The Lap-Band is a form of bariatric, or weight-loss, surgery that involves a surgeon placing a gastric band around the upper part of the stomach. This creates a small portion of the stomach, meaning you are able to eat less food and the digestion process is slowed, meaning you feel fuller longer. Because the stomach is reduced, you cannot eat in the manner to which you were previously accustomed. Following a particular diet can help to keep you healthy and enhance weight-loss results.
Six Weeks Following Surgery
Immediately after Lap-Band surgery, your surgeon may recommend a specialized diet consisting of clear broths and other foods that will allow the stomach to heal while letting you test the new limits of your stomach. After this amount of time, you should be able to establish a new diet that you can follow the rest of your life. You should be able to eat solid foods with no difficulties before beginning this diet.
The new stomach created with the Lap-Band procedure can hold no more than 1/4 cup of food at any given time, according to the University of California, San Diego. Therefore, you should eat three small meals a day, chew all food thoroughly and cease eating when you feel full. While you should drink plenty of fluids, do not drink fluids and eat solid foods at the same sitting, as this can cause the pouch to flush out more quickly, thus defeating Lap-Band's purpose of feeling fuller, faster.
Foods to Eat
Your Lap-Band diet should be a healthy mix of fruits, vegetables, protein sources and carbohydrates in significantly smaller portions than before your surgery. A typical breakfast may consist of a scrambled egg and a slice of toast; a before-lunch snack of one small, cooked (soft) broccoli floret and 2 tbsp. of pasta; lunch is 3 tbsp. of fish and 2 tbsp. of cooked (soft) spinach; 1/2 cup of sugar-free pudding or 1 cup of yogurt for an evening snack; and a dinner of 4 tbsp. of chicken and rice casserole, 2 tbsp. of cooked green beans and a half a peach. This sample diet is from Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
As evidenced by the sample diet, the best foods to eat are soft foods and protein sources such as peanut butter and casseroles made with ground meat.
Foods to Avoid
While most solid foods are safe when thoroughly chewed, you should avoid certain foods, such as dried fruits, asparagus, pineapple, rhubarb, corn and popcorn, grapes, nuts and seeds, sodas and other carbonated beverages, and high-calorie foods and drinks, according to University of California, San Diego.
