Watch Your Diet Before Your Lapband Obesity Surgery

Lapband surgery is gaining popularity as a weight loss option as it is a minimally intrusive procedure. However, before considering it you need to know how it will affect your life afterwards. Will your lifestyle change? Will you have to learn new kinds of behavior patterns? Will it help you tackle weight related health problems?

One of the biggest and immediate changes to deal with will be your diet. After a Lapband surgery, the capacity of your stomach to hold food is greatly reduced. You will not be able to eat much at one time and will feel full much faster than you did earlier. The stomach is in a delicate state at this time and care needs to be taken to ensure that it is not further stressed. This is why modifying your diet after the surgery is vitally important.

Initially your diet will be one of clear liquids.Beverages like tea or coffee and aerated drinks are a strict no-no for the first three months. In fact carbonated drinks can be dangerous at any time as they can cause gas and bloating of the stomach.

In the next phase of the diet you will continue to be on liquids but these can now include foods like soups, sugar free gelatine and baby food. The mainstay of the diet however will be a protein shake, consumed at regular intervals.

In the following weeks, semi solid foods can be introduced. Meats, salads, vegetables are all okay provided they have been shredded in the food processor. Starchy vegetables like potatoes as well as bread are not included in the diet.

The length of each period depends on how much weight you have lost and how much you target to lose eventually.

An important component of the post surgery diet is protein intake. As the stomach is unable to hold more than a few ounces at every meal, whatever you eat has to count! Protein deficiency is quite common in those who are recovering from Lapband surgery and can give rise to a host of problems. Not only can you suffer from depression, hair loss, fatigue and edema but the whole process of healing after the surgery can be slowed down. Over a longer time, it can lead to gallstones, low blood pressure and anemia.

The way you eat will also change after Lapband surgery. You will now have to take smaller bites and eat slowly. In fact, you will have to treat your stomach as if it belongs to a baby!

Eventually you will be eating solids and a normal diet, albeit a protein rich one. However some foods may remain off limits. You may find it difficult to digest tough meats like steak and pork chops as well foods with membranes like oranges and grapefruit. The same is true for spicy and fried foods as well as those with high fibre content.