Yoghurt and fruits after gastric sleeve surgery

Which foods to avoid and which ones to focus on in a Gastric sleeve diet?

Gemma Gilbert Weight Loss

Gastric sleeve diet Perth

Before and after any form of bariatric surgery, patients will need to carefully watch what they eat. A gastric sleeve diet will require you to be vigilant about what you eat and how often you eat.

Why is a gastric sleeve diet important?

When patients choose to undergo gastric sleeve surgery, they have inevitably tried many other ways to lose weight. Our Perth practice, The Surgeons Collective, demonstrates that bariatric surgery is a recognised and reliable way to manage obesity; however, following a gastric sleeve diet is an essential key factor for the surgery’s success. The purpose of gastric sleeve surgery is to reduce the size of your stomach, typically to around 15 percent of its previous size. With that comes the need to adjust what you eat.

What should you do on your gastric sleeve diet?

Before weight loss surgery your bariatric surgeon and dietician will ask put you on a medically formulated meal replacement program to help reduce surgery risks. While this diet can be a challenge it will help you on your weight loss journey.

After surgery, you will be kept on clear fluids for up to two days, depending on your symptoms or your surgeon may progress you to a thin fluid diet straight away. Over the following two weeks, your gastric sleeve diet will consist of fluids that are thin enough to be taken through a straw, including soups, drinking yoghurt and liquid protein supplements. In weeks three and four you’ll move to a puree diet and in week five you can start including soft stews, soft vegetables, scrambled eggs, and other easy-to-digest foods. From week six, you’ll progress to a normal diet. But remember some foods will always be hard for you to digest so they should be avoided – for example, hard meats, bread, rice, and pasta.

 

Take your time – why eating slowly matters

After bariatric surgery, your appetite will shrink, which will make it easier to stick to your gastric sleeve diet. In addition to what you eat, however, it’s important to be careful how you eat.

You will need to eat small amounts more often and take plenty of time to finish your meal – ideally 30 minutes for every meal. It’s important not to skip meals as this can leave you feeling empty and unwell, so on those days when you are really busy, make sure you plan ahead and have meal replacements with you.

Getting the right advice on your gastric sleeve diet

After bariatric surgery, there are a number of problems that can occur, such as vomiting, constipation, indigestion, and dehydration. These problems can be mitigated by following a careful gastric sleeve diet plan, which includes eating foods recommended by your dietitian, avoiding carbonated drinks, cutting out fatty foods, getting plenty of fluids, and eating slowly.

Our team here at The Surgeons Collective in Perth works with an experienced dietitian to answer all your questions both before and after your surgery. We’ll stay with you on your journey, providing regular blood tests to monitor whether you are getting the nutrients you need, including multivitamins, B12, and iron. With the right diet, regular exercise, and supplements where needed, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, or gastric sleeve surgery, can fundamentally improve your life.

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Gemma Gilbert Dietitian at The Surgeons Collective Perth

About the author

Gemma Gilbert | Dietitian

Gemma is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and has been working in clinical dietetics for over 12 years. She has also completed a Diploma of Management.

More information about Emma Gilbert