I had emergency gallbladder surgery about a month ago.

I found out I had a BMI of over 50, & a fatty liver. My gallbladder surgeon highly recommends gastric sleeve surgery. He does bariatric surgeries as well as general. Yay me...

I have begun my journey; I had my 1st dietitian appointment, done my upper GI scope, have a cardiologist appointment this week & a follow up to the upper GI this week. I am waiting to find out about the sleep study and have 2-3 more appointments with the dietitian before surgery...

Was wondering what the best pre & post Op protein shakes are best as well as liquid & chewable vitamins are recommended.....

re: shakes, everyone's tastes are so different that you're bound to get 100 different answers here. If you can find individual packets online or in specialty stores (like Vitamin Shoppe), I'd pick up some of those - that way you're not stuck with some $30+ tub of protein powder that you hate.

here are the vitamin recommendations from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. You might have to scroll down a ways to see them - and be sure to check the recommendations for your particular surgery (although some clinics have both sleevers and bypassers on the same vitamin regimen). For pharmacy or grocery store vitamins, you usually need to take two multivitamins a day to meet requirements. There are some bariatric-specific multivitamins out there where you only have to take one per day - but either will work as long as it meets the requirements (I take Centrum or the generic equivalent):

https://asmbs.org/app/uploads/2017/06/ASMBS-Nutritional-Guidelines-2016-Update.pdf

Your team may give you a list of shakes they prefer, but generally I think 5grams of sugar or less and 200 cals or less per shake. This criteria seemed to be the common thread in all of the shakes recommended to me by my team. Protein isolates appears to have better bioavailability than concentrates. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong)

Besides that it will depend on your personal preference for flavor and tolerance. They range from shakes, and shots to waters and soups. So there really is somethings for everyone. Testing a few at a time instead of buying a huge supply can definitely help until you find your go to brand/type. This site’s store has a ton of options.

Vitamins (Bariatric) are also preference based but I personally favor one a day types.

Edited April 26, 20215 yr by GreenTealael

3 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

Protein isolates appears to have better bioavailability than concentrates. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong)

you're correct. We were told to stick to whey protein isolate early out because it's more easily absorbed. Once we were a few months out, we were allowed to do concentrates or blends if we wanted to - or give up shakes altogether - as long as we were getting most/all of our protein from food (which at that point most people ARE getting most/all of their protein from food)

you're correct. We were told to stick to whey Protein isolate early out because it's more easily absorbed. Once we were a few months out, we were allowed to do concentrates or blends if we wanted to - or give up shakes altogether - as long as we were getting most/all of our protein from food (which at that point most people ARE getting most/all of their protein from food)

Thank You. Any information I can get to prepare is always appreciated. I used to be on the Herbalife shakes etc but it got way to expensive. And it didn't help as much as I had hoped.

Your team may give you a list of shakes they prefer, but generally I think 5grams of sugar or less and 200 cals or less per shake. This criteria seemed to be the common thread in all of the shakes recommended to me by my team. Protein isolates appears to have better bioavailability than concentrates. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong)
Besides that it will depend on your personal preference for flavor and tolerance. They range from shakes, and shots to waters and soups. So there really is somethings for everyone. Testing a few at a time instead of buying a huge supply can definitely help until you find your go to brand/type. This site’s store has a ton of options.
Vitamins (Bariatric) are also preference based but I personally favor one a day types.

Thank You. Any information I can get to prepare is always appreciated.

Well, on week 2 of liquid pre-op diet & doing great. I am using the Body Fortress super advanced protein mix. Working great.