I'm considering lap band surgery and am concerned about the liquid diet. I'm allergic to dairy, soy, wheat and most fruits. I haven't talked to the nutritionist yet - first appoint with the surgeon is this Thursday, 12/8/11. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so, what did you drink? I'm in South Florida, and my S.O. and I are planning to have the surgery together. Thanks.

Well there are protein drinks that dont have milk in them the hemp and rice protein powder are milk and soy free I dont know how great they will taste but you might not have much choice also you can buy clear protein powder that you mix with anything and Im sure it does not have milk in it but Im not sure about the soy

You will probably have to have homemade veggie soups with lentils or chickpeas or similar added for protein.

Veggie soups with veggie protein - that's a great idea. We have a blender and a food processor. I can cook up a batch before I have the surgery and have it waiting for me when I get home. I have plenty of time to experiment. It's such a pain. I'm allergic to nuts, so I can't have almond milk, and something in the commercial rice milk affects me, too. There's a Whole Foods nearby, so I can use them as a resource. Thanks.

Almond milk is awesome.....

My grand daughter really liked Fax milk, but our area stopped carrying it, as the distributor went under. But, I know that in St Pete and Clearwater they still have it, if you are near there. She liked the vanilla, but it also comes original. You could check for that, too! It was sold at Walmart, when we got it.

Do you mean Flax milk?

I imagine flax milk would be super duper healthy for you, full of Omega 3's!

You can only talk to your doc. The liquid diet pre surgery is meant to be a high Protein, low carb fast diet which shrinks the liver and may - and I stress "may" - make surgery easier. The magic in it is the low carb high protein part, not the liquid, so you could do a solid diet that fits the bill, you dont have to do shakes.

And there's plenty of us around that didnt even have to do a pre op diet.

Post op liquids are not such an issue, some people have conniptions if they think they are not going to get 5000 grams of protein per day, but I didnt drink a single shake and I"m still here, I lost weight, I didnt lose all my muscle and turn into a bag of skin.I relied on things like home made soups with lentils and such because powdered, man made protein doesnt really appeal to me as something I'd like to make a staple of my diet. And if you do want to do shakes there are vegan ones around, and you might just have to have them with Water rather than a mix with any type of "milk". I'm sure with a list of intolerances like you have, you're already pretty resourceful.

Not all doctors require a liquid pre-op diet. Some just want you to do atkins or something similar, which would be really easy to follow with your dietary restrictions. And then post-op for your liquids you could have the soup etc mentioned above. Talk it over with your doctor - I'm suree s/he'll have some ideas for you

I too am lactose intolerant. I take a daily lactose pill. It lets me have dairy. Plus I buy the lactose free milk to mix stuff with.