Protien and Dehydration

I have been reading alot and seems the most commone problems after surgury is getting enough protien and staying hydrated i say it mentioned somewhere something about baby food is that a proper source of protien? and has anyone tried or has a doctor mentioned pedialite to keep from getting dehydrated? i had a ovarian cyst removed back in 99 and got ill on the fourth day cause i couldn't eat or drink and was on pain medicine the doctor had my mom go buy pedialite popcicles and liquid to help with hydration is this also a possibility?

I forgot to ask people at the support meeting about the baby food too. I was also wondering about buying some for the first few weeks to get my protein... so if anyone knows anything about it please help us out....

There are so many different kinds of protein drinks out there. Don't buy a bunch before surgery because what you like now may change. I suggest, highly, the unjury unflavored protein powder. I put it in everything. I added it to my liquids on my preop diet and since banding surgery 15 days ago, I have added it into soups, coffee, carnation instant breakfast, really soupy mashed potatoes. I am on my second container. I can't tell you how many containers I have tried in the past and either never finished nor ever bought the second one. But the unjury mixes well, has not taste, isn't gritty and is a bunch of protein. you have to get in online at unjury.com. They deliver very fast. I also like the Nectar by Snythrax, the Fuzzy Navel flavor is great. I add it to Peach flavored Propel and sip on it all day. Getting both liquid and protein. I found it at the "Vitamin Shoppe" but you can also order it online from several places. I would suggest as others have, buying sample sizes online and trying them before making a big purchase. Best Wishes Vicki in Indy

thank you all for your answers it's great to get some feel on these issues

Autumn, if you want to try the baby food meat, try mixing it with some cream soup (fat free if you can) to kind of give it a better texture and more flavor. Most people don't like the grainy texture of baby food meat. Hope that helps. I haven't actually gotten to the pureed diet yet, but I have been a registered dietitian for many years and have worked with lots of people on pureed diets. I found a protein drink at the grocery that is made by Boathouse farms (found it in the produce section at Kroger) that is a Vanilla Chai Tea and it has 19 grams of protein in 8 oz. (not bad) and it is sooooo good tasting! Its a little pricey, but so are all the protein drinks, etc. The source of the protein is soy, so I think I have been somewhat "gasey" after drinking it, but that would be individual also. The lactose intolerance as you gathered is a very individual thing, but the Dairy Ease and Lact-aid products hopefully will help if that is a problem. One more thing that I found that I am looking forward to using when I get to pureed is a blender called the "Magic Bullet", saw it on an infomercial on TV and then saw that Kohl's had them for sale. It is really awsome for making almost anything pureed. It does an excellent job on meat or chicken and vegetables. Try cooking frozen vegetables, blending, with some milk or Land of Lakes fat free cream,and then heating and adding cheese, makes a great cream soup. Another suggestion for adding protein, if the lactose is not a problem, add non-fat skim milk powder to anything liquid or to mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs or cooked cereal. Its less expensive than protein powder and adds protein to everything you add it to. You can even add it to milk that you buy and it makes "double strength milk" which you can drink or use in cooking or making puddings etc. Well, I have rattled on enough. Good luck and I would be happy to help in anyway. Chris

Hi Autumn. I had my surgery on October 27th. I ate a lot of jell-o and popsickles the first couple of weeks. I was also able to handle cottage cheese, but a lot of people aren't able to. I have never had any problems with not getting my fluid intake. As was mentioned, Propel water is great (I like the strawberry-Kiwi), but just adding lemon juice to regular water is refreshing, too. I have also gotten hooked on Country Time Sugar Free Lemon Berry - awesome! My typical breakfast is a zero carb carnation instant breakfast with one scoop of isopure protein powder (GNC) and 1 pint of fat free milk. This equals about 35g of protein. If you can handle cottage cheese and yogurt those are both a good source of protein. Best of luck!