Flinstones VS the Fancy Schmancy Vitamins

That wouldn't make any sense - our vitamin requirements don't vary based on surgeon.  Or they shouldn't.  The ASMBS recommends a multi with 200% of most vitamins and minerals.  I'd go with that advice over my surgeon's.  

It took 2 years for my body to run out of the stored vitamins and minerals i had. And then my body crashed. It took me 2 more years to get back to where i needed to be." Normal " ~ when they run low normal is not good enough for me.  

Plus some deficiencies does not show until you assert the level that may cause permanent damage. Permanent~  you can't fix it...yea... I am not going there. Good luck. 

One of the most important skills for a bariatric patient is learning how to read labels, both on food and supplements.

Take the label on Flintstone's vitamins, then compare it to the bariatric vitamins, and then to local option, like Centrum, and store brand generics. It only takes a few minutes, and you can do it all online.

See which things are missing completely. Then pay attention to what percentage of the daily value of vitamins and minerals each contains. Good brands will be at least 100% across the board. Crappy brands will be 25%, with a few at 100%.

Make sure of what the serving size is. Good ones will be one tablet to get 100%. Crappy ones will be four! We should be taking 200% per day of everything.

Don't settle for close. There are lots of good vitamins out there, some of them very inexpensive. Some are expensive and crappy! Every "children's" vitamin I have seen are very poor. A few that have bariatric on the label are among the worst I've seen.

It will likely take years for a serious deficiency to show up. When it does, it can cause serious and permanent issues.

When you say we should be taking 200% of everything, is that recommendation for all bariatric surgeries or just RNY?

RNY, VSG, and DS. I'm not sure about the band. The recommendations are from the ASMBS.

I agree with you on this one - I do think taking a bunch of the gummy vitamins can also give us that 200%though.  In my experience my body stops me overdosing myself ... I skip a lot o f days just being forgetful me .. but when I am taking my multis every day for energy ( on workdays) Ill find after a week and a half or so my body says no go ....

I do listen to my body .  The one area I do still have issues in is calcium... and osteoprosis runs dramatically in my family .  Though I do take posture D and citracal pills sometimes  I find I require a natural source of digestible calcium ( I like Youngevity Osteo FX) The is a good-tasting drink made with plant based natural calcium and minerals and I can literally feel it straightening me up and strengthening my bones after I  swallow a dose.  

I believe its important to EAT nuritiously too- there are vitamins like P and K you can't get from supplements and a whole host of enzymes etc... 

It doesn't matter how many gummies you take, if they don't contain certain vitamins. Typically, chewables don't contain the B vites because they taste bad.

Excellent post. The willingness to educate ourselves on what our bodies need and not just assume every physician is knowledgeable about nutrition (or realize that some physicians pad their income by requiring patients buy the vitamins they sell), should be another requirement prior to having surgery. 

Thats so true! So what vitamins do you take? You're quite informative, and have taken the time to be very careful about

what you put into your body. Thank you for sharing.

There are less expensive and still effective options out there, and I used them pre-surgery.  but I decided to make the investment in bariatric vitamins for post surgery.  First of all, I wanted to protect my health. But I've found that I'm saving an astonishing amount of money on groceries and take out and everything else - this more than pays for the vitamins!  (And I'm only 13 days post op!)