Answer this question before you read my response!

1) Why is salad not a good choice for banded patients?

Answer:

Everyone thinks that salad is a healthy choice, but as a bandster, it is very important that you unlearn this. SALAD IS NOT A BAND-FRIENDLY CHOICE. In the first place, it violates the number one rule of Lap-Band eating: Protein First, since salad is served first. But here are a few other reasons to avoid it on a regular basis and tips for doing so.

• Most salad is VERY LOW in nutrition. The plain iceberg lettuce that is the foundation of many salads is mostly Water and some Fiber, which can be tough on a band.
  
• If you choose a salad, the greener and darker the better. Choose the mixed field greens or spinach salad.
  
• Eat the tomatoes. They are high in a nutrient called lycopene that may help lower certain cancer risks.
  
• The salad dressing can pack a big caloric punch! Choose the vinaigrette if possible. Avoid the creamy and cheesy ones, like ranch, buttermilk, or peppercorn, that are very high in fat. Even their low-fat versions still have a lot of calories.
  
• If you just can’t give up ranch dressing, then ask for the dressing on the side and use just a little bit.
  
• Ask them to bring the salad with the main meal and eat your protein first. Chances are, you won’t feel like eating the salad afterwards.
  
• Ask if you can substitute the iceberg salad for something else with protein in it, like bean salad.
  

The preceeding was an excerpt from my new book, Ultimate Lap-Band Success: the Support Surgeon's Guide to Getting the Most From Your Gastric Band. If you found it helpful, you can order the book directly from my website at www.morefrommyband.com/resources. I will also autograph it for free! Or you can email me at morefrommyband@gmail.com to get a 15% savings!

Best of Luck,

Dr. Vuong

I am so deeply disappointed that someone who is regarded as an expert within the band world would make such an irresponsible statement. I am from England, but live in the US. My family and I eat eat a salad every evening with our dinner. My American born husband and kids eat their salad on a separate plate, but I have mine on the dinner plate with the rest of my food--a cultural thing. Dr. Vuoong, shame on you! How could you tell us band patients, who by nature of the surgery, are now nutritionally compromised if we are not careful, to refrain from eating salads??? Many readers on this site hang onto your every word and you could do damage to people by making statements like that. I don't know about everyone else, but weight loss in and of itself is not my sole reason for getting the band. I want to be healthy and live long. If I stop eating things that are good for me, I might be simply thin and unhealthy. I think you should retract your statment!:thumbup:

I do not disagree with Dr. Vuong. I think the wording could have been better.

He explained the darker the greens the better. That is a good point.

The high calorie dressings are bad, I agree there.

Tomatoes are good, I agree there.

Eating a salad "first" and filling up on iceberg lettuce is not a good thing. I agree there.

He makes a lot of good points.

I think it just depends on what you define as a salad. There are a lot of salads out there full of calories and some of the fast food salads, like Wendy's taco salad...paleeze!

Some cheese slices, sliced tomatoes on a bed of lettuce, nothing wrong with that and I am getting my Protein.

I think he meant not to fill up on too much salad if there is no protein in it before we get to our main course.

:thumbup:

I completely disagree with this advise! I have had to give up meats and all breads because they don't work at all with my band. What I CAN eat are fruits and vegetables! (Go figure - that's what we're supposed to eat to stay healthy!!) So salad is a big MUST for me!

Green leafy salads are so important to get those vital nutrients from vegetables! Chopped eggs can be added for Protein. I've even added low-fat cottage cheese to top off my salad instead of dressing! Yes, dressings are the part of salads that can ruin the benefits of eating a salad by overloading with fat and calories, but there are many many options to top off your salad! Lemons, salsa, yogurt, etc. The only salads I think you should NOT eat are those pasta/potato type salads loaded with mayonnaise that have few nutrients and far too much fat and calories. Sorry Doc, but I gotta disagree completely with you. A yummy green salad loaded with crunchy vegetables is filling, tasty, nutritious and overall healthy. They're excellent on a hot summer day.

I think your advice should have been to eat vegetable salads, but make sure you chew thouroughly and pay attention to what topping you put on those salads! Read the Prevention magazine! They have great advise for nutritious healthy food!!

I also must completely disagree with the doctor.

I was losing a lot of hair shortly after surgery and eating ONLY Protein and plenty of it. My hair STOPPED falling out as soon as I re-introduced VEGGIES to my diet [meaning daily food intake, not weight loss plan].

I get fresh, organic veggies weekly from a local CSA I belong too and am eating better than I have in years. My salads are healthy, wonderful creations and I will NOT be stopping the consuming of those salads anytime soon!

Tonight's salad will have romaine, english peas, that I shelled myself, radishes, zucchini, cucumber, carrots and whatever else I can find in my veggie drawer! I'll also be adding black Beans, cheese and salsa! Don't tell me that's not a healthy salad!!!!!

Oh. Any by the way, veggies have protein! Granted it's not a lot but there IS protein in veggies!!

I agree Heartfire. Why does everyone think Protein is the answer to everything? Hairloss for example, is more likely to result from general malnutrition than protein deficiency. Hardly anyone is the Western world, banded or not, will become protein deficient.

As far as I know, my body did not suddenly stop needing Vitamins and fibre and change to ony needing protein when I got banded.

This protein obsession just baffles me. It might work for weight loss (well, yeah, cutting out entire food groups does that) but what about health in general?

Not that I'm advocating filling up on white bread either of course. But I lost 120% of my excess weight without ever doing protein first, and I've maintained it for nearly 2 years now.

A band that only allows 1/2 cup protein and cant handle salads is TOO TIGHT!!!!

Salads are one of the only ways I get my veggies. I use spinach instead of lettuce and put in broccoli and cauliflower, carrots, etc. That article is nutty.

I have no problem eating salad. I would include hard boiled egg and/or red beans. Whatever I find on salad bar. I usually try to eat solid food first, before mushy/bland food to feel fuller.

I totally agree with everything everyone else has said in response. I crave salads now, and do my calculations to make sure I don't add too much fat, etc, but with chicken, eggs, and low fat cheese, you can make a salad taste good and keep it healthy..........I too use the dark leafy greens.

My motto is..........if it works for me, and is healthy, I eat it.

I can't live my life without foods I enjoy. Heck, last night I ate 2 malted milk balls. Had a bad chocolate attack and allowed myself 2 balls! Just enough to enjoy the taste and move on.

For me, the band allows me to CONTROL what I eat, not give up everything.

Sorry I got off on something else, but, come on..........salad? Please..........like anything else you can adjust it to make it healthy.

I haven't had the band yet but I'm hoping that the salads will agree with me.

Protein first (hard protein preferred) has always been the rule at my clinic along with a well rounded diet of fruits, veggies and grains. I was under the impression that protein stayed with you longer and you felt less hungry. I also read that your body works harder digesting protein, thus burning more calories.

I don't always follow this. If I feel like a small bowel of Cereal in the morning with skim milk, I have it.

This post made me curious, thus I found this on Web MD.

Can a High-Protein Diet Help You Lose Weight

Participants in a study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported greater satisfaction, less hunger, and weight loss when fat was reduced to 20% of the total calories in their diets, protein was increased to 30%, and carbs accounted for 50%. The study participants ate some 441 fewer calories a day when they followed this high-protein diet and regulated their own calorie intake.

Another study, reported in the Journal of Nutrition, showed that a high-protein diet combined with exercise enhanced weight and fat loss and improved blood fat (lipid) levels.

"Our research suggests that higher-protein diets help people better control their appetites and calorie intake," says researcher Donald Layman, PhD, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"Diets higher in protein [and] moderate in carbs, along with a lifestyle of regular exercise ⦠have an excellent potential to reduce blood lipids [and] maintain lean tissue while burning fat for fuel without dieters being sidetracked with constant hunger."

Researchers don't understand exactly how protein works to turn down appetite. They surmise that it may be because a high-protein diet causes the brain to receive lower levels of appetite-stimulating hormones.

"We are not exactly sure of the mechanism for satiety, whether it is due to [eating] fewer carbs and/or the specific protein effect on hunger hormones and brain chemistry," Layman says.

And more research is needed before experts can make sweeping recommendations that people boost the protein in their diets, says American Dietetic Association president Rebecca Reeves, DrPH, RD, an obesity researcher at the Baylor College of Medicine.

"I think it is fascinating and intriguing, yet we need the evidence that higher-protein diets are more effective over the long term," Reeves says.

How Much Do You Need?

We need protein at all stages of life, for a variety of bodily functions. It's the major component of all cells, including muscle and bone. It's needed for growth, development, and immunity to fight off infections and protect the body.

The Institute of Health's Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations allow for a wide range of protein intake -- anywhere from 10% to 35% of total calories -- for normal, healthy adults. For example, on an 1,800 calorie diet, you could safely consume anywhere from 45 grams (that's 10% of calories) to 218 grams (35%) of protein per day.

The most interesting part of that article is this:

"fat was reduced to 20% of the total calories in their diets, Protein was increased to 30%, and carbs accounted for 50%".

That's not a "high-protein" diet, as most people in this forum understand it. That is a normal BALANCED diet. 50% carbs? You ask any of the "high protein" advocates around here if 50% of their diet is carbs - I'll bet money most would be horrified at the idea. Yet those proportions pretty well approximate what most doctors would call a balanced diet and are what I aim for.

Me too.

I defintely, absolutely do better if I include a good Protein source at each meal - particularly Breakfast. But I need my carbs too. An egg on toast for example will stay with me ALL morning and noticeably reduces the mid afternoon munchies. Two eggs however, without the volume of the bread to fill out the meal and I'm picking within an hour.

All carb meals do make me more likely to snack, however that doesnt equate to meaning carbs make you hungry - I'm talking wholegrain of course. Just that lowering the overall glycaemic index of a meal by avoiding high GI carbs and including protein gives you a slower burning, steadier energy that equates to less cravings and hunger.

But I still dont see anything magic about eating the protein off your plate first. What I see happening then is that you finish your chicken breast and you are stuffed. Which ISNT a balanced meal. I'd rather eat a bite of everything on my plate to get the balance.

I totally agree with Dr. Vuong! :crying: Why would you eat a "salad" (regular lettuce salad) FIRST? I think you all have totally taken his article out of context!! There is no value in eating lettuce. Your body needs PROTEIN more than rabbit food.

I agree eating colorful vegetables is a must, but only after you have gotten your protein. Apparently there's a lot of people that have been given the wrong advice about eating with a lap band.

Perhaps you SHOULD get Dr. Vuong's book and read for yourself about what you should be putting in your mouth.

Sure, eat that salad first. But your body needs protein. I eat chicken and fish and then eat a variety of fresh vegetables. Why eat a salad when there are other veggies with better vitamins and minerals. Three bean "salad", spinach "salad" its all good for you.

Why are you all getting so upset about this?? It's called eating sensibly and healthy not eating something just to fill your pouch. Eat to live...don't live to eat!

BTW - one malted milk ball will lead to another and then every night..why would you spend all that money & time to get a lap-band and then go back to the habits that put all that weight on in the first place????

Lap-band is a TOOL to safe & life long weight loss - it's giving up bad habits, giving up things that make you FAT and changing your lifestyles!

I will NEVER go back to the way I was ever again! Get real people, Dr. V isn't telling you not to eat vegetables, but use common sense about what is good for you and what isn't.

There is no value in eating lettuce. Your body needs Protein more than rabbit food.

I'm a big believer in the High Protein diet, but even I find that statement ridiculous. salad is healthy and has lots of micronutrients we all need. It compresses down really well so you can eat it and still have room for other things. Protein is very important, but it's not more important than anything else. You need to eat more than protein just like you need to eat more than salads.

Perhaps you SHOULD get Dr. Vuong's book and read for yourself about what you should be putting in your mouth.

No thanks. I'll get books on nutrition that aren't full of horrible advice.

BTW - one malted milk ball will lead to another and then every night..

Maybe for you, but not for everyone.

I wonder how successful and healthy you will be with justifying eating anything you want. You pick out things YOU disagree with but the final reality is "Dr. V isn't telling you not to eat vegetables, but use common sense about what is good for you and what isn't." Go buy all the books in the world on nutrients but I bet if you were open-minded enough to read Dr. Vuong's book you would get the whole picture. Just because you can eat it, doesn't mean you should or it's good for you. I can find better, tastier, healthier things to fill my pouch with than salad.

As far as eating sweets, that’s fine too but it's still high calorie & low nutrition no matter how you justify eating it. I can find a better alternative like fruit to eat than candy.

Like I said before, it's changing your lifestyle and eating habits. If you want to continue eating things that made you fat, why even get the band? So we agree to disagree about salad and protein - but all of Dr. Vuong's patients are very happy and highly successful and healthy with their weight loss and will be successful in keeping the weight off - I know because I am his patient - hope your eating habits work for you.