Question:
Sorry in advance...I have sort of a gross question about throwing up..

I was told by my sisters friend that if you eat something and keep it down for at least 20 minutes you have gotten the nutrients out of it. I that really true? How do you handle it if you throw up say an hard boiled egg, do you try to eat something else after to make up for the protein that didn't stay down?    — toni D. (posted on April 25, 2002)

April 25, 2002
Well to be honest the last thing I want to do after throwing up is eat again. My pouch is still tender and it takes me a while to eat again. The part about absorbing the nutrients if kept in pouch for 20 minutes is an interesting question. One which I hope you get a response to. Good luck.
   — Celtic B.

April 25, 2002
Although I'm no expert, I think absorbtion of calories and nutrients is done in the intestines. That's why they are bypassed. So if that is true, more than likely, there isn't any absorbtion of protien or nutrients, when your food doesn't get passed your pouch and is thrown up. So I would eat again, but not for a while after throwing up, to maintain protein and other nutritional levels. Hope this helps :)
   — Carey N.

April 25, 2002
Carey is absolutely correct. Nutrients and protein are absorbed in the intestines and since they are bypassed and if you're throwing up, you're not likely getting what you need. I wouldn't just eat for the sake of eating, however, because that develops some more bad habits that we're trying to avoid. I would try to get some liquid protein in after you've recuperated. I can't stand all those powdered proteins that you have to mix but I love Isopure. You can buy it at GNC and it has 40 grams of protein per 20 ounce bottle. Good luck. By the way, I threw up quite a bit to begin with but learned it wasn't the food I was eating but how fast I was chunking it down my throat. Take your time. Hugs, Sharon Robinson
   — Sharon R.

April 25, 2002
Interesting concept. Digestion occurs in the lower stomach, then once digested, absorption occurs in the intestine. For RNY, digestion, as such, does not occur, so any absorption at all has to try to happen at the same time as digestion once all the ingredients meet further down into the intestine. If you eat something, and it comes back, it only went as far as the pouch and nothing really happened to it, except for being wrapped in saliva. Fortunately, this is handy if it wants to go down OR if it unfortunately has to come back up. Gross, but handy. I assume you're just afraid that if something sticks, you'll starve nutritonally? You're half right. If you lose the food, you've lost even the potential for digestion/absorption. But the good news is that a few hours later, you can try something "easier" to manage, and you'll get whatever portion of that you do not malabsorb.
   — vitalady

April 25, 2002
This clearly isn't the case. People w/ bulimia often hold food down for 20 min before throwing up and we all know how serious a condition this is. Bulimics are often malnourshed due to not having intestinal absorbtion. W/ us this problem is compounded because we don't have the stomache acids etc that would at least disolve some of our food before vomiting.
   — Jennifer H.