How much and what type of food will I be eating when I return home from the hospital?
Immediately after surgery, your eating behaviors will need to be permanently altered as you will no longer be able to consume large amounts of food at any given time. This will not only reduce the likelihood of your experiencing severe abdominal pain and vomiting, but it will also minimize your chances of having major complications from your surgical procedure, such as large particles of food becoming lodged in your esophagus, stomach or gastrointestinal tract.
The day after surgery you will probably feel much better, and you will begin consuming a liquid diet (small amounts of food in liquid form), progress to soft foods (such as low-fat yogurt) and eventually introduce solids approximately four to six weeks after your surgery. Your solid food needs to be soft, moist and well-chewed to avoid abdominal discomfort or nausea.
Gradually, you will progress to eating 1/2 to 1 cup of food per meal as your stomach’s capacity to hold food increases. However, your now-smaller stomach will not be able to hold more than 1 cup of food at a time.
If you have had gastric bypass surgery, you should avoid eating meals high in simple carbohydrates (sugars) that are rapidly absorbed by the body and cause the stomach contents to move too quickly through the small intestine. This reaction, commonly referred to as “dumping syndrome,” is associated with very unpleasant symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, weakness, sweating, nausea and sometimes diarrhea.
