Question:
Pre-surgery I ate a lot of fat free Pringles and Wow chips made with olestra.

I never had any trouble with them giving me "intestinal problems." I'm almost 5 months post-op now and thinking about trying them again. Just wondering how the olestra has affected others postop. Thanks. Bonnie Lap RNY 5/6/03 -90lb    — Bonnie R. (posted on September 28, 2003)

September 28, 2003
With the RNY, we malabsorb fats. That means "fat-free" isn't as important as it used to be for us (not that it ever did me much good, as I ate for volume!). So, I don't know if there's a problem with these products, but just remember that their "fat-free" nature isn't really very beneficial for you anymore. The power of junk foods like these to trigger binging remains the same, however. At five months, you're far enough out where it will be easy to graze through an entire tube of Pringles or a big bag of WOW's in no time. If they never made you overeat before, that's probably not such an issue for you, but it certainly was for me. Think it over carefully before you bring these types of bad foods back into the house that don't have much nutritional value, especially if you're only five months out. That's a dangerous time, when your capacity to eat gets bigger. If you have a craving for potato chips, I'd suggest buying a single-serving bag of a really good brand of chips (forget "fat-free") every once in awhile, rather than buying multiple serving tubes or bags into the house.
   — Suzy C.

September 28, 2003
DOOOOOOOON'T do it. Early reports showed users of those products with fat soluble vitee shortages, A, D, E. As Suzy said, we will alrady have issues with those postie, let alone adding to the problem. Always rememeber low fat USUALLY means higher sugar. Fat satisfies, sugars make you crave.
   — vitalady

September 28, 2003
Don't deprive yourself if you truly want something but just buy one small snack bag so that's all you can eat and if you want more you need to haul your butt to the grocery story. Usually going through that much effort will be enough to stop us. I had a small bag of baked Lay BBQ chips a few weeks ago and they were great. Way too many carbs to do often but once in a while. I pay less attention to fat than carbs and protein, but in general I know I eat a reasonable fat diet.
   — zoedogcbr

September 28, 2003
I would try to stay away from them. Carbs just make me more hungry and I begin to crave more and more things I shouldn't eat. It's a battle ---but the results are so wonderful~! Good luck to you.
   — debmi

September 29, 2003
They are hard to find but you can find the single serving portion size of the WOW chips. My favorite is the nacho cheese which I only seem to find at Subway for some reason. I eat them all the time and have no intestinal problems, however, I limit myself to a small serving. I also eat the WOW tortilla chips.
   — Cindy R.

September 29, 2003
If I were you, I'd go with a small amount of regular chips. You'll probably malabsorb the fat anyway and you won't have to deal with abdominal cramping or the malabsorption of important vitamins.
   — mrsmyranow