For right after surgery why are people drinking sugar free drinks/jello/popcycles? I hate artificial sweetners so I thought I would get some Vitamin water to drink Post-op but tons of ppl are drinking all this sugar free stuff. Is the sugar upsetting because surely you aren't getting enough calories from it to hurt.

For right after surgery why are people drinking sugar free drinks/jello/popcycles? I hate artificial sweetners so I thought I would get some Vitamin Water to drink Post-op but tons of ppl are drinking all this sugar free stuff. Is the sugar upsetting because surely you aren't getting enough calories from it to hurt.

I can't say why most people do it, but I can say that my doctor is a firm believer in low carb as a VSG lifestyle until you're at goal. His dietary guidelines said sugar free, so that's what I did. It was already a way of life for me, because I'm diabetic.

If you eat 5 popsicles a day post op, and they're the regular Popsicle brand ones, that's 55 carbs just from your popsicles. Regular strawberry Jell-O has 19 carbs per serving; sugar free strawberry Jell-O has no carbs. A bottle of Vitamin water has between 10-32 carbs per bottle, depending on the flavor. A bottle of Isopure (or Isopuke, because that stuff is foul) has no carbs.

So, if your doctor/nutritionist suggests 30 or less carbs per day like my surgeon, it's not as simple, and sometimes just not possible to stay hydrated and feel satisfied with the regular stuff.

~Cheri

I read last night in Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies that all sugars are frowned upon right after surgery, because they could be upsetting to the stomach and not good for healing. I have the crystal light popsicles, because they are sugar-free and only 15 calories.

For right after surgery why are people drinking sugar free drinks/jello/popcycles? I hate artificial sweetners so I thought I would get some Vitamin Water to drink Post-op but tons of ppl are drinking all this sugar free stuff. Is the sugar upsetting because surely you aren't getting enough calories from it to hurt.

Drinking sugar free has many benefits to it post op surgery. It is a great time to break free from the sugar demon (if you hadn't already done it in your pre-op diet). It will help keep your Carbs and Calories low to boost a good weight loss in the first few weeks.

Have you tried Propel? It has a really nice, lightly flavored taste and comes in all kinds of different flavors. One 16.9 oz bottle has 4g carbs. Much less than vitamin water. Give it a try. You may experience some flavor distaste after surgery and anything overly flavorful or especially sweet, you may discover you don't like anymore.

I read last night in Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies that all sugars are frowned upon right after surgery, because they could be upsetting to the stomach and not good for healing.

Did they actually reference that statement in the book? I'm curious as to the source, because it sounds like a truckload of BS to me. It's artificial sweeteners, NOT sugar, that upset the GI tract and cause diarrhea, bloating, cramps, and flatulence.

I'll have to check it out. I was reading before I fell asleep and saw it and thought of this post. I will doublecheck and post back!

I read last night in Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies that all sugars are frowned upon right after surgery, because they could be upsetting to the stomach and not good for healing. I have the crystal light popsicles, because they are sugar-free and only 15 calories.

OK I need to get that book. I had no idea there's a dummy book for weight loss yayyy!

It's a very good book. My nut actually recommended it. Some other good books are Mindless Eating Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink, PhD and the Emotional First+ Aid Kit by Cynthia L. Alexander, PsyD.

Deb

I have the emotional first aid kit too..

The WLS for dummies hardly has ANYTHING about the sleeve, just be prepared. I bought it before my lapband surgery. Funny, I'm using it more now though than after the stupid band. There are some shake recipes I want to try as well.. high Protein shakes. Gotta go up and grab that book from my nightstand and bring it down here!

It's not the taste of artificial sweetners I mind it's the fact that they are artificial I'm not talking long term drinking drinks with sugar in them but just for the first week or two it seems like it would help with energy and such. Even if I drank 3 vitamin waters a day in those first few weeks that would total to 375 calories and from what I've read if I can get in that much fluid I'll be doing awesome. Once I'm on full liquids I can see how drinking those might get out of hand as you can drink shakes at that stage too and those can pack quite a bit of calories. THoughts?

I drink vitamin water ZERO mixed berry only has 4gms of carbs and all of the ZERO's are great I don't drink plain water it gives me heartburn don't ask caz I don't know I can drink 3-20oz bottles of these a day with no problems. might give it a try.

I am the lone sugar consumer. Personally felt I somewhat jeopardized my future health with this radical surgery and truly felt all the artificial crap might only make things worse. I have this tiny stomach with no room for error. I felt putting a bunch of unnecessary chemicals might be a bad idea for me. Everyone was doing the shakes and I drank real broth and did little shakes. All the artificial stuff is more aversive to me than ever.

So I stick to agave and sugar. Others have lost faster than me, but I have lost consistently.

I chose the surgery and am so thankful for the weight loss. But I just feel very protective of my lil sleeve. I do not drink alcohol or cokes hardly ever. I take antacids only if needed. I just try to listen to what sounds right to me.

Don't be afraid to listen to your own common sense, whatever that might be.

Did they actually reference that statement in the book? I'm curious as to the source, because it sounds like a truckload of BS to me. It's artificial sweeteners, NOT sugar, that upset the GI tract and cause diarrhea, bloating, cramps, and flatulence.

The Everything Post Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook says this about sugars:

p. 118 "Sugar is a problem whether or not you experience dumping syndrome. Sugar is high in calories, but those calories are empty, totally lacking in nutritional value. Avoiding sugar will help keep your calorie intake under control."

and

p. 284 "Refined sugars can rapidly raise blood glucose levels and cause dumping syndrome. Less refined sugars, or slow sugars, are better tolerated...."

Hope this helps.

The Everything Post Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook says this about sugars:

p. 118 "Sugar is a problem whether or not you experience dumping syndrome. Sugar is high in calories, but those calories are empty, totally lacking in nutritional value. Avoiding sugar will help keep your calorie intake under control."

and

p. 284 "Refined sugars can rapidly raise blood glucose levels and cause dumping syndrome. Less refined sugars, or slow sugars, are better tolerated...."

Hope this helps.

I think page 118 is pretty much what we all know. Long term I wouldnt' drink full strength apple juice or orange juice since I dont' do that now. I mix it with Water but I wonder if it might be good for all the energy ppl are saying they are lacking in the first few weeks. From what I've read fruits are slow sugars and as long as you pair a food with a high gycemic index with a fat or Fiber it will keep your blood sugar under control. Of course that wouldn't apply till you could actually eat solid foods but I think at that point you rely less on artificial sweetners anyway and more on protien, veggies, and if you have room fiber foods.

The Everything Post Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook says this about sugars:

p. 118 "Sugar is a problem whether or not you experience dumping syndrome. Sugar is high in calories, but those calories are empty, totally lacking in nutritional value. Avoiding sugar will help keep your calorie intake under control."

and

p. 284 "Refined sugars can rapidly raise blood glucose levels and cause dumping syndrome. Less refined sugars, or slow sugars, are better tolerated...."

Hope this helps.

Thanks...It's not quite what I meant, though, I was interested in the source the book itself used for that statement, I have no doubts that the original poster quoted it directly from the book. But realistically, I could release the "All-Sugar Diet" book tomorrow and write all kinds of crap in there, if you know what I mean. I was wondering if the book itself has some sort of reference - they are usually grouped by chapter in the back. I obviously wouldn't expect you to list all the references for the chapter here, but if you end up interested in this and look into some of them and find some legit evidence to prove or disprove it, I'd definitely be curious to hear about it.

P.S. What's with this creepy "so-and-so started a personal conversation with you" notification that this site gives when someone quotes your post? I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw that....lol.

I use artificial sweeteners because I had pre-diabetes before the sleeve and I have to be careful with carbs. Also, I like sugar better than crap (read: artificial sweeteners) so it keeps my sweets-demon in check. It keeps me from consuming lots of empty calories.

All that being said, I'm aware that artificial sweeteners are "frankenfood" and potentially harmful. If you can use them responsibly, then go for it. I seem unable to use sugar responsibly :-(.