Hey everyone! I am scheduled to have my surgery on June 6th and I was wondering once I am able to eat solid foods again if it is supposed to mirror the ketogenic diet?

Some surgeons do suggest a diet similar to ketogenic diet. Not all do. Some favor more balanced diets. What your diet looks like will depend on your weight, your input, your nutritionist and your doctor.

Pretty much every post bariatric surgery diet includes 60+ grams of protein.

Some diets allow a lot of carbs, others don't. I have noticed that the diets that do allow carbs favor complex low glycemic index carbs. Simple carbs like sugar and processed carbs get cut pretty universally.

As Creek noted, official diets are all over the map, but most have the common element of a certain protein minimum (typically 60 or more, depending upon the patient's need - smaller women need less, taller men need more,) and minimizing sugars or otherwise simple carbohydrates. Relatively few programs promote a keto type diet - those are typically adopted by patients on their own - and there is little general need for such diets but if one is into them, it won't do much harm (at least in the short term.)

typical keto is low carb and low protein with high fat and that is more outside the most common WLS diet.

If you looked up a low carb diet it would match up better with most of the plans given by the different surgeons.

It mostly about cutting out the sugar and refined carbs. These tend to be the trigger foods for most of us.

Most obese people have damaged metabolisms and sugars and highly refined and process foods play to most damaged parts of our hormonal system.

Don't fear the fat but to much of anything can work against you.

always remember there are essential amino acids from protein and essential fatty acids from fat that you can not survive without But there is no essential Carb. They just make you feel like you cant live without them and that is the very sign that you need fewer of them.

good luck

Thanks everyone! I guess I need to have a seat somewhere and stop getting ahead of myself. But solid food sounds soooo good right now!

There are a few bariatric keto plans out there..... What I've been told is for keto do High protein 60 -80g or whatever your doc recommends. Moderate healthy fats and low carb and lower calories. Just search for bariatric keto truth and groups like that on facebook

Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Short answer: It's pretty much completely up to you.

Long answer: "Keto" means almost nothing in the bariatric community anymore, I feel... in my pre-op phase I would tell my RD about my diet which at that time included things like oatmeal with berries for breakfast, tuna on whole grain bread for lunch, banana and string cheese snack, burrito bowl with rice or chicken with rice for supper, etc. Definitely protein-focused but not really low-carb and certainly not keto. She would nod and smile and encourage me and then my notes would say "Pt is following keto diet and will continue to do so." What????? LOL! Edit: I found the exact quote I was thinking of: "Commended pt on her weight loss, meal planning, and will continue to follow ketogenic diet." Yeah all that bread, oatmeal, and rice is really keto!

A keto diet to me has a very narrow definition of restricting carbohydrate intake to fewer than 20-50g per day with an emphasis on high fat intake - 70% or more of the diet coming from fat. Most bariatric plans recommend moderate- or low-fat (20-35% of the diet) so to me they are inherently not keto regardless of the carbs. But the word is used generally in our community to mean low-carb, high-protein.

High-fiber, complex carbohydrates - and fruit - are good for you. Period. They are healthy foods that support your cardiovascular health and protect you against cancer. Plenty of bariatric patients cut them out entirely in the interest of low-carb living so that's certainly an option and in that sense your diet can mirror a keto diet. Personally I'm not willing to give up the health benefits of carbs, so the "keto" guideline of 20-50g per day is not something I follow.

Edited June 10, 20188 yr by Little Green

Do what you know you can stick to. All diets work, but is it sustainable for you personally to stick to it long term? Keto is similiar to most bariatric plans just a heavy emphasis on fats so adding in fats. But i will say lately i’ve seen lots of keto people on instagram go on “carb feasts” for a few days and then go back to keto again to lose it which to me doesn’t make sense. It’s continuing the yoyo diet. Find whatever balance works for you as long as you’re getting the necessary amounts of protein per day.