Spirulina

Has anyone tried Spirulina capsule for protein?  I had my surgery on 3/24 and had my protein in my frig and even tasted it pre suregery and it was ok.  Now that I have had my surgery, I can't do it.  It is chocolate fudge, love chocolate.  just the vitamin smell and taste, yuck.  I know I am whinning...I have tried the I$0pure and i can tolerate that better but has to be watered down. 

My dear husband found the Spirulina at an herbal store and the lady told him that a 400mg capsule contained 55-71% protein.  Ok that sounds good, but what does that mean gram wise?  and is this safe for post surgery patients?  I will be asking my nut next week, but thought I would check here first. 

Any thoughts comments would be mucho appreciated! 

Congrats on your surgery, and welcome to the VA board if I haven't said hello before. Sorry can't give any advice, never heard of it. but Welcome! lys

Not much help on the Spirulina front as I have never heard of it.   I would make sure that it's 100% Whey protein. 

But I went through the same thing with my protein.  After surgery anything sweet was just awful to my tastebuds especially when you need to sip, sip, sip and it takes soooo long to drink it.  I found that Isopure worked the best.  I would take a 32 ounce water bottle pour half the 20 ounce isopure and the res****er and ice.  It helped me get both my fluids and my water.  I have found at a month a half out - it has definately gotten easier.  I'm still not drinking the shake type protein drinks, but I can do the isopures no****ered down. 

Don't worry about whining, each step of the way can seem very daunting.  You can do it and it will get better!!!

Michelle

Never heard of the Spirulina so can't really answer for that.  Although since we don't absorb well, it wouldn't get the full benefit of it.

Keep trying with the protein.  Try different recipes.  Add milk. bananas, peanut butter, etc.  I know that vitamin shoppe is great as they will take stuff back that you don't like.  Keep trying.

I wish I could help with Spirulina -- have never heard of it.  One thing that you do need to keep in mind is that there are varying types of protein, and what we need is whey protein. 

Unfortunately, many people will tell you that your tastes will change post-op.  Not sure why, but it does happen, and definitely happened with me.  Here are some that I have had success with (like you, I love chocolate -- just had to find the right one for me): 

Unjury Chocolate (www.unjury.com -- they do have sample packs you can try -- I also have their other two flavors, and just ordered a sample of their chicken soup, which I have heard wonderful things about),

Muscle Milk Lite (I get my ready-to-drink ones at Costco, but they can be found at GNC and Vitamin Shoppe as well and also come in mixes vs. RTD) -- they have a lot of different flavors, but I have found that I like the chocolate the best -- I keep it in the refrigerator and take it with me as I run out the door.

Isopure -- immediately post-op I enjoyed the bottled drinks (not shakes) that came in varying flavors.  I would pour them over ice and got a lot of protein in with them.  I found mine at Vitamin Shoppe.

There are a lot of people who have found good sources for protein at Walmart as well, though I haven't tried any of those.

It is, unfortunately, a trial and error thing with regard to the protein.  You may want to go on www.bariatriceating.com and get one of their sample packs and see if any of those work for you. 

Best of luck, and congratulations on the surgery!  :)

After I had surgery I had heard there was a pill for protein. I asked my surgeon about it and he refused to prescribe it to me any as he said I need to get my protein through food not pill. Take to your surgeon about it. Good Luck!!

I like the EAS ready to drink shakes. Especially if you put them in the freezer for about 30 minutes before you drink them. I have not heard of the spirulina but I'm curious.

First and foremost, I would not recommend this spirulina stuff as your primary source of protein. I have never heard of it either, but doing some research, it looks to be a bit better than a vegetable protein, but not as good as an animal (to include whey) protein. Not to mention, that if each capsule is 400mg, and that has (lets say best case), 71% protein, that's 284 MILLIgrams of protein per capsule, which means that you would need 3.53 of these capsules to get 1 gram of protein.  On the low end, any surgeon is going to want you to get 60 GRAMS of protein per day, so you'd be eating 212 pills per day JUST to get the minimum.

Also, we gastric bypass types have a difficult if not impossible time with capsules. If you have gotten some protein in this form, you're going to need to open the capsules and mix the resulting powder with something in order to ingest it. I have also seen this spirulina in what appears to be tablets, those might  be okay, but you're still going to need to crush them this early out.

Really it's just going to be easier for you to drink your protein. HOWEVER, there are SO many types out there that you're bound to find something that works for you. No one has mentioned these yet, so I will. They're SMALL, and while just a bit syrupy (not in a sugar way) they are not the milky/chocolaty/creamy proteins. They are a BIT expensive, but they are an option.

(and I know that there's someone out there who probably knows where to find these more cheaply, I just kind of picked the first thing Google gave me. :) )

http://www.profect.com/
http://www.amazon.com/IDS-Liquid-Protein-Grape-vials/dp/B000 N7B0ZY

Good luck!

Thanks to everyone for their responses and all the advice.  I have been forcing down the protein shakes that I have until I get in some other kind.  I truly appreciate everyones responses!!  thanks!!