Hi everyone! I'm going thru the process to get GBS so I'm wondering I've been following a lady who has had gastric bypass and after she was released to eat regular foods she is eating a keto diet which is high in fat high in protein low in cards... which I think is another term for Atkins diet?? But won't all the high fats upset your pouch and put you through dumping? Any thoughts?

After RNY gastric bypass surgery, the part of your stomach that normally processes fats and sugars has been cut away and therefore if you consume these, they may lead to dumping. But after about a year, your body changes. The intestines figure out that the stomach is no longer processing these so they adjust and begin processing fats and sugars. At that point after about a year, it is possible to eat fats and sugars.

After gastric bypass, I completely lost my hunger. So it was not difficult for me to drop the pounds after surgery because I was no longer hungry. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. This lack of hunger does not last forever. It comes back after about a year but it is not as strong as pre-surgery. Not everyone experiences this phenomena but most do. This effect is not noticeable until one transitions from the full liquid stage and puree stage and advances into the solid food stage. So weight loss after surgery is very different than dieting.

Weight loss is achieved after surgery through meal volume control. You begin at 2 ounces (1/4 cup) per meal and gradually over the next year and a half increase the volume to 1 cup per meal. With this minuscule amount of food, it is next to impossible to meet your protein daily requirements by food alone, so therefore you need to rely on supplements such as protein shakes.

Without sufficient protein, your body will scavenge protein from other areas of your body, such as your muscles. Protein is extremely important after surgery as its job in the body is to build and maintain tissues including your body's major organs and skeletal muscles. Protein deficiency, when continued over a long period of time can cause a disease known as protein caloric malnutrition. Common symptoms are poor healing, fatigue, hair loss and muscle wasting. Immediate post op, protein promotes healing of the staple line and incisions.

After around the first year after gastric bypass surgery, the weight has been lost and one transitions quite naturally from the weight loss phase into the maintenance phase. At this point hunger returns and the process of maintaining is similar to dieting. The goal here is to maintain the weight loss not necessarily to lose any more weight. Since hunger has returned, it is very important to control the hunger. Fats help to take away hunger. And at this stage, your body can consume fats. So it is important at this stage to begin to include fats back into your diet. So after about a year or two post-op, my nutritionist recommends that meals contain an equal amount of protein, fat and carbs, but always put protein first.