FAT FREE

ok so I ready a lot on here about not eating fat free anything. can someone please explain to me why? I want to do this the right way and was given a sample menu to follow from the doctor and it labeled everything fat free like yogurt cottage cheese and mayo ect. So fill me in please and thank you!

Among other things, fat free foods usually have to add other stuff (like sugar!) to make them taste better. 

http://www.webmd.com/diet/low-fat-diet

The docs and NUTs are taught that if we eat fat we'll have loose stools or worse. That might have been true of the old BPD but it isn't true of the newer DS configuration. It's still in the textbooks though and they still have to warn of the possibility in pre-op class but you don't have to continue to follow the old teachings that aren't valid and likely bad for you. We malabsorb much of the fat we eat, so we need to eat some to stay healthy. Everyone needs some fat in their diets to stay healthy.

--gina  

I'd listen to them. I do eat Dannon light and fit yogurt instead of full fat only because it is lower in carbs :) I pretty much just make sure I get my protein in, fluids, and stay under 50 carbs.

If you have a true DS(and I hope you have researched your doc because I haven't heard of him) fat and protein are your friends and carbs(sugars) are the enemy.  Fat is your friend because you don't absorb it.  Fat will satisfy you and make low carb tolerable.  You already know the worst diet in the world is low cal, low carb, and low fat.  It's impossible to live with.  And even with high fat, your cholesterol will drop very low and stay there because you don't absorb the fats you eat.

Some people do low fat in the very beginning because of possible bowel issues(diarrhea).  But over time most switch to high fat or we simply stop looking for low fat foods.  Remember butter?  Yummy!  I don't LOOK for extra fat to eat but but I don't avoid it either.  I use real butter, mayo, cheese, as I please.  Nothing better than a bacon/lettuce/tomato/mayo sammie!  Notice...no bread!

Low fat is so ingrained in docs/nuts minds that they always spout that info.  And it's not appropriate for DSers.  Also many outfits tend to have one nutritional approach for all WLS patients.  And we all know that one size does not fit all!

 

Diarrhea my ass!  I was constipated for 3 days following the advice of eating low fat.

What PattyL said. Too much fat early on (among other things) will give you diarrhea. I would choose full fat yogurts and cheeses early on, as the amount of fat vs carbs shouldnt give you bathroom problems. I wouldn't be adding fat to my foods.

Later on, you can add kinds of butter and full fat sour cream to your baked potato, but by then, your body will handle the extra fat with the higher amounts of food you are eating.

I would like to think that the low fat advice that surgeons are giving to their patients, is a short term eating plan. And that in the long run, fat with its malabsorption is better than a bunch of worthless carbs.

Unfortunately NO...I am three years out and have to add extra fat to my diet or I get brick butt...but my surgeon's office is still preaching LOW fat to me.

When you take into account the malabsorption it isn't necessary to go low fat anything after the surgery. It is a different issue during recovery because your insides can cause problems even without any extra fat.

I no longer eat low fat anything but I don't track my fat consumption and don't avoid fats. No more lean cuts of meat for me. :) You will have to see where your body takes you as you add fat to your diet. Some DS'rs really do eat a high fat diet, even for us but others, myself included, just eat a normal diet. It looks high fat because people have been conditioned to think of fat as "bad" but you need some fat to stay healthy. 

Don't go out of your way to add fat just yet, but concentrate on 'whole foods' that are unprocessed.  Most of the time when they remove fat, they add sugar and carbs to make it palateable.  As a DSer, everything is low fat anyway because we only absorb around 20% of the fat we eat.  We need it for brain function, soft skin, shiny hair and most importantly, digestion!