Plano, TX patients who have had gastric bypass obesity surgery need to follow a special diet following surgery. How much you eat, what you eat, and how you eat all change following gastric bypass surgery. The diet is divided into four phases, with each phase providing differences in terms of the textures and consistencies of food.
- Phase One: For one to two days after your surgery you’ll only be allowed to consume liquids. Your diet will primarily consist of broth, unsweetened juice, sugar-free gelatin, milk, and strained creamed soups. You’ll be instructed to sip liquids slowly, drinking no more than two to three ounces at a time.
- Phase Two: Phase two begins a few days after surgery once you’ve been able to tolerate liquids. Phase two lasts from two to four weeks. In phase two, you’ll be allowed to have pureed, or ground up, food. Pureed foods and beverages in this phase include beans, lean ground meats, fish, yogurt, egg whites, soft fruits and vegetables, fat free milk, broth, fat-free gravy, sugar-free juice, and of course water. Because your digestive system may still be sensitive, add dairy and spicy foods to your diet slowly.
- Phase Three: After two to four weeks of pureed foods, you can have soft, solid foods. A good rule of thumb is that if you can mash the food with a fork it is likely soft enough to eat during phase three. Ground meat, canned fruit, soft fresh fruits and vegetables are ideas of foods that can be eaten during this stage. You’ll be eating soft, solid foods for about eight weeks.
- Phase Four: While every patient is different, on average, most people can start eating solid foods about eight weeks after gastric bypass obesity surgery. Start introducing regular foods into your diet slowly so you can determine which foods your body is able tolerate best.
