6 day post-op, 3 q's

Dr. requires protein shakes & clears for 4 weeks post-op, so... 1. Is a protein shake considered a meal in that you stop drinking water before, during and 1/2 hour after so it may be digested? 2. What is a 'protein bullet' and where do you get them?  3. Is it best to hold off on milk protein shakes so soon after surgey to avoid developing lactose intolerance? I prefer ready to drink shakes that are milk based such as AdvantEdge or World Wide Protein from Trader Jo's  but am CHOKING down the whey protein because I know it is better absorbed.  Any feedback is greatly appreciated :)  Thanks, Jo  

I am not a RD or a NUT, but I thought I'd give answering your ?s a shot. 1.  My NUT says that a protein shake can be considered a meal protein wise, but it is also considered a fluid.  She said that I do NOT have to stop drinking 30 minutes before and I don't have to wait to drink 1 - 1.5 hours after drinking a protein shake.  This is due to the fact that it is a fluid, not a solid.   I have been told that the purpose of stopping the drinking 30 minutes before a meal and not drinking again until 1 - 1.5 hours after a meal is so that the food you have eaten stays in the stomach longer.  If food stays in your stomach longer, you feel full longer and it will take longer for you to get hungry again.  If you drink too soon before or after a meal, the fluid you are drinking will make the solid food you have ingested exit the stomach quicker.  (Imagine the drain in your kitchen sink.  If you pour a little refried beans in the drain, it will take them a long time to drain through.  If however, you pour a little refried beans in the drain, then begin running water over them, they will drain fairly quickly.) With a protein shake, it will drain as fluids do regardless.  (The stoma is the size of a dime in most cases.  The protein shake is a liquid and will run out that hole whether you drink something before it or after it.)   So it can be counted as a meal toward your protein requirements, but also as a liquid for your fluid requirements.  You do NOT have to stop drinking before and after a protein shake. 2. A "protein bullet" is a vial of liquid protein.  Some GNC stores sell 2.9 ounce vials called "Protein Slam".  They have 100 calories, 0 fat, 0 carbs and 27 grams of protein.  My GNC carries them in fruit punch and peach flavors.  You cannot even taste them if you mix them with crystal light in the same flavor.  They cost $2.99 a piece, but are usually on sale for buy 2 - get 1 free.  However, I prefer ordering my liquid protein by the case from http://www.fitnessfirstusa.com/catalog.asp.  They have several different flavors and vials with different grams of protein in them.  I want the most bang for my buck, so I order the 3.1 ounce vials of "New Whey" with 42 grams of protein per vial.  I order the grape and fruit punch flavors, then mix them with crystal light so I can't taste them.  (If I had to drink them straight, I couldn't do it - the crystal light thins them out and masks the flavor of the protein where I can't even tell it's in there.)  There is an orange flavor in the 42 gram vial, but I have not tried that.  There are other flavors in less protein dense vials (I think they have blue rasberry vials with 2.9 ounces and 25 grams of protein in them if memory serves, but I have never had that one either.)   Protein bullets are the one thing I wish that I had discovered PRE-op because it is SO important post-op to get in all your protein.  It is HARD to do that when eating so little.  I could not - even now at 3 months out - get in all my protein without a protein bullet a day (most days). 3.  I was not advised to, nor did I avoid milk post-op.  Some people develope lactose intolerance post-op, but I do not know if there is a correlation between drinking milk early out and developing this intolerance or not.  All I can say is that I drink skim milk like there is no tomorrow some days (It counts as a protein and a fluid too!) and I have not developed lactose intolerance.  Sorry I couldn't be more helpful with that question. As I said, I am NOT by any means an expert.  I am just a post-op who has done a lot of research and reading.  Every surgeon and NUT are different.  If I were you, I'd email your NUT and ask her what she thinks about # 1 and # 3 to get her advise on that. 

You've already gotten some good advice from the previous writer.  Let me see if I can add a little more. The protein shake is a kind of meal - this early on it's all you get and everything else is liquid.  The rules for drinking anything is taking it slow.  You can't gulp anything like you did before (bummer, I know).  At this point you are trying to get in your goal amount of protein (in your shakes) and your additional fluids the rest of the time.  At this stage, most people feel like they're drinking something all the time. About milk based shakes.  You may not experience any lactose intiolerance, many people don't.  Whey is a milk protein (as is casein) - so if you're drinking milk based products, you are also getting whey.  There's no need to avoid these products if you tolerate them fine.  Keep an eye out for added sugar - but every milk product will have some sugar contribution from the lactose (milk sugar).  Look for max protein so you can meet your daily goal.  Most of all, if you can find a product you like - that's a good thing. Hope that helps!

Thanks Wendy & Danielle! You really cleared up my questions, I appreciate the time you took to answer me :)   For someone who has no clue how to do a seemingly simple thing like feed myself properly, this is allot to process! My Dr. keeps saying it's not "rocket science, it's just food & cooking". For me...rocket science, I can handle..it's black & white. Feeding myself is big gray cloud of fog, filled with emotions and feelings that overwhelm & baffle me.  This board helps to demystify some of it.  Thanks again, Jo