Your Preop Diet Explained
Let’s get ready for your Bariatric surgery
Before any bariatric procedure, it is recommended to take some advice that the Hidalgo Bariatrics team has for you.
What is a bariatric pre-op diet?
If you are about to undergo Bariatric Surgery, your surgeon will give you a Preop diet already designed for you. This is very important to be followed as well as being committed to it, so you can achieve a successful weight loss journey. Make sure to reach an expert and make sure to follow a diet designed by a bariatric dietitian.
The bariatric PRE-OP diet is exclusively designed to reduce the size of the liver, if you suffer from obesity or are overweight, you might have a fatty liver. This is actually very common among bariatric patients. At Hidalgo Bariatrics we provide a high protein-based diet, very easy to follow! You have to consider that this diet, besides helping you with your fatty liver, will also make you lose weight (not precisely the goal) and this is because it simulates the “job” that surgery will do after going through any procedure. Please reach to your surgeon or bariatric team to make sure how many weeks or days is necessary for you to follow the diet.
So, we can say that the Preop diet is the very first step you will work on before surgery and this is where your Weight loss journey begins…
Undergoing Bariatric surgery is not an easy decision after going through the big struggle of losing weight by failing different diets and exercise programs that made you disappointed so many times. So, with bariatric surgery, you are giving yourself a new opportunity.
What does the liver has to do with my #WLS?
The main reason to design a Preop diet is to shrink your fatty liver, as mentioned above. It is necessary to make your liver small as it is fatty because of common bad eating habits and being overweight. While in surgery, the liver can be found on top of the stomach (main part where the Doctors need to work during the procedure), so by reducing the size of the liver it will be easier for the experts to work on your surgery. A fatty liver might cover up to the whole stomach so if that’s the case, the surgeon would need to make an extra incision to lift the liver and have better access to the stomach, this fifth incision might lead to additional surgery time.
Benefits of a good Pre-Operative Diet
Besides the importance of following the preoperative diet, it will help you mentally and physically as well as it prepares you for the bariatric procedure and the post-operative stages you are about to face. You should think of it as a training period that will help your body adjust to smaller portions of food and show you a new way of eating. This will also prepare you for the post-op stage avoiding the withdrawal effect that happens when the consumption of nutrients is less than it was used to causing general weakness, headaches, etc.
The Preop diet will give you benefits such as losing weight, reducing the amount of abdominal fat, and making your surgery easier for the experts. This would also eliminate sugar from your body, helping the transition phase to be easier, and controlling the difficult hormone systems that cause obesity.
Bariatric Pre-op stages
The Preoperative diet phase consists of several stages which you need to follow for a minimum of 2 weeks on average, you might need to follow it a couple of more days or less because it depends on your starting weight and procedure to be performed. In all these stages of the preop diet is very important to control your portions of food. This would be a great habit that will teach you to eat how to eat after the surgery and even more if you follow your preop diet properly, you will have faster recovery due to the high amount of protein in your body.
What does it look like?
Hidalgo Bariatrics worked together with a bariatric dietitian to create the perfect preop diet for you, we will share you below what it kind of looks like…
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Stage 1
The Preop Diet mainly consists of:
- 1. Healthy eating – protein solids: Lean protein (Chicken, Turkey, fish, soft boiled. eggs)
- 2. Cooked non-starchy vegetables (no potato, corn, or peas).
- 3. Healthy fat: salad dressing, olive oil, nuts, avocado, olives
Protein will help to lose weight, protect and bolster the muscle tissue and at the same time, burn fat improving wound healing, strengthening your body and hair, and speeding up recovery.
Stage 2
- 1. Full Liquids Protein shakes.
- 2. Liquids (soups, broth, non-sugar beverages, vegetable juices, etc,) Water, Non-carbonated beverages.
- 3. Zero sugar jello, chicken broth, protein shakes (0 sugar and 0 carbs).
- 4. The liquid phase is not always required for all Bariatric patients
Consult your surgeon and learn more about your Pre-operative diet and all about your bariatric surgery process.
Remember that all this may vary depending on your current BMI and your surgeons or medical team advise. Please also make sure to reach experts and follow the preop diet as much as possible.
After your Bariatric surgery in Tijuana, Mexico you will have the chance to be near your surgeon and their team of specialists who can go with you through your entire weight loss journey.
Having bariatric surgery is an important decision that will change your life as soon as you are fully committed. So, be well informed and do your research on Tijuana’s facilities and you will find excellent choices as Hidalgo’s Bariatrics.
