Hello! I was banded on 9/9/09 and have had my first fill. I'm a frequent lurker and appreciate all the info you all share. I wonder if someone can give me the scoop on rice. I understand a lot of bandsters can't eat it because it expands in the stomach. So does this mean that it won't get stuck, but if I eat it I could be in a lot of pain later on? Or will it come back up? What can I expect?

Thanks!

I don't eat very much rice now that I'm banded (I get all my maki wrapped in cucumber instead of sticky rice now) but from what I understand it will expand as it absorbs more Fluid and because of that has the potential to get really stuck. So you could be in a lot of pain, it might come back up, anything else you eat on top of it might not go back down or may come up, OR it may be fine for you. Its really different for everyone. On the rare occasions that I have had rice, I eat a small amount (like one small forkful) and then leave it. But I haven't had any rice since having even a little bit of restriction. If you want rice, I would go for a non-glutinous kind (long-grain, like basmati for example).

Good luck and I hope you stick around and post more!

I don't eat rice pasta or much bread. I do eat bread on occasion but I am really careful with it. I have found that as I am getting fills and getting tighter each time that anything that expands as you wet it is not a good time for me. I tend to get stuck on it and it expands which means it will expand in your stomach and that is something I don't want so I have chosen not to eat it.

I'm almost at my sweet spot - I have 7.5ml in an 11ml band, and I cannot eat rice. I'm fine on Pasta but rice has me ill for hours - same with bread or other doughy products.

I can't eat chicken at all either... but great on ham, beef etc... we're all different, but it's widely accepted that we'll all struggle on rice!

I was wondering what the issue was with rice, thinking it was small enough etc, I didn't even consider the expanding factor. How about short grain brown rice? Or does that behave like the white rice?

Rice can get stuck once you are at restriction. It can either be painful and slowly go down or come back up again. However, everyone is so different - many people can eat it, some can't eat it at all.

For me, I can eat about a teaspoon of rice with a meal as long as I am eating it along with other things. I luvvvv sushi and I can eat that as well, but I have to take off the majority of the rice in order for it to go down well. As long as I am careful and don't overdo it, rice is fine.