Nerdgrl

After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
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After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
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After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

After reading this thread, I got a little curious and started to do some research. For context, note that I have a PhD in Bioengineering (from a top 10, US institution - will become relevant) and have spent the 15 years of my career as either a drug discovery scientist in 2 large pharma companies or in contract labs that perform independent safety and efficacy testing for pharmaceuticals and medical devices. While I'm not an expert in Protein biochemistry, I do know a bit about bioavailability and biodistribution (and similar topics) - and, as a scientist, am skeptical by nature. So I started to dig and do some research on GENEPRO. Long story short, I found minimal to no scientific evidence of the claims they make - increase in bypass of the intestinal digestive system by 94%, increase in absorbency to 97.8%, etc. The graphs they included were found in the marketing literature from Deerland enzymes - the company that makes Prohydrolase. The clinical data in their "Clinical Studies" section was not related to their specific product (and was incomplete at that). The award for "2015 Life Science Impact Product of the Year" was awarded by the Triangle Business Journal - a local business publication in Research Triangle Park - not a scientific trade publication, society or association. The CEO, "Dr." Parks, received a PhD from Canterbury University (Auckland, NZ). I am not familiar with this degree program or its accreditations, but at best once could consider its scientific rigor suspect. If nothing else, one has to wonder why an entrepreneur in the RTP area of NC - in spitting distance of 3 world-class research universities - needs to go to NZ for education.
All this being said, to be fair we need to recognize that nutritional supplements are not FDA regulated and that none of the companies that manufacture these products are required to substantiate their claims. The take home message is not that their product is junk (there is no data to conclude that it isn't effective) - it's that one needs to be cautious about accepting their assertions wholesale. At a minimum, it's fair to say that they are over-inflating their "data" and lack independent scientific verification.
If you read the fine print on their website, I believe that they are stating that their 30g of Protein is an equivalent value - in simple terms, if their protein version is 3x more "bioavailable" than standard whey protein, ~10g of GENEPRO is equivalent to ~30g of standard whey protein - for whatever that's worth. Personally, I am still planning to use GenePro (my surgery is next week) as it does appear to be easy and tasteless, but to be safe will probably count this as 10-15g of protein and not 30g. Just wanted to share what I learned so everyone could make a slightly more educated decision for themselves!
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I was completely confident, gung-ho and excited about my decision to get the sleeve until about a week beforehand, when I started to panic. It's not uncommon to get cold feet when things start getting real. I viewed this surgery as a breakup from an unhealthy relationship - where you know your "partner" (food, in this case) isn't healthy or productive physically, mentally or emotionally - but it's comfortable and ending the relationship is scary, as is the thought of being solo without your crutch / companion. From what I've read, this is a very common feeling in the few weeks before surgery. A therapist is always a good idea to help work through any of these feelings / issues. I'm now only 5 days post-op and can't (yet) say that this is the best thing I've ever done, but I'm incredibly optimistic (and the 13 pounds I've lost since starting to pre-op diet is definitely helping to stay focused!). Hang in there and best of luck!!
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I was completely confident, gung-ho and excited about my decision to get the sleeve until about a week beforehand, when I started to panic. It's not uncommon to get cold feet when things start getting real. I viewed this surgery as a breakup from an unhealthy relationship - where you know your "partner" (food, in this case) isn't healthy or productive physically, mentally or emotionally - but it's comfortable and ending the relationship is scary, as is the thought of being solo without your crutch / companion. From what I've read, this is a very common feeling in the few weeks before surgery. A therapist is always a good idea to help work through any of these feelings / issues. I'm now only 5 days post-op and can't (yet) say that this is the best thing I've ever done, but I'm incredibly optimistic (and the 13 pounds I've lost since starting to pre-op diet is definitely helping to stay focused!). Hang in there and best of luck!!
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I am 15 days post-op and the scale hasn't moved in 3 days. This morning I gave it the finger and told it that I'm breaking up with it until Monday. In the meantime, I'm focusing on trying to ramp up my walking and maybe try and easy hike. You're not alone - hang in there!
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I am 15 days post-op and the scale hasn't moved in 3 days. This morning I gave it the finger and told it that I'm breaking up with it until Monday. In the meantime, I'm focusing on trying to ramp up my walking and maybe try and easy hike. You're not alone - hang in there!
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I am 15 days post-op and the scale hasn't moved in 3 days. This morning I gave it the finger and told it that I'm breaking up with it until Monday. In the meantime, I'm focusing on trying to ramp up my walking and maybe try and easy hike. You're not alone - hang in there!
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I was 14 days for soft foods. On day 15 it was my wife's birthday and I took here for a nice meal. I had ahi tuna with wasabi and soy sauce.

I was eating fish at about 3 weeks. It's an awesi.e Protein source.
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Good for you!! My experience was similar - I felt awful through day 10 post-op (low energy, could barely get out of bed) and at day 11 I magically turned the corner and have felt better every day since. I'm only at day 15 and I *almost* feel like my old self (minus 20 pounds)!
Glad you're doing so well! Best of luck.
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@@The New Kel - I too had headaches this week so I think that's normal. I get nausea when I try new foods but haven't thrown up yet - thankfully! I have had no trouble meeting Fluid and Protein goals, so I've added some yogurt, SF pudding, homemade applesauce and had some verrrrry soft, mushy egg salad last night. It's not glamorous but it's nice to use a spoon again!
Congrats on your weight loss - thanks fantastic! I lost 10 lbs during pre-op and 11 since surgery, so I'm at 21 lbs total but have been stalled for the last two days. All in all I'm still pretty happy!
Best of luck and keep up the good work!
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@@anewdayforme I am definitely struggling with Constipation as well. I've been taking stool softeners and laxatives with only limited success - and I'm convinced that this is a big reason I haven't seen any weight loss in the last 2-3 days! Good luck!
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@@Nerdgrl
I had fish at 3 weeks but the fish you listed I wouldn't consider soft. You want something white and flaky. Salmon is dense, I rarely if ever eat it. tuna is dense and can be hard to digest also. The same with crab. You could have lobster, it melts in your mouth.

I had my "last meal" (actually, more like 3 or 4 of them) before I started the pre-op diet. As everyone has said, it's not worth risking your surgery!
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SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
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SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

SHOPPING! (And enjoying it. And not for jewelry and shoes - because they don't depend on my size.)
Working out without pain.
Wearing shorts.
Feeling like people are seeing ME and not my weight.
Not having to rush past all mirrors for the fear of accidentally seeing myself and being horrified.
Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I am 9 days post-op and have been so tempted to chew some real food and spit it out, but I am terrified I'll swallow it by accident and risk rupturing my sleeve. I have heard stories of people licking certain foods to get the flavor - at this point, I'm not above it.
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