePlus; Gastric Bypass Surgery; May 17, 2010
- Rush University Medical Center: Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery
- Palo Alto Medical Foundation: Post-Op Diet Progression
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