Different Post DS Diets

Hello everyone, my first day here.

I had my ds on 9/25/17 so I'm in the learning stage.

A big question I have is our diets and how they are different based on your surgeon. My Dr has me on high protein and veggies. According to his plan I can't have any fruit or carbs (rice, pasta, tortillas) et****il I have reached my goal weight. Also no coffee and only herbal decaf teas.

I know right now I'm on a very strict diet which I understand. But I'm a bit confused as to no fruit, coffee, teas etc. I understand the acidity of coffee etc but the fruit I don't understand.

Also am wondering about the best milk to use and ideas on cottage cheese. Should it be low fat or is regular lard curd cottage cheese ok?

Could I get some input please?

Thank you for your time.

Welcome to the other side!

It seems that every surgeon's office provides different instructions and it can be confusing.

Just try to remember that your insides have had major surgery and it takes time to heal.

I was also told no coffee and I don't think I had coffee until about 6 months post-op.

No (or very low) carbs will help with your weight loss. Carbs (especially simply carbs) turn into sugar, which you absorb 100%.

Fruit, especially citrus, is incredibly high in carbs. As you get closer to your goal weight, you start introducing more carbs, which helps slow the weight loss. I really haven't had citrus is 14 years. For me fruit is very tricky. I can eat bananas, berries. Any fruit with a thicker skin is a problem for me. I have to peel apples and can only really eat half an apple. Same with grapes and things like that. Melons are really hard to digest. I can eat maybe one or two pieces of melon. Love watermelon.

You don't need anything low fat (IMHO the best thing about the DS). That's a really hard concept to grasp because we've been told our whole lives to eat low fat. Low fat generally has added sugar, which now you know is not good with the DS (start reading labels).

Everyone reacts differently to the DS. You now have to learn to live with the DS. Start reading labels - pay attention to protein, fat, and carbs. Never look at calories.

Start learning about what you eating, how it will affect your body. Learn to listen (read) to your body. How your body accepts (or rejects) certain foods. How they make you feel.

Many of us follow the 30/60/90 rule. 30 grams of protein by 30 days post-op, 60 grams by 60 day, 90 grams by 90 days. At this point (barely a week post-op) your main focus needs to be staying hydrated. You must sip sip sip.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

Do full fat everything. When they take out the fat, they add sugar and salt.

Fruit is loaded with sugar and sugar is sugar. Doesn't matter if it's fructose or sucrose. Stick with low carb/sugar veggies too.

The no coffee/caffeine is just your surgeons personal preference and there isn't science behind it. Many if not most of us do drink coffee/tea etc.

Right now you need to worry about hydration and protein. Hydration first. What is your supplement schedule supposed to look like?

I would go with no carbs till you are 10% UNDER goal!!! Most people do have a bit of regain.

And BTW I am assuming you had a real DS, not a look alike procedure.

Hi PattyL

Thanks for your response.

I started taking the adek, multi and b-12 the day I came home from the hospital.

I was reading again today and noticed I can start my calcium citrate so I will do that today.

Yes I had the real DS done.

I am getting 64+ oz water/day so I'm doing OK there. I still think I need more than I'm getting though.

The fruit thing, I would like to have a few spoons of sugar free applesauce on my cottage cheese for a little change in pace occasionally. Would also like some cinnamon on there is that OK to add?

I think I have 9 more days until I can start adding actual meat and veggies etc to my diet. I think this will help with feeling satisfied etc.

Thanks

SF apple sauce at this point is just fine. You're only eating a few bites and it will go down easily. Cottage cheese, yogurt, really soft scrambled egg can be easy to eat.

High protein and veggies are the standard practice all around, and the advice to avoid rice, pasta and tortillas untill you're at goal is good advice, as well.

Most while losing try to keep their carb count under 50g total carbs per day. Others will differentiate complex vs. simple carbs (whi*****ludes rice, pasta and tortillas, bread, and sugar). The simple carbs absorb into your body very quickly, and if unused right away, turn into fat in your body. Complex carbs such as vegetables digest much slower, providing a sustaining energy value, and also provide key nutrients. The wonderful sweetness of fruit comes from natural sugars (sugar being a simple carb - absorbs quickly), which is why docs advise against fruits when trying to lose.

The caffeinated products like tea and coffee slow your healing. Many pick their caffeine habits up after a couple of months, but if you've kicked your habit, why not just let it go (I hang my head in shame, for I didn't do this) if you can?

For anything going forward - always go full-fat, meaning you're eating things as nature intended. When they remove fat from foods such as cheese or meat, it usually involves more carbs, sugar, salt, and an overall chemical ****storm to go with it. Our bodies malabsorb 80% of the fat we consume, so we NEED fat. We need it for our hair/skin/nails, brain activity and digestion, so NO LOW/NO FAT FOODS....EVER

Assuming you have a real DS, ADEK's are almost useless for you. They sound perfect because they contain all the fat soluble vitamins that we need, but they have so little of each component that you will have deficiencies down the road if you use them.

You need to start taking A, D, and K separately (so you can adjust doses of each as needed) in the "dry" form. The standard form is packaged in oil, and oil = fat, so they won't be absorbed. That includes the prescription D (which is in oil). You can purchase the dry form from Vitalady (if in stock) or easily on Amazon, and probably elsewhere as well. Don't wait til you become deficient, it's much harder to catch up than it is to keep up.

You may, or may not, need B12. This is much more an issue with gastric bypass than with DS. I'm 11 years post-op and still don't need to supplement B12, though I do continue to get all the B vitamins checked with my annual labs, just in case. Other people do need to supplement. So follow your labs carefully and supplement if needed.

Larra

Celebrate vitamins makes a multi with dry and extra ADEK.

Interesting!

I looked at the components of these vitamins, and recommend you do the same. They contain 25,000 units of A but only 5,000 of D. So, to get the 50,000 of D that most of us need daily at a minimum (I take 100,000 daily myself) you would need to take 10 of these daily, which would cause you to take toxic amounts of A. They also contain less K and probably more B12 than most of us need. B12 is more of a problem with gastric bypass than with DS, though some people with DS do need to supplement.

That's the problem with taking any combo vitamins. You can't adjust for the individual components in accordance with your personal needs. So even though these contain more A and D than the usual worthless ADEK's, I won't take them and would strongly recommend that you seriously reconsider if you are taking them, or at the very least follow your labs very carefully to make sure you don't become toxic in one component while becoming deficient in another.

Larra

Oh, and they also recommend you take 4 of them daily. Either that means you need to take 4 to get the 25,000 of A and the 5,000 of D, or it means your A is going to go through the roof. The info on their website isn't sufficient for me to say which problem will occur.

Maybe it's different now, but I don't remember taking all those vitamins at only 1-2 weeks post-op. I don't think I starting my vitamins until almost 30 days post-op. You should be focusing on fluids and 30 grams of protein a day (in whatever form you can handle). But if your surgeon wants you on full vitamins now, then of course follow his instructions.

I do agree that the ADEK is not a good vitamin to take. Maybe to start its easy,but eventually you will find that you may need more or less of one or the other. You can find dry versions of ADEK (I take Biotech that I get from Amazon). I take minimum A & E, but take massive amounts of D & K. Obviously you start with the basics and then see what your 6-month labs look like. It's a process (like eating :) )