Went to Walmart to try to get some stuff..

Surgery in 3 weeks.

Go to the Protein section, its all basically written in Chinese to me.

whey Protein powder, soy protein powder, pure protein, lean protein, protein plus.

Huh?

Go to the Vitamin section, so much stuff.. try to look at it all and its too much.

Trying to put together my shopping list of food and other stuff needed.. so hard.

My surgeon provided a shopping list of the exact products, protein and vitimans he wanted me to purchase prior to surgery. Did your surgeon just generalize what he wanted you to get?? maybe ask for more specific brands etc. My surgeon wanted me on Isopure protein so that is what I got, the vitimans are multiple chewable, b-12, biotin, calcium citrate, iron. Ask your doctor of nutritionist for help... that is what they are there for.

Don't get overwhelmed. Go to Bariatricchoice.com and buy their brands for vitamins et al. Buy protein shakes from Pure Protein at Costco. You'll be fine.

I also have a specific list of brands of protein and vitamins I will need to take. Ask if you are not sure!!!

I have my book that all the patients get but it still lists so many brands and types that you can get..

Naturade NRG Protein Booster

Met RX Extreme chocolate

Met RX Protein Plus

PRO Blend 55

VitaminWorld pure soy protein Isolate Powder

and this is just a few of like 20!

I mean, does it matter which one? Is it just a preference?

I got my list of Vitamins down I think.

One a Day Multi -chewable Starting the 3rd week.

b12 and calcium starting at 8 weeks.

Just really stuck on all this Protein powder. So confusing.

It doesn't really matter what brand you get. It will probably be a matter of what you can tolerate tastewise.

"Go to the Protein section, its all basically written in Chinese to me.

Whey protein powder, soy protein powder, pure protein, lean protein, protein plus.

Huh?"

Maybe the following will help you getting through the protein jungle:

Whey was once considered a waste product from the process used for making cheese. It is a highly digestible, complete protein made from cow's milk. Whey concentrate is about 80% protein with relatively low levels of fat, carbohydrates, and cholesterol (but still higher than whey isolate). So whey concentrate not only has a high percentage of protein but also provides healthy fats that boost the immune system. But if you're lactose intolerant, whey isolate may be easier to digest.

Whey isolate goes through an additional micro filtering process that is not used in producing whey concentrate. As a result, whey isolate is about 90% protein. Micro filtering removes the lactose and fat but also destroys many of the immune system boosting properties of whey. Whey isolate can also be significantly more expensive than concentrate because of the additional processing required.

The digestibility of various Proteins is published in the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). The PDCAAS has been adopted by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization. Proteins are ranked on a scale of 0 (least digestible) to 1 (most digestible). Whey, Soy, Milk, and Casein proteins all have a PDCAAS score of 1.0.

The bottom line is that with whey isolate you get more protein per gram (but not necessarily any better) and it may be better handled by those who are lactose intolerant. With whey concentrate you get slightly less protein per gram but added benefits from the higher fat content. As several folks have noted, the first test that any protein you're going to drink or eat has to pass is - taste. If you are not lactose intolerant and you find a protein that you like, the difference in protein content for whey isolate vs. whey concentrate vs. milk concentrate should likely be a minor consideration.

One word of caution - stay away from the protein "bullets" and "shots" that you will see in stores and read about online. If you look closely at their ingredient list, you will see that they are made with collagen protein. These products are attractive to bypass patients because they contain very large amounts of protein in very small volumes - usually 3 to 4 ounces. The problem is that collagen protein is an incomplete protein (meaning that it is missing one or more of the nine essential amino acids that your body requires and cannot manufacture) and more importantly, collagen has a PDCAAS digestibility score of 0.08. All the protein in the world is useless if your body cannot digest it.

Thanks for the protein lesson. I soooo needed that. Love these boards. Full of knowledge and helpful tips and info.

Thanks for the Protein lesson. I soooo needed that. Love these boards. Full of knowledge and helpful tips and info.

Chatsmom you want to be my buddy since we have surgery the same day