As a result of bariatric surgery, the size of patients' stomach pouches is drastically reduced and parts of their small intestines are bypassed. This means that the way patients digest is very different, so the way they eat needs to be very different. During the first few months after surgery, patients eat a liquid diet to allow their digestive tracts to heal and to get used to their new bodies.
Liquids
During the first few days of recovery, you will probably need to drink liquids that you can see through. These liquids contain mostly water. Examples include clear broths, diet juices and skim milk. You'll want these liquids to be at room temperature because liquids that are too hot or too cold will be a shock to your currently-damaged digestive system. Drinking these water-based liquids at room temperature allows your stomach, small intestine and any other surgery sites to heal most efficiently.
Doctors generally recommend getting at least 64 ounces of fluids per day during this early stage of recovery. This will help you to feel full.
Purees
After the first few days, you will still be on a liquid diet for about four weeks, but you will be allowed to puree any food. The food you choose to puree will have to be blended until completely smooth, with no chunks or pieces, which could harm your healing digestive tract. To puree a food, blend it with some sort of liquid, like water, broth, skim milk or low-calorie gravy. This will help you to get the food smooth.
When you move to pureed foods, your doctor will probably recommend that you get plenty of protein, which helps your body to heal faster. Get protein from your food by blending lean meats or low-fat dairy. Most patients are also advised not to "eat" their pureed foods and drink pure liquids at the same time. This could cause too much expansion in your small stomach pouch, which could damage it while you're healing. Generally, you should wait 20 or 30 minutes between drinking and eating to ensure that this doesn't happen.
Vitamins and Supplements
After bariatric surgery, your doctor will probably recommend you take certain vitamins or supplements because your new digestive tract may not be able to absorb all of the nutrients from your food. Depending on the type of bariatric surgery you've had, you may have to continue to take vitamins and supplements for the rest of your life.
While on a liquid diet, you'll simply puree your vitamins or supplements into your food. If you need to take capsules, you can break them open and empty the powder into your puree or liquid.
