Gastroplasty is a form of weight-reduction surgery that was introduced in the early 1970s as a safer alternative to gastric bypass surgery. Although it originally involved stapling part of the stomach to reduce food intake, the procedure has been improved over the years and now involves vertical banding of the stomach to sharply reduce its capacity. If you've undergone this procedure, you need to rethink your attitudes about food and radically modify your eating habits.
Post-Surgery Instructions
Gastroplasty creates a small stomach pouch designed to hold far less food than a normal stomach. You'll experience feelings of fullness after eating only a small quantity of food, which should be your signal to stop eating. Failure to do so may cause severe abdominal discomfort.
In the period immediately following your discharge from the hospital, you'll need to stick to a clear liquid diet for a few days. You then can begin to add small quantities of soft foods, according to Karen Kassel, MS, RD, MEd of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
General Guidelines
The University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) at Fairview offers some broad dietary guidelines for gastroplasty patients: Eat three small high-protein meals a day and avoid snacking. Because your stomach pouch can hold a very limited amount of food, it is vitally important to eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. Because your three small meals daily are unlikely to include enough nutrients, you should take nutritional supplements. On the basis of your new eating habits, your doctor can provide guidance as to the type and daily dosage of such supplements to meet your specific needs.
Only a Half-Cup to Start
Once you have begun to eat solid food again, restrict your intake at mealtimes to roughly a half-cup of food, which is about all your stomach pouch can hold. Eat more and you run the risk of getting sick. Over time, according to the UMMC, the stomach pouch will stretch, increasing its capacity to as much as a cup or slightly more. However, you should stick to meals that approximate a half-cup in volume at least until you've reached your weight-loss goal. Once that goal has been achieved, you can increase intake to roughly a cup of food per meal.
Stretch Out Mealtimes
The UMMC suggests that each meal be eaten over a period of 20 to 30 minutes, allowing you ample time to chew all foods into a paste before swallowing them. Eat too fast and you not only run the risk of gaining weight, but you also face the likelihood of nausea and vomiting. Take a forkful of food, chew it slowly and thoroughly, and put your fork back on the table until that process has been completed. Don't drink liquids for at least 30 minutes before and after each meal. To do otherwise runs the risk of filling your stomach pouch to capacity with liquid and/or washing out the food before it's been fully processed.
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