I was wondering if anyone drinks carbonated drinks? I have always loved seltzer but afraid to try it now. The same for fried foods. Has anyone tried eating something fried. I am not speaking about eating them all the time but on a rare occasion having something fried. How did your body react to it?

two sips of carbonated beverage was enough for me....My body does not like fried food.

I do not drink carbonated drinks at ALL...I tried a sip awhile back and it HURT going down! And it didn't taste good. I do eat fried okra and friend squash every once in a while and I haven't had a problem with it!

I drink carbonated diet soda and have no problems whatsoever. I occasionally eat fried food and I have no problems either, but I rarely eat it b/c I have just lost my taste for anything greasy.

Thank you all for your replies and your honesty. I may try seltzer again, one or two sips to see how my body reacts to it.

Well, I did both yesterday! Made my yearly pilgrimage to the State Fair of Texas and had 1/2 of a Fletcher's corn dog, a few bites of fried cheese cake, a bite of a fried oreo and drank a beer for the first time since surgery. I spaced all of this out quite a bit and had no problems. It's nice to know that I can still splurge on the rare occasion and that it takes very little to satisfy the craving.

I was told to keep fat and sugar content under 10 grams per serving, which I try to follow. I was also told no more carbonated beverages. I enjoyed the beer yesterday, but will probably not drink it or any other carbonated drink anytime soon just because I've heard it can stretch the sleeve. Thank God for wine

I was wondering if anyone drinks carbonated drinks? I have always loved seltzer but afraid to try it now. The same for fried foods. Has anyone tried eating something fried. I am not speaking about eating them all the time but on a rare occasion having something fried. How did your body react to it?

I do not drink carbonated drinks, but since I reached goal, I will have something fried occasionally. It's so little and so seldom, I don't even really think about it. When my husband gets a burger and fries, I'll eat four or five french fries. He eats about double that and we throw the rest away!! I was with my sister in law a few months ago....with a couple of her friends we'd met for lunch. They got an order of fried pickles, something I'd never had previously....they're wonderful - I ate three! So, yes, since I got to where I want to be, I'm not nearly as rigid as during the losing stage. I was never a soft drink person, and my doctor stresses not having carbonation, so I don't. I did take a couple of sips a time or two, it did not bother me, but I didn't really like the way it tasted. (Coke Zero, and I liked it fine before) I count this as a plus!!

I usually drink a Diet Dr Pepper daily. I can only drink about half of one, so I usually buy the small cans. I don't have any problems at all. WIth friend foods, they tend to make me feel sick. I might eat a bite or two, but that is all my sleeve can tolerate.

I took a single drink of a water that I didn't know was carbonated. It felt like acid going down. I used to drink about 6 diet cokes a day. I do miss it but it's not worth it.

My stomach is picky so I haven't tried anything fried. I don't vomit but sometimes wish I could.

I had a sip of diet pepsi last week and it made me queesy.....I surely miss my diet dr peppers!

I inadvertently bought a sugar free fruit flavored water that was lightly carbonated, and that hurt going down - so I didn't drink but a few swallows. About 10 days ago, I tried rootbeer. I let it sit for 30 minutes before trying it, so most of the bubbles were gone. It didn't taste nearly as good as I remember (Boo Hoo / Yea too) I have had a little bit of fried food a couple of times - didn't bother me much, but I definately took the prilosec in the evening afterwards.

What's the upside to going back to having carbonated beverages? I know it's acedotal, but of the people that i have spoken with that had significant regains, the first thing they talk about doing when they "went off the wagon" was starting to drink soda again. I have read so many reports about the determental effects of carbonated drinks, even those that are sugar free, It also makes perfect sense to me that there is the potential for sleeve expansion with the increased gas which will be in the stomach. Additionally be very carefull if carbonated beverages and soda where something you drank alot of in the past. Testing the waters with it now may very well lead to a place you don't want to be. Don't make it a trigger food.

I drink a little Diet Coke most days because I really really like it. My restriction is still very tight. I don't think it makes sense that carbonation would effect restriction or stomach size-the "pressure" of the bubbles would escape up or down before it would stretch the stomach. I worry more about stretching with dense protein because it makes me feel so so so full. I also eat bites of fried food but its not really my thing.

Worth reading. Portion significant to this conversation are in bold.

"Why Carbonated beverages are "TABOO" after Bariatric Surgery"

By: Cynthia Buffington, Ph.D

Did you drink carbonated soft drinks prior to your Bariatric surgery? Do you still consume carbonated soft drinks? Were you advised by your surgeon or his/her nutritional staff NOT to drink carbonated drinks after surgery? Do you understand why drinking carbonated beverages, even if sugar-free, could jeopardize your weight loss success and, perhaps even your health?

A carbonated beverage is an effervescent drink that releases carbon dioxide under conditions of normal atmospheric pressure. Carbonated drinks include most soft drinks, champagne, beer, and seltzer Water. If you consume a soft drink or other carbonated beverage while eating, the carbonation forces food through he stomach pouch, reducing the time food remains in the pouch. The less time food remains in your stomach pouch, the less satiety (feelings of fullness) you experience, enabling you to eat more with increased risk for weight gain.

The gas released from a carbonated beverage might "stretch" your stomach pouch. Food forced through the pouch by the carbonation could also significantly enlarge the size of your stoma (the opening between the stomach pouch and intestines of patients who have had a gastric bypass or biliopancreatic diversion). An enlarged pouch or stoma would allow you to eat larger amounts of food at any one setting. In this way, consuming carbonated beverages, even if the drinks are diet or calorie free, may cause weight gain or interfere with maximal weight loss success.

Soft drinks may also cause weight gain by reducing the absorption of dietary Calcium. Dietary calcium helps to stimulate fat breakdown and reduce its uptake into adipose tissue. Epidemiological and clinical studies have found a close association between obesity and low dietary calcium intake. Recent studies have found that maintaining sufficient amounts of dietary calcium helps to induce weight loss or prevent weight gain following diet.

The high caffeine in carbonated sodas is one way that drinking carbonated soft drinks may reduce the absorption of calcium into the body. Studies have found that caffeine increases urinary calcium content, meaning that high caffeine may interfere with the uptake of dietary calcium into the body. Keep in mind that one 12 oz. can of Mountain Dew has 50 mg of caffeine, and Pepsi and Coke (diet or those with sugar) contain 37 mg of caffeine each.

Colas, such as Pepsi and Coke (diet or with sugar), may also cause calcium deficiencies from the high amounts of phosphoric acid that they contain. Phosphate binds to calcium and the bound calcium cannot be absorbed into the body. Both animal and human studies have found that phosphoric acid is associated with altered calcium homeostasis and low calcium.

Drinking carbonated beverages may also reduce dietary calcium because these beverages replace milk and other nutrient-containing drinks or foods in the diet. Several studies report inverse (negative) relationships between carbonated beverage usage and the amount of milk (particularly children) consume.

Carbonated beverages, then, may reduce dietary calcium because of their high caffeine or phosphoric acid content or because drinking such beverages tends to reduce the consumption of calcium-containing foods and beverages. Such deficiencies in dietary calcium intake may be even more pronounced in Bariatric surgical patients.

Calcium deficiencies with Bariatric surgery have been reported following gastric restrictive and/or malabsorptive procedures. The reduced amounts of calcium with bariatric surgery may occur as a result of low nutrient intake, low levels of Vitamin D, or, for patients who have had gastric bypass pr the biliopancreatic diversion (with or without the duodenal switch), from bypass of the portion of the gut where active absorption of calcium normally occurs. Drinking carbonated beverages may further increase the risk for dietary calcium deficiencies and, in this way, hinder maximal weight loss success.

For all the reasons described above, including calcium deficits, reduced satiety, enlargement of pouch or stoma, drinking carbonated beverages, even those that are sugar-free, could lead to weight gain. Carbonated beverages that contain sugar, however, pose a substantially greater threat to the Bariatric patient in terms of weight loss and weight loss maintenance with surgery.

Sugar-containing soft drinks have a relatively high glycemic index, meaning that blood sugar levels readily increase with their consumption. The rapid rise in blood sugar, in turn, increases the production of the hormone, insulin. , that acts to drive sugar into tissues where it is metabolized or processed for storage. High insulin levels, however, also contribute to fat accumulation, driving fat into the fat storage depots and inhibiting the breakdown of fat.

Soft drinks with sugar are also high in calories. An average 12 oz. soft drink contains 10 teaspoons of refined sugar (40g). The typical 12-oz. can of soda contains 150 calories (Coke = 140 calories; Pepsi = 150; Dr. Pepper = 160; orange soda = 180; 7-up = 140; etc.). Soft drinks are the fifth largest source of calories for adults, accounting for 5.6% of all calories that Americans consume. Among adolescents, soft drinks provide 8%- to 9% of calories. An extra 150 calories per day from a soft drink over the course of a year, is equivalent to nearly 16 pounds and that weight gain multiplied by a few years could equate to “morbid obesity”.

In addition to the adverse effects that carbonated drinks have on weight loss or weight loss maintenance, carbonated beverages may also have adverse effects on health. Soda beverages and other carbonated drinks are acidic with a pH of 3.0 or less. Drinking these acidic beverages on an empty stomach in the absence of food, as Bariatric patients are required to do, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of the gastric pouch and intestines and increase the risk for ulcers or even the risk for gastrointestinal adenomas (cancer).

Soft drink usage has also been found to be associated with various other health problems. These include an increased risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney stones, bone fractures and reduced bone density, allergies, cancer, acid-peptic disease, dental carries, gingivitis, and more. Soft drinks may, in addition, increase the risk for oxidative stress. This condition is believed to contribute significantly to aging and to diseases associated with aging and obesity, i.e. diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, reduced immune function, hypertension, and more.

From the above discussion, do you now have a little better understanding of why your Bariatric surgeon or Bariatric nutritionist advised you NOT to consume carbonated sodas after surgery? Your Bariatric surgeon and his/her staff want to see you achieve the best results possible from your surgery – both in terms of weight loss and health status – and so do YOU. Consider the consequences of drinking such beverages now that you understand more clearly why such drinks are “Bariatric taboo”.

i do not drink any pop because it just looks unappetizing and i know its not good for my sleevie. i know lots of people do, though.

FWIW We don't have a pouch, nor do we have a stoma. We have a fully functioning teeny tiny stomach. So the article above regarding stretching of the pouch and stoma would not apply to us.

And honestly the bubbles would not at all have the strength to stretch anything...we'd burp before that happened.