Question:
After surgery, are tomatoes well tolerated?

I know some of you may think this is trivial, but I love to garden in the summer, and one of my favorite things to grow are tomatoes. It has become a ritual with my young daughters to go out and tend the garden and bring in what is ripe. I have read that many of the foods you love now, may not be well tolerated after the surgery. I would hate to lose this bonding time with my girls(yeah, over tomatoes). Any help would be appreciated.    — Suzy R. (posted on March 4, 2003)

March 4, 2003
I am a big tomatoe fan. I was not able to tolerate tomatoes until i was about 2 1/2 months post-op.
   — HelpMeRhonda !!

March 4, 2003
Early postop tomatoes are too acidic (according to my dr, anyway). But after you get on "regular" food it most likely won't be a problem. As long as you don't have a finicky pouch, I think they are good for you. For one thing they have plenty of water in them and lots of vitamins.
   — ctyst

March 4, 2003
Suzy, Tomatos I love them, I think I love them more post-op them pre-op, I started eating them at about 5 months post op, and just gobble them up without a problem, I really chew them well to make sure they go down without trouble, I feel that after surgery foods (all of them) have different tastes, like before hand I wouldn't have even considered eating a plain old tomato, (without salt or soy sauce) but now, I'll take it plain now, hold the salt and any forms of sauce...... I can really taste it and it acutally tastes great plain. Weird Hu ! Post op 9 months down 125 pounds
   — tannedtigress

March 4, 2003
I had a LAP RNY on 8/15/2002 and I couldn't do tomatoes until 2 months later. That was torture--I've adored tomatoes since I was a small child and I think I love them more now than ever. I could live on tomatoes in any way,shape or form if I could get away with it. Just make sure you peel them until you're handling anything with an acid base to them well. I'm still peeling them because I've gotten so used to eating them without the peel now. A bowl of tomatoes chopped with salt/pepper and a little balsamic vinegar and I'm in heaven!
   — Cathy S.

March 4, 2003
You should be fine with tomatos, but no guarantees. It is true that some of the foods you love and tolerate well now may not be on your post-op list for a while, or perhaps never. We're all different. Me, for one, can't eat Chinese/Japanese food now, and loved it pre-op. Go figure. Wish I could say the same for sweets!
   — Cindy R.

March 4, 2003
OK- tomatoes were not tolerated before surgery for this chick and they are not tolerated after (he he) but you can blame my 3 week stay with my Auntie who thought sitting me down to force feed me a plate o' tomatoes would cure me... (and not on the WLS). Alas, my juvenile tomato trauma did not do anything but make be avoid the tomato, and the Auntie. She claims not to remember, but I know better............ don't EVEN get me started on onions.
   — Karen R.

March 5, 2003
I've been eating tomatoes in a variety of fashion since post-op day five. I love them-and even crave them!!!!
   — Wannabe A.