Hi all

My surgery is scheduled this Saturday and one of my key concerns is my inability to have any kind of artificial sweetener including Stevia - it gives me an instant horrendous headache.

I’ve managed my pre-op prep with Isagenix shakes which have no artificial sweetener. However all the post op advice focuses on sugar free items.

Anyone else have this issue? Advice?

TIA - Flikka x

I don't have this issue but maybe you could focus on savory items? Like bone broth? I know some people have their tastes change a lot after surgery and don't like the taste of sweets/artificial sweeteners so there are definitely savory options. It will be harder though because a lot of low-carb stuff is artificially sweetened. There are also unflavored protein powders - I've heard Genepro is good. I haven't had my surgery yet so I don't have too many suggestions.

What about plain greek yogurt with just berries in it (I like frozen blueberries because they're sweeter and cheaper than fresh berries and last longer).

Hint water is not sweetened and you could probably make some popsicles out of it instead of the sugar free kind.

PB2 - I think some kinds don't have sweetener in it.

OH... just saw you're in Australia. Not sure of the brands they have there. I was in Australia Feb 2020 and I ate a lot of junk food. Maybe you could google the brands I mentioned so you know what it is and then see you have there that's similar?

Thanks Lizonaplane - great suggestions!! The idea to make my own popsicles is an especially good one - I could probably flavour them with a little lemon juice.
Never be concerned about suggesting brands to us Aussies - online shopping makes most things available.

Thanks for the speedy reply! xo

I loved Australia btw, we had a wonderful time. Amazing wildlife and friendly, funny people. We were in Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns. I know it's a huge country, so we could only see a few places in two weeks. It's like people expecting to see all of the US in one vacation! We just barely made it home before COVID shut down the whole world two weeks later.

I hope you don't have to pay a million dollars for shipping on these things! I live in a good sized city so now that I've been vaccinated I don't mind going to the stores to buy things and it's so much cheaper than having things delivered.

Artificial sweeteners seem to be in everything these days. If it says no added sugar it will be sweetened with artificial sweetener. If it says low fat or low salt bet there’s sweetener in it for flavour. Sigh!

I’ve tried to get rid of as much sugar, sweeteners & sugar substitutes out of my diet as I can (my choice not an allergy like you) but it’s almost impossible. I make most of my own food now to avoid it where possible & I know exactly what I purchase which has it in (yoghurt, protein bar). If I want sweet I eat fruit or add a little honey like in my rolled oats.

I second @lizonaplane’s suggestion of bone broths & adding fruit to plain yoghurt (just make sure to blend it extremely well in the first couple of weeks or juice fruit & use that for flavour) or you can make your own soups. Once you are on purées, soft foods & solid foods, you will have more food options available to you but you may discover, like me, that you have to prepare most if not all you eat yourself. Honestly I haven’t found it that hard as I’ve always cooked so not a lot of change. Plus I have control over all the ingredients & how it’s prepared & cooked.

Good luck with your surgery on Saturday.

On 4/13/2021 at 11:56 AM, Flikka said:

Hi all

My surgery is scheduled this Saturday and one of my key concerns is my inability to have any kind of artificial sweetener including Stevia - it gives me an instant horrendous headache.

I’ve managed my pre-op prep with Isagenix shakes which have no artificial sweetener. However all the post op advice focuses on sugar free items.

Anyone else have this issue? Advice?

TIA - Flikka x

I wondered if there was anything else you found worked? I would love to know. I have the same issue with any and all kinds of artificial sweeteners.

My surgery is in Sep.

Thanks

I don’t feel well with artificial sweeteners either (digestive). My nutritionist suggested using juice (no sugar added) and some purées to experiment with making my own popsicles and jello (using unflavored gelatin).

She also suggest trying items that use Erythritol (sugar alcohol) to see if I tolerate those.

I haven’t gotten around to the Erythritol… but the juice popsicles I’ve made so far were good. I’m still working out the mix.

My first batch was 8oz of white grape peach juice (100% juice no sugar added) and 8 oz of water flavored with 1 tsp of SodaStream Peach Bubly drops (no calories no carbs) and freeze them in popsicles molds. I’m still tweaking the amount of bubly drops to get the strength of flavor I want. The first batch was ok, but I think I can improve it.

I’m also working with fruit purée and other flavors - but I figure once I get one flavor dialed in, the others will be easier to replicate.

My pre-op diet starts Aug 8th and my surgery is Aug 16th so I’m trying to experiment now, so hopefully I will have a few batches ready to go when I need them.

Best of luck!