And the weird diet quirks continue...

Since I had my VSG almost 6 weeks ago I have been experiencing a taste change.  For me it started with the protein shakes, almost immediately I found them so sweet as to be almost intolerable.  I did stop mixing them with milk which has helped a lot.  Reading then nutrition label on a jug of milk, I always knew milk had a lot of sugar, but it had never really impacted the taste of things for me before, milk never had a sweet taste to me.  

So as I am now expanding my diet I have been re-discovering old familiar foods that now have new tastes.  I have been watching my carb intake pretty strictly and keep them between 20-30gm a day, no refined carbs either, primarily from vegetables and some dairy.  I'm not sure if it's the lack of processed sugar in my diet or the surgery itself that has caused the greatest impact.

For example, I went to my parent's for supper a few nights ago.  My Dad, the cook in the family, made a beef stew.  I decided to have some, leaving the potatoes in the pot, I had a 1/2c serving with beef, carrots, turnip and broth.   It was very good, but in tasting the broth of the soup, I noticed a distinct sweetness to the flavour.  Not in a bad way, it was subtle but I definitely noticed it.  I mentioned it to my Dad who looked @ me like I had three heads.  So, I guess it was just me.  I imagine the sweetness came from the carrots? Weird right?

I also started having a few almonds added to my snack pack of turkey and cheese for my work lunches, they are a high in calories but I only had a few, and they have the good fats which I need in my diet.  They are the whole plain unsalted kind, the only ingredient on the bag is almonds, nothing added at all.  Well I crunched into one and the taste, again almond, but slightly sweet.  

So what do you all think.  Has my palate been cleansed of refined and heavily processed junk foods that I lived on in the past.  Is this what is allowing me to really taste foods that aren't masked by sugar and salt.  Have you guys experienced anything similar? Or do you think this is just one more weird surgery quirk?

I was much more 'sensitive' to sweet and other tastes for awhile after surgery too. I was also very sensitive to smells. All kind of things caused me to gag!

I attributed these things to stored hormones dumping out of my fat cells, but it may have also been related to my state of ketosis  when I was going super low carb.  Not sure that's the complete answer, and maybe someone can offer up something more scientific, but I'm pretty sure it's related to hormonal changes. Basically your body is trying to establish a 'new normal' right now.  All these things leveled out for me over time and were not permanent changes. 

I am still on full liquids, but I can definitely tell that my tastes have changed. I am extremely sensitive to both sweet and salty. We were out shopping last night and stopped by a deli where I got some soup. It tasted like a salt lick. 

I'm with the above two, everything with low salt pops out at me!! I think it is great you've lost your taste to sweet things, (if I am understanding correctly) if so, what a great thing, I hope it follows you to your end goal!! Dee

I've noticed that white bread (I don't make a habit of eating this) tastes unpleasantly sweet now. Carrots, turnips, tomatoes, and a host of other vegetables have a natural sweetness that became evident when I stopped eating over-sugared, over-salted, over-fatted foods.

I agree with you -- getting rid of junk food allows you to notice the delicate and delicious flavors of real food. Not a surgery quirk, but definitely a result of eating better after surgery, IMO.

psychoticparrot

I think it's a little bit of everything mentioned: hormonal changes, metabolic changes, and the change that occurs when you abstain for sugar. 

I remember I felt very much like Spencerella immediately post VSG. I noticed smells much more than I did prior to surgery, my shakes tasted sweeter, I couldn't even manage a MuscleMilk  - too sweet, too creamy, just gagged me, and I was super emotional (hormone dumping). 

All my symptoms went away as time went on. Everything I used to like, I like again. Things I didn't like, I still don't like.

The only real permanent change for me is that when I stay away from sugared foods I am able to taste the natural sweetness in real food - like berries and apples and yes, even almonds. I have read that to get the sweetness response your body wants takes more and more sugar for those of us who ate a lot of sugar/refined carbs (whether it was sweet or not) as time goes by. The body builds up a tolerance - akin to an alcoholic needing more booze to get the same high. 

Once you start eating cold cuts - a lot of them have sugar added. I still can't eat some of them. I can taste  the sugar. 

Maintaining low sugar diet post op WLS makes me very sensitive to any sweets. Regular desserts are so sweet that I don't even bother with a bite... Most of the time the only thing I can taste is sugar ... Avoiding that long term keeps me super sensitive to sugars. And I like it that way. 

I noticed the sweetness to some degree, but not that extreme.  I could drink those isopure drinks before surgery, but after surgery I had to mix them 50/50 with water because they were too sweet.  But regular foods were fine. I was also much more sensitive to smell.  All of this was only temporary though and went away after a few months.

I am almost 5 months out and my taste buds have changed significantly to even more intolerant to sweetness than before! I have never really had a sweet tooth ever, but now I find that anything artificially sweetened is unbearably sweet and just...disgusting. This is why I can't do any sweetened protein powders or shakes.

About a month ago, I had a small bite of my husband's plain bagel and thought it was so sweet that I could have sworn it was cinnamon-raisin or something. The same thing happened to me with some brown rice a week ago. Even with veggies like string beans or carrots, I really taste the sweetness now. I do think the change is due to not eating so many processed carbs anymore, but look at it as a positive thing. :)