Changes in food preference after surgery?

[erica1030 7]

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I am having the sleeve surgery on September 20th and I am really curious about how much your tastes really change, if at all like I’ve been told. Did anybody have any changes or like things now that they didn’t before or vise versa?

[Lbtnew 89]

I have no desire to eat anything fried, other than that no real adversity towards anything I enjoy before

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[BostonRiley 2]

Welcome to the boards!

I had bypass surgery on 2/19/21, so I'm about 6 weeks out. Since surgery I no longer like Jello (in any flavor), bananas, any type of turkey Breakfast sausage, hard boiled eggs or plain Water. The taste of any of them make me want to throw up. I am now starting not to like applesauce either. After surgery I looked forward to my spoonful of applesauce to take my acid reflux meds with. It's now tasting very acidic but I'm still using it until my body says no more. I haven't come across anything that I didn't like that I now like.

[catwoman7 10,981]

I'm a bypass patient also. My tastes didn't change as much as they became more intense. Sweet things tasted sweeter; spicy things tasted spicier. To the point I couldn't eat some of them for quite awhile. I don't really notice it any more, though - it was mostly the first few weeks or months. Not sure if they went back to the way they were before, or if I just got used to it.

[BigSue 1,325]

I initially didn’t think my tastes had changed at all, and I was disappointed. food still tastes the same as it did before surgery. The only exception is that I used to be a wimp when it came to spicy food, and now I crave spicy food — I use a ton of hot sauce and crushed red pepper. I don’t think I taste spiciness as strongly anymore. I also like a lot of onions and garlic in my food now (I’ve always liked garlic, but didn’t used to be a huge fan of onions).

But I’ve started noticing that the foods I want to eat are different than they used to be. I’m not sure if it’s a change in taste, or if I’m just getting used to eating healthier foods, or if it’s just because I’ve discovered a lot of good, healthy recipes since my surgery, or what, but I definitely have more of a desire to eat vegetables now. I love roasting vegetables in my air fryer, just sprayed with some olive oil or avocado oil and sprinkled with seasonings.

I used to hate cauliflower, but now I eat it all the time. I wonder what the Walmart grocery pickup people thought about the lady who bought 3 bags of frozen cauliflower, 1 bag of fresh cauliflower florets, and 3 bags of frozen cauliflower rice in one order. Cauliflower rice is one of my favorite “food hacks.” I don’t miss regular rice at all because cauliflower rice is a perfect substitution. I found a recipe for cauliflower cream sauce and it was delicious; I used it in a chicken divan recipe, and it was so good that I’m looking for other recipes where I can substitute the cauliflower sauce for white sauce. I also like Buffalo cauliflower now.

I’ve always hated fish, but I decided to give it another try. I made some mahi-mahi and actually liked it! I couldn’t believe it. Again, I’m not sure if it’s because my tastes changed or because I have more of an open mind about eating fish. (I will say that I also tried one of those flavored tuna pouches and still did not care for it.)

I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at healthy recipes. I have a whole board full of healthy recipes that I can’t wait to try. Since I have all these healthy foods that I actually want to eat, I have less of a desire to eat junk food. I do eat some healthy-ish treats, like a daily Protein Bar (I’m obsessed with Built Bars), sugar-free meringue Cookies, sugar-free Jello, and Protein mug cakes, but I don’t really have a desire to go and eat fast food or a bag of chips or anything... except when I see other people eating that stuff, and then it’s tough because it makes me remember how much I used to love it.

[Arabesque 6,683]

My taste buds changed after surgery. Lots of things I used to enjoy tasted disgusting. I used to love vegetables but all I could tolerate for months was cabbage & cauliflower. Some people say their sense of smell went into overdrive too & the smell of some foods turned their stomachs. But it does go back to as it was in a couple of months.

Because I cut out a lot of sugar, artificial sweeteners, etc. out of my diet, I lost my desire for it. Foods that were sweet became excessively sweet & inedible. A very good thing for me.

Best thing that happened for me was that I was lactose sensitive (milk bad, yoghurt & ice cream risky, cheese ok) prior to surgery thanks to a lovely little parasite that had lived in my lower tummy for decades. Post surgery, I have no issues with lactose. The surgery did what multiple high dose antibiotics couldn’t - got rid of the parasite. It was cut out. Yay!!

It’s a perfect time to break old eating habits & try new foods & recipes. Don’t give up on something if you can’t tolerate it the first time. Give it another try in a couple of weeks. Our tummies can be pretty picky for a while.

[Tim C 335]

3 hours ago, erica1030 said:

Hi everyone! This is my first post, I am having the sleeve surgery on September 20th and I am really curious about how much your tastes really change, if at all like I’ve been told. Did anybody have any changes or like things now that they didn’t before or vise versa?

I did like battered and fried anything. I am sure it would taste good but have no desire to eat that type thing anymore

[erica1030 7]

Thanks everyone! Really crazy how so much happens as a result of surgery