Pre Op diet

What's the theory behind not allowing me to eat solid protein, like chicken or whatever?  These are the kinds of things that run thru your mind as you watch TV and a Thanksgiving commercial comes on with a delicious looking turkey.

to clean out your intestines and colon of any solid food and poop to make surgery safer for you.

There are different theories. Some surgeons call it a liver shrinking diet. I personally believe that we're put on a liquid diet pre-surgery to see if we can be compliant ona liquid diet after surgery. For my pre-op diet, I was allowed one food meal per day until 2 days before my surgery. 

Some people don't even have a longer-term liquid diet; it's just the standard surgical fast. ( or maybe one day of clear liquids and then nothing after midnight...) 

Edited for auto-correct shenanigans. 

A half a day to day of liquids to clean out the GI tract is fairly standard for most GI procedures, often clear liquids but not always depending on what is being done. Some docs specify a week or two, or more, of liquids prior to bariatric surgery for reasons I have yet to fathom (the "liver shrinking" thing that is often sited, though controversial amongst the docs, calls for a low carb diet - meat and green veg - but I have yet to find a viable explanation for the weeks of liquids diets that some programs impose.

Doctor voodoo. No science, but it's been said enough times that it's what they do.

ON the other hand.....losing weight even as little as 10 lbs can have a beneficial effect on your health.

Either way...i'd do what your doctor asks you to do. Mine had me only do liquids for 1 day prior to surgery and nothing 12 hours before.

Scott

The shrinking liver theory is controversial.... in my pre-testing I was told I only had a slightly fatty liver.

Reality is though any weight loss is going go make for a safer surgery.

I was allowed one meal a day of protein and veg or salad. Plus shakes. More bearable.

Mine was the same as NYMom for only for one week, and I agree that it was much more bearable than only liquid would be.

Actually, it is scientifically sound in terms of liver shrinking.  What happens is that your liver (and muscles) store glycogen,  Glycogen is bound to water.  This winds up being a rather significant amount of bulk.  Going on a very low calorie or low carb diet causes your body to go, "oh crap we need energy stat!"  This causes the glycogen to get released, as well as (literally) anywhere from 5-12 pounds of water you're carrying around.  This is also the cause of the infamous "water weight" you lose whenever you transition to a low carb or ketogenic diet.  Low carb diets are inherently diuretic because if we are on one we no longer need as much water to store glycogen so we retain less (among other reasons).

Some doctors prefer a liquid diet for a variety of reasons.  One is that many of them require it post-operatively, so it's better to utilize it ahead of time and not just go without solid food.  It's very psychologically difficult for the population that typically gets bariatric surgery to do this abruptly...however, some studies and doctors disagree.  I'd make the argument in the long run it's psychologically easier depending on the individual.

I actually elected to do a 3 week liquid diet which was longer than my program used because I wanted to be absolutely sure by the last week I was able to do it.  

Low carb diets make a huge difference in visceral fat, too.  While I was quite obviously fat at 400+ pounds day of surgery being 5'1 at the time, my surgeon said my liver was surprisingly non-fatty and obviously normal sized.  It looked as if I had never been obese.  This was probably due to years of a low carb diet.  It's pretty easy to tell who adheres to the diet and who doesn't.

It also does make surgery easier.  They use a small spatula to pick up your liver.  It actually looks like a tiny wire paddle.  When we are malnourished or our organs have deteriorated, they often become friable.  What this means is they are fragile and bleed very easily.  Do you have to do a liquid diet to guarantee this?  Eh, likely not.  However, I'd also argue the majority of patients aren't necessarily as diligent as they claim pre-op, either, and are chronically unhealthy to boot.  This is my pure speculation, granted, but I suspect that the all liquid diets are insurance and extra caution on the surgeon's part.  

I like my surgeon because when I question his reasons he can discuss and articulate the science behind what he does.  Don't hesitate to ask your surgeon why and press for a more detailed explanation.

All the likes right here!