I don't understand the sudden necessity of protein post surgery. I honestly am not a huge protein eater and doubt I ever consumed more than 30 grams of protein a day prior to surgery. Now I am really struggling to get enough. What is up with protein?

Protein is simple, it makes us feel full...so does overloading on carbs but once the carbs pass thru our bellies were hungry again. Since protein provides us so much nutritionally, brain and organ functions etc, we feel fuller longer.

the whole trick here is to feel fuller, longer...lean protein does that the best, because while it fills you the same as a deep fried patty, it does it's job WITHOUT the fat and calories.

I'm talking on a very basic level here, but I hope that helps you. I was a vegetarian until a few months ago, so i too had a VERY hard time coming to terms with eating all this protein and I understand. good luck!

I'm not convinced that feeling fuller longer means its healthy to eat more Protein than you need though. I generally feel fuller longer an eat less becuase I feel sick from all the rich food in my system, it makes me nauseous and gassy.

Getting enough protein is important, its how much is enough that's the question. There's lots of good evidence that a *slightly* higher proportion of protein in our diets is good for weight loss and not detrimental to other areas of health. But I dont understand why it suddenly becomes the wondernutrient after surgery either.

It simply isnt approached that way here, and people in Australia arent all failing with their bands or ending up with no muscle either. By all evidence, the band works just as well on a carb based diet as it does a protein one. But that needs to be GOOD carbs, not supermarket bread and frosties!

Protein is like all other nutrients, its broken down in the body into forms that the body can use. Its not magic.

I feel it's another one of those things that are sworn by for some and others could care less. You could ask the question in the carb counter banders forum and they would praise it til the end and I know why, because they've dropped quick or were pyhsically addicted to carbs and had to learn to love protein, whatever reason it is - I just know I don't know quite where I stand yet because my breathe smells awful from ketosis from not eating carbs and don't think I could do that forever!

We probably all need to come to some form of moderation in the end.

The fact is both high Protein and high carb have been done and neither worked because at the end of the day, people arent compliant with either - they eat too much junk food and dont do any exercise.

Basically, if you cut out the junk and empty calories, the sugar, and excess fat and you move more, you will lose weight.

After that, its just down to what you believe is healthier and what makes YOU feel best. There's certainly plenty of people with bodies that do not handle carbs well and who lose better and feel much better on higher protein diets.

Others of us run better on carbs. We're all different. Personally I find protein foods heavy and need to eat them in moderation, whereas carbs and fibre fill me up and make my band work like it should - stay full for a longer time etc AND I have noticeably more pleasant runs where my energy lasts until the end.

I just think people should find what works for them and not believe it all hook line and sinker because there's loads of outrageous claims and very little true scientific evidence on any ONE perfect way to nourish the human body. And even doctors and nutritionists get in on the fads.

There is also the losing hair issue to with not enough Protein in your diet. Apparently because we generally eat smaller meals now that we are banded and we don't necessarily get enought protein we have the risk of thinning hair.

Biotin has been a great help to me. I was losing hair like crazy until I started taking Biotin. The doc says I was not getting enough protein. They said there was nothing for me to do but eat more protein. They never mentioned Biotin. I heard about it on LBT and it has worked for me. I sound like an infomercial!!

Thanks for the replies. What I don't get is why I would be at a sudden risk of protein deficiency i.e. losing my hair - when I never have lost my hair on a much smaller quantity of protein pre-surgery...I just am not big on protein drinks or meat.

I was the same as you, pre-op most days I would get around 30 grams of protein, but now I aim for 60 grams as a minimum. After reading all the posts I think i'll chill out about being fixated on protein and start having cereal for breakfast and increase my vegies.

Thanks for the replies. What I don't get is why I would be at a sudden risk of Protein deficiency i.e. losing my hair - when I never have lost my hair on a much smaller quantity of protein pre-surgery...I just am not big on protein drinks or meat.

Simple answer is you probably wont. In fact, when you consider what a lot of obese people eat - mountains of nutrionally worthless empty calories, their diets can actually IMPROVE although they're eating 1/4 the amount.

As for the hair thing, well there's enough people on here suffering hair loss while drinking Protein shakes for all they're worth to prove that protein is not the definitive answer to hair loss. There's also zinc, Biotin, Iron issues etc.

Balanced diet, moderation in all things, its really the only way to ensure you get a bit of everything and dont miss out on any nutrients entirely. Red meat for example is a great source of iron and zinc that protein shakes simply arent - and even when they're added, there's simply no way supplements can match the synergy between nutrients in their natural form, you cant supplement the phytonutrients from plant foods for example, and we really dont understand how all these things work together, so its important to eat your protein as well as drink it etc. There's not much point getting enough protein if you're lacking badly in Vitamin c for example. So you have muscles but your teeth fall out? I dont quite understand the logic in it.

I'm not anti protein at all but I just dont accept that its the one and only thing that matters in our diets and I think that thinking you can focus on it and supplement everything else is dangerous.