The conventional wisdom of WLS

Y'know, this has to be one of the most civil and productive threads I've seen on OH! Kudos for starting it, PH. Maybe you should make it a somewhat regular post so we can periodically discuss whatever CW (conventional wisdom) is making the rounds. This is genuinely useful and interesting stuff! ---- Leslie

Great! Really am enjoying this thread. So many things I've believed and thrown away since the start. It all comes down to individual choice, and what works for you. We all have to research and learn. Take the advice of the professionals, the Drs and nutritionalists, but ultimately it is our decesion. We are the ones it will affect. Lets keep this going---really good! Bek

Mine is this.... If we can absorb calories now, why can't we absorb vities? And "IF" we are what we eat... Wy aren't we all named Perdue, and cackle???Just a thought.

I ask my surgeon that exact question. He explained that a lot of the vitamins/calcium are absorbed in the part of the stomach that has been detached. Maybe it was that the stomach acids helped them to absorb and we no longer have those acids since part of the stomach was detached? Guess I need to ask the question again. I'm not saying it's a fact, but that's his explanation. I do know a lot of people on the boards have posted that they got in trouble when they quit taking them so I plan to take mine forever. This has been an interesting thread.

You understood it correctly. One point that several people have mentioned is that there much discussion among researchers about whether vitamins taken as supplements actually do any good at all--and if it does good how much good? How's that for a run on sentence?

My Surgeon and nutritionist both recommend taking Tums or Viactive forever for Calcium. I disobey orders on this one and take my Cal Citrate. Is the jury still out on the calcium decision?

I am pretty sure most of us, except Tek agree with the calcium citrate thing. I had a several articles saved on the issue on my other computer, but it died. Gonna have to start collecting favorites again. Good for you on the ignorring your doc on the calcium. Shame on him for not keeping current with what they have presented at the conferences the past couple years.

Don't misquote me I take Calcium Citrate and I believe it is probably better to suppliment with Citrate. I also make sure to get a fair amount DAIRY calcium. All else being equal, if I am going to suppliment Calcium, then I want the most bang for my buck. Citrate is absorbed better than Carbonate. Citrate is not significantly more expensive than Carbonate. There are no compelling reasons NOT to take Citrate. However, my points are: 1) There are no studies that demonstrate supplimentation of any has any effect on Osteo or other bone deseases. The one study on milk drinking showed a reduction in bone breaks in milk drinkers. This is a fine arguement for increasing dairly calcium (which BTW I do). It "makes sense" that calcium supplimentation would have a similar effect. 2) Though Citrate is absorbed better, Carbonate is still absorbed. It very well may be that the amount absorbed, if it helps at all (see # 1 above), is sufficient to have similar benefits as the better absorbed Citrate. To put purely ficticious numbers to it (since real numbers don't exist)... If I suppliment with 2000mg of Citrate and 30% is absorbed, that is 600mg, If I take 2000mg of Carbonate and 15% is absorbed, that is 300mg. It MAY be our bodies only require, or can only use 200mg, so BOTH meet the requirement of our bodies. The carbonate vs Citrate thing is being studies in WLS circles, and according to my surgeon, there is still no compellling evidence one way or the other. In the first 6 weeks or so post-op, I could not take the Calcium Citrate I take now, the pills are too big. I tried some liquid, but it was intollerable for me. So, I securely took TUMS. I take exception to the people that post Carbonate does NO good, and that WLS patients do not absorb it at all. It is a gross exageration of the situation. There is no support to that position, ASIDE from the observation in #1, that any supplimentation may be no good. It goes to the point that I made earlier of Facts being distorted in the repeating. Also, in making the case for their choice, people often exagerate and distort facts to bolster their position. Tek

malabsoprtion means less absorption not no absorption And the biggie that drives me crazy is people saying they are taking their vits with tiniest sips possible so as not to "wash the vits out of their pouches and not get the nutrients." HELLO! if you don't drink enough water with them they may not dissolve properly and you don't absorb them in your pouch anyways. you absorb them in your small intestine. then there is the risk of them not dissolving and sitting in your esophagus and eroding it or causing irritation or inflammation.

Hey Tek--I think I agree with everything you just posted! and I have misinterpreted some of your previous posts--you were just being devil's advocate of sorts--while covering your own butt--which is kind of my theory on the situation too.