Drinking and Mealtime - a Question

I have not done any further "research" to confirm, but I asked my bariatric nurse this question last week and she indicated that additional benefits (beyond extending satiation) is that food has longer to breakdown/digest within the stomach and that you might avoid dumping due to moving food out of the stomach too quickly.

Gotcha, that does make some sense. Thanks for responding!

For what it's worth, my surgeon doesn't restrict drinking fluids - before, during or after meals (or any other time for that matter). He also says that aside from Iron deficiency, he really sees zero nutrient deficiencies in his patients that are compliant with their diet and vitamins.

Interesting - I haven't encountered that take on drinking with meals before. The practice of timing your fluid intake so not to coincide with meals has more to do with ensuring satiety than avoiding deficiencies, and it seems to be fairly universal bariatric protocol.

As far as deficiencies other than iron go, I myself was very low in Vitamin A, as shown by my comprehensive blood test in December. I have been taking an additional 10,000 units of dry Vitamin A per day since then, and am seeing a very slow improvement, but I am still quite low. This despite complete adherence to my surgeon's vitamin supplementation rules, all along. Vitamin D deficiencies seem also to be quite common in our population, in addition to the #1 culprit, low iron. Vitamin A deficiency is less common than those two, but still is statistically notable. I imagine there are other deficiencies which pop up as time increases from one's surgery date, and initial stores are depleted.

Dr. Weiner really emphasizes eating a wide spectrum of vegetables and fruits, doesn't he? More than I personally eat, for sure, with my emphasis on protein, protein, protein. I've watched several of his videos, and have a book of his as well. I have thought that when I have reached goal, I will incorporate more veggies & fruit into my diet. For now I am trying to stay on the toboggan, speeding as best I can down the scale.

Yes, he does. And I probably should have been more clear - he sees deficiencies, but when addressed, sees no "chronic" issues that are hard to treat other than iron. That's what I was implying when I said "patients that are compliant with their diet and vitamins."

He starts out with just recommending 2 Adult Centrum a day. My Iron was trending down, although still within normal ranges, and he added in Iron, which fixed that issue (at least for now). My B-12 was also low-normal, so he added in that, and now it's sky high.

And yeah, it is a fairly universal recommendation, but a lot of what Dr. Weiner recommends deviates from the "norm". I'm positive that if one of his patients went to him and said "if I drink within an hour of eating I end up not staying full as long and overeating" his response would absolutely be "well, then, you should probably not do that". He has the same approach to things like straws (if using a straw gives you discomfort, then don't use a straw) or carbonation (if carbonation gives you pain, don't drink it).

Actually his main issue with carbonation is pop/soda - he's adamantly against that. Regular or diet. But if you want to drink Perrier, knock yourself out.

I watched all of Dr. Weiner's videos that I could find, especially as I was preparing to have surgery. I found them to be very positive; they helped me to deal with my fear and instilled hope. It's nice to hear from you, one of his patients. Personally, I figure it can't hurt and could help to separate drinking from meals, and my surgeon advised that I do so. I abide by that, but the notion that one should never drink with a straw has never made any sense to me.

It definitely can't hurt! And if it works for you, go for it! And I always recommend people follow their surgeon's plan anyway.

Dr. Weiner is awesome. Basically he's just like he is in his videos. Super cool guy, and a total realist. I actually have a follow-up with him in about 1.5 weeks as he just scoped me out for a peptic ulcer. I've gotten an ulcer and a intestinal blockage over the last year or so. He tells me "well, I guess you got the best results, so you get the most complications....". Haha.

Yes, he seems like a very smart, down-to-earth, compassionate guy who is driven to make people wel! Good luck with your follow-up. Wishing you an ulcer-free future!

I was told to wait one hour after a meal to drink, which I do. Also I wait 30 minutes after drinking to eat.

Still hanging in there and maintaining my current weight loss.

The good news is that I feel great.