Is pasta really taboo?

[LAJ23 70]

Aside from unnecessary/unwanted carbs, is Pasta actually bad for you? As in, will it tear up your sleeve or make you sick? I’ve literally had probably less than 50 carbs in the last 3 weeks (surgery was 8/19) and I’ve had issues eating & drinking period. Can minimal carbs really be that terrible? The only response I’ve gotten from my dietician is that “pasta should be avoided”, but she refused to be specific as to why.

[Sammi_Katt 303]

I am eight months out, and probably eat a little more carbs than my surgeon wants, but it's mostly fibrous. I found chickpea Pasta is a good substitute for actual pasta, or zucchini noodles.

I know carbs can cause blood sugar crashes, but they're talking more the non-fiber-y carbs, which pasta is included in.

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,898]

Pasta is a high calorie, practically nutritionally devoid food that will fill your sleeve in place of better nutrient rich foods like zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, avocado (fiber, potassium and healthy fats), and even potatoes (good source of potassium and Vitamin c) though they aren’t great. That’s probably the main reason why were told to stay away. Which, to be honest, doesn’t bother me much because I’ve never liked pasta.

[tarotcardreader 196]

Was straight up told carbs slow the weightloss and the reason we are doing this is to lose weight. Pasta is a carb

[trishmarie123 0]

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EDIT: must be rinsed WELL before cooking (RINSED RINSED & RINSED MORE)

Edited September 12, 2020 by trishmarie123

[catwoman7 10,922]

it won't hurt you, but as others have said, it's not very nutritious, and you have a tiny stomach - so you need to be eating nutritionally dense food. Also, for some people, it causes blood sugar spikes and cravings. I never ate it when I was in weight loss phase. I do eat it occasionally in maintenance, but not very much of it at one sitting and not very often.

[Recidivist 1,141]

39 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

it won't hurt you, but as others have said, it's not very nutritious, and you have a tiny stomach - so you need to be eating nutritionally dense food. Also, for some people, it causes blood sugar spikes and cravings. I never ate it when I was in weight loss phase. I do eat it occasionally in maintenance, but not very much of it at one sitting and not very often.

As usual, Catwoman is right on point. I also never ate it during weight loss, because my capacity was so limited. I was barely able to get enough Protein per day, much less empty calories like Pasta.

In maintenance, nothing is strictly "taboo" if you can tolerate it (and I've found that I can tolerate almost anything). However, you still need to limit carbs, fats and sugar while prioritizing protein. It's all a matter of balance and priorities.

[LAJ23 70]

Thanks, everyone. I'm not planning on making a huge bowl of spaghetti for dinner! The reason I asked is because my husband made a cheese lasagna the other night and it was literally the only thing that has seemed palatable to me in over a week. I had a UGI x-ray yesterday morning and it was all clear. For the past week or so, any time I eat, I just can't stand the taste (no matter what it is), and when I try to force myself to eat or drink, have almost instant stomach pain and feel full. I've felt very over-full, even though I go days without eating anything. I was asking about the Pasta because I thought I would try one or two bites, but I was afraid I'd be in agony. At this point (just for a day or so), I'm not concerned about carbs or calories. I need to get SOMETHING in my body. The radiologist who did my UGI x-ray - although not a bariatric doctor, he works with bariatric patients frequently - agreed (my bariatric doctor only sent me a note saying my results were fine, with no other advice about what could be wrong or what I could do to try to eat). I'm also deep in ketosis and am concerned I might actually have ketoacidosis, based on the symptoms I've read. I'm going to ask my doctor about this as well as I have every single symptom for it.
No worries for future consumption of "real" pasta...I don't plan on indulging frequently or having much of it.

[BigSue 1,322]

I was told to avoid Pasta, bread, and tortillas for at least the first year because they can form a lump of food in the stomach that is painful to digest. I don't know if that's true or just a scare tactic to keep us away from "bad" foods, but I think someone like you who is already having problems with liquids and purees should definitely be cautious and avoid these foods.

How about eating the lasagna without the noodles? You can probably pull the noodles out. Ricotta bake is basically lasagna filling, so you can try that. I added some turkey meat sauce to it once I started eating meat, which makes it meat lasagna sans noodles (but I would suggest starting without meat). If your goal is just to get carbs, maybe try diluted apple juice; this is what I was told to do in the liquid stage. Ensure High Protein Shakes also have relatively high carbs, and that's what they gave me in the hospital. You could also try unsweetened applesauce.

[catwoman7 10,922]

2 minutes ago, BigSue said:

I was told to avoid Pasta, bread, and tortillas for at least the first year because they can form a lump of food in the stomach that is painful to digest. I don't know if that's true or just a scare tactic to keep us away from "bad" foods, but I think someone like you who is already having problems with liquids and purees should definitely be cautious and avoid these foods.

Pasta still kind of sits like a lump in my stomach at five years out - that's why I don't eat much of it when I *do* eat it, which is not very often. My family often has lasagna at Christmas - so in the past I've made a zucchini one for myself and the other dieters in the family (using zucchini slices instead of pasta, that is). Honestly, I can't really tell the difference because all the flavor in lasagna is in the sauce...

[LAJ23 70]

21 minutes ago, BigSue said:

I was told to avoid Pasta, bread, and tortillas for at least the first year because they can form a lump of food in the stomach that is painful to digest. I don't know if that's true or just a scare tactic to keep us away from "bad" foods, but I think someone like you who is already having problems with liquids and purees should definitely be cautious and avoid these foods.

How about eating the lasagna without the noodles? You can probably pull the noodles out. Ricotta bake is basically lasagna filling, so you can try that. I added some turkey meat sauce to it once I started eating meat, which makes it meat lasagna sans noodles (but I would suggest starting without meat). If your goal is just to get carbs, maybe try diluted apple juice; this is what I was told to do in the liquid stage. Ensure High Protein Shakes also have relatively high carbs, and that's what they gave me in the hospital. You could also try unsweetened applesauce.

Thank you. It's not my "goal" to get carbs, I just need to get some kind of food in me one way or another and absolutely nothing is appealing or tastes good. Pasta smelled great the other night when he made it, so I was going to try a small bite and see what happens, but I didn't want to risk being in excruciating pain or causing damage to my sleeve. I was able to eat about a teaspoon of garlic hummus last night - that was dinner. 😞

[RichelleGetsFit0309 51]

I had my surgery the same day as you and I’m currently in the soft foods stage. The paperwork says to hold off on breads, rice, Pasta and grains. Then once I reach the General diet stage I can eventually add whole wheat pasta once in a while. I do hope you find a resolution to your eating issues soon.

[summerset 5,261]

37 minutes ago, BigSue said:

I don't know if that's true or just a scare tactic to keep us away from "bad" foods,

Since patients are happily downing meats and cheeses once they have healed without anyone warning them about "damaging their sleeves" or "having lumps formed in their stomachs" I'd go for the scare tactics.

New foods need to be introduced with caution, that I definitely agree on - but there is no reason to believe that patients automatically will have problems with Pasta or bread.

In the end all of this "diet advice" has to be seen in context and taken with a grain of salt: carbohydrates are the "bad guys" nowadays, at least in the US and more and more also in Europe. Years ago the bad guy was "fat" and people were advised to cut out fat, including WLS patients.

However, seems like neither eating low-fat nor low-carb nor Keto has solved the obesity problem so far so cutting down on certain macronutrients obviously doesn't the trick. In the end it's always CICO.

[drawingdami 34]

I am having a similar problem as yourself. Eleven days out, nothing is appealing to me, and I am struggling to eat. I did the two teaspoons of hummus dinner too the other day and thought, I can't live like this! I am on purees and honestly, I don't know how babies do it!

food has no evil intent. It's just food. It is what our relationship to it and how our bodies react to it that matters. So I think there is no "good" or "bad" foods. I think it is important to keep in mind that the rules of eating in the initial stages are averages from studying hundreds of patients. None of it is usually tailored to your specific physiology, so you have to try things and see how you react. The only hard and fast rule is GO SLOW. You want to try your husband's lasagna, try a tiny amount and wait to see how it sits with you. If you can tolerate it, cool! If not, well, it isn't on the menu just yet for you and it may never be.

There is an inherent level of risk in going through this process, so you have to make the decision what level of risk you are comfortable with when reintroducing food. Some things you try will make you ill, so mentally prepare for that but don't beat yourself up over it. We are all relearning.

[STLoser 1,086]

The ricotta bake really saved me at the pureed stage. My husband even ate it and loved it!

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