Sep
29
Gastric Bypass Patients Should Include Tomatoes in Their Diet
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After weight loss surgery it is important to include as many healthy foods in our diet as possible while still respecting the the restrictive nature gastric bypass system. One of the foods that many patients report having a high tolerance for is tomatoes. It’s well known that a high intake of tomato products is associated with lowered risk of colon and prostate cancers, a beneficial effect thought to be due to tomatoes high content of the carotenoids, lycopene and beta-carotene.
Lycopene is a member of the carotenoid family of phytochemicals and is the natural pigment responsible for the deep red color of several fruits, most notably tomatoes. Recently scientists have found evidence that supports the role of lycopene in human health, specifically in the prevention of cancers of the prostate, pancreas, stomach, breast, cervix and lung, as well as in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration.
Lycopene is also believed to play a role in the prevention of heart disease by inhibiting free radical damage to LDL cholesterol. Before cholesterol can be deposited in the plaques that harden and narrow arteries, it must be oxidized by free radicals. With its powerful antioxidant activity, lycopene can prevent LDL cholesterol from being oxidized.
Lycopene is a fat-soluble substance, and as such requires the presence of dietary fat for proper absorption through the digestive tract. To facilitate proper absorption tomatoes can be prepared with minimal healthy fat such as olive oil, canola oil or even dairy fat found in cheese. These “healthy fats” are generally well tolerated by gastric bypass patients.
Shopping for Tomatoes:
Choose tomatoes that have a deep rich color. Not only is this one of the signs of a delicious tasting tomato, but the deep color indicates that it has a greater supply of the health-promoting phytochemical red pigment, lycopene. Tomatoes should be well shaped and smooth skinned with no wrinkles, cracks, bruises or soft spots. They should not have a puffy appearance since this indicates that they will be of inferior flavor and will cause excess waste during preparation. Ripe tomatoes will yield to slight pressure and will have a noticeably sweet fragrance.
Tips for Preparing Tomatoes:
Before serving, wash tomatoes under cool running water and pat dry.
If your recipe requires seeded tomatoes, cut the fruit in half horizontally and gently squeeze out the seeds and the juice.
Kaye Bailey ? 2005 - All Rights Reserved
An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website http://www.livingafterwls.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community.
The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, http://livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes, general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog.
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Sep
25
Gastric Bypass is Easy Weight Loss - Changing Public Perception
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It?s no secret the public at large perceives gastric bypass to be the lazy person?s cure for obesity. In fact some are so indignant about this medical procedure they passionately take a soapbox and criticize the surgery which will be performed on nearly 500,000 Americans this year.
Uncensored criticism is one of the most painful things a recovering morbidly obese person faces when they have WLS. Unlike other illnesses obesity is seen to be self-inflicted which allows others to forsake their manners to openly diagnose and treat the fat person. Any obese person will cite an incident where they?ve been told ?Eat less, exercise more.? We know the slogan and for most dieters the slogan isn?t working very well.
Losing weight is never easy. NEVER. Not with Jenny Craig. Not with Weight Watchers or Low-Carb or diet-du-jour. Losing weight is not easy even with weight loss surgery. What is easy is being fat, staying fat and getting fatter. Losing weight is never easy. If it were easy would 60% of the population be statistically obese?
Long time post-op patients understand that WLS is not easy. How do we convince others that gastric bypass is not the ?easy way out?? After all, being judged for taking the easy way out is one of the most painful things WLS patients? face.
First: We must accept that this is a judgment we alone cannot conquer. Misinformation and celebrity spotlights have perpetuated the belief that WLS is easy, painless and without sacrifice on behalf of the patient. The misinformed public will always chose to believe WLS is the easy way out. Any patient who goes public with their surgery will face criticism, scorn and judgment. This is a simple fact borne of jealousy and misunderstanding.
Engaging in a defensive strategy seldom yields converts, it only distresses the person who had the surgery and who is already beaten-down from years of internal and external loathing. Accept that we are judged for having managed our personal health crisis with the best long-term option that medical science has produced.
Second: We have to stop the internal PR monster that bolsters perception WLS is easy. One of the LivingAfterWLS contributors, Kim Stover did this rather successfully in her workplace. Kim said, ?I didn’t tell anyone except for immediate family that I was having WLS done prior to doing it. I kept it to myself because I didn’t want a single ounce of negative feedback from anyone. I didn’t want to walk in on a conversation about me not having the will power. About possibly dying. Once I had the surgery and there was no turning back, I had my friend at work send out an email from me that I had wrote earlier, explaining what I was doing and what I expected from everyone when I returned in six weeks. I set the boundaries for everyone and it worked out brilliantly.?
Kim works in an office of 80 people who commonly share their exercise plans and goals. Because she shares with them Kim?s co-workers know the exact cost she pays, every single day, to lose weight, to maintain her weight loss, to be healthy. I suspect Kim has never sat at the conference room table gobbling a Krispy-Kreme doughnut and laughing, ?I can eat anything I want, just less?. No! Kim sits at that table with her protein bars, her sliced apples and her vitamin pack and water bottle. She is honest and forthright about the cost of WLS. She is proud of her accomplishment and accomplishment is just that: achievement with effort, perseverance and genuine stubbornness.
Weight loss surgery is NOT the easy way out. Is the last resort for people who are dying slow ugly deaths from complications related to morbid obesity. Patients exchange the cost of dying for the cost of living. It is the best ?cure? medical science has produced for a disease that kills more than 600,000 people in the United States each year.
Easy way out? Not hardly.
The best way out for many of us? Absolutely.
Kaye Bailey ? 2005 - All Rights Reserved
An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website http://www.livingafterwls.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community.
The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, http://livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes, general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled ?You Have Arrived? available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog.
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Sep
21
Gastric Bypass Patients at Risk for Stomach Blockage - How to Avoid This
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In a gastric bypass the connection between he stomach pouch and the small intestine is called the gastrojejunal anastomosis. It is roughly the diameter of a ladies little finger. This small opening slows food from leaving the stomach too quickly prolonging the satiated feeling. In extremely rare cases scar tissue may form at this connection resulting in a blocked outlet. Treatment to correct this is the insertion, endoscopically, of a special balloon. The balloon is inflated and expands the anastomosis returning it to the correct size.
If a patient has symptoms of blockage that is not the result of overfilling the stomach pouch they must seek the advice of their bariatric professional. The symptoms include chronic vomiting and food intolerance.
More commonly, a blockage of the anastomosis is caused by poorly chewed foods. Patients must be diligent in avoiding foods that may cause a blockage. This includes large pills, some types or too much bread, overcooked or chewy meats, starches and nuts. If a pill becomes lodged in the stomach outlet it will usually dissolve after a few hours. If food becomes impacted it will be painful to the patient. Food will eventually digest and dislodge itself in most cases. In extreme cases a patient may need to have an endoscopy to dislodge the offending food. Patients in the habit of chewing their food will rarely encounter a blockage or plugged outlet.
When patients do suffer a mild blockage they can find usually relief by taking a dose of Pepto-Bismol and returning to soft foods such as gelatin or broth for a day or two.
Copyright ? 2005 Kaye Bailey - All Rights Reserved.
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com - fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often.
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Sep
13
Have you noticed since your WLS and return to regular eating a meal often causes you to become sleepy? Seriously sleepy. Drop your head in your plate sleepy.
This happens to me all the time. And there?s a good reason for it. When we eat the body produces a rise in blood sugar and a surge in insulin production. This chemical activity sends tryptophan to the brain where it becomes serotonin that signals the body ?Take a nap!? Here come the nods, the yawns and the blinking eyes. WLS patients are highly susceptible to post meal sleepiness because of the shortened route to the small intestine. From there the tryptophan has a fast ride to the brain shouting almost like Paul Revere ?The Sleepies are coming! The Sleepies are coming!?
Now, I don?t want any of you emailing my husband, but quite frequently I dramatically play the ?I?m so sleepy? card and go to bed after dinner leaving him with the dishes and evening chores. (Feel free to try this at home!) In fact, he’s in the kitchen now doing tonight’s dishes!
This is fine for the evening meal, but what about a noonday meal? For example the business lunch. How can we socialize at our mid-day meal and not become a victim of the ?Tryptophan Express? to Sleepytown?
A wise nutritional strategy for maintaining a sharp mental edge after lunch is to eat foods that give a gradual, steady release of food energy throughout the afternoon while placing only a light burden on the digestive system. Consider these strategies:
1. Emphasize healthy protein choices, like cold-water fish, beans and legumes, or a non-cream-based main dish soup or stew. Consume 60% of your volume from this group.
2. Choose a minimal serving of low-glycemic-index carbohydrates, like green salad, root vegetables in their skins, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, or artichoke. Consume only 20% of your food volume from this group.
3. Be sure your food choices contain healthy fats, such as cold-water fish, flaxseed oil, olive oil vinaigrette (the vinegar helps slow the release of food energy), nuts, seeds, or avocado
4. Absolutely avoid sugary, starchy, or fatty foods like soft drinks, non-whole-grain pasta, fried foods, and rich or creamy sauces and dressings
5. Skip dessert.
Rest assured, (pun intended) by making wise food choices we can be alert, responsive and LivingAfterWLS! Just say no to the Sleepies by making wholesome healthy food choices.
Kaye Bailey ? 2005 - All Rights Reserved
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com
LivingAfterWLS is a no-nonsense resource for people Living After Weight Loss Surgery. Our community is growing in numbers even as we are shrinking in pounds. Together we support one another in this lifestyle, that it turns out, is NOT the easy way out.
Fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often. To subscribe to the LivingAfterWLS monthly newsletter “You Have Arrived” click on http://www.livingafterwls.com and enter your details in the subscription box.
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Aug
31
Many gastric bypass patients report melon to be one of the easiest of fruits to enjoy after surgery. Melons are generally low in natural sugar, ripe on flavor and easily digestible. They are rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Potassium, Vitamin B6, folate and dietary fiber.
How to Select and Store
The key to purchasing a quality melon is to find one that is ripe. If you tap the melon with the palm of your hand and hear a hollow sound, the melon has passed is ripe. Choose a melon that seems heavy for its size, and one that does not have bruises or overly soft spots.
Melons & Food Borne Illness
Because of heightened sensitivity to foods and food borne illness gastric bypass patients must exercise extreme food safety precautions. Follow these simple guidelines to help keep your fruit fresh as well as safe.
When you buy cut melons, be sure they have been buried in ice or displayed in a refrigerated case, not just displayed on top of ice. Uncut melon does not need to be refrigerated.
Before cutting, the outer surface of the melon should be washed with drinking water to remove surface dirt.
Hands and all equipment and utensils (cutting boards, knives, etc.) need to be washed thoroughly with hot soapy water, and rinsed.
Cut melons must be refrigerated at 41? F or below.
Cut melons may be served without refrigeration for a maximum of 4 hours (such as at a brunch, picnic, or buffet). At the end of that time, any leftover melon must be thrown away.
A Few Quick Serving Ideas:
Add some sparkling water to fresh squeezed cantaloupe juice for a delightfully refreshing drink in the warm months of the year.
In a blender or food processor, pur?e cantaloupe and peeled soft peaches to make delicious cold soup. Add lemon juice and sweetener (sparingly) to taste.
Top cantaloupe slices with yogurt, and chopped mint.
Slice melons in half horizontally, scoop out seeds and use each half as a basket in which to serve fruit salad.
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com
Fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often.
To subscribe to the LivingAfterWLS monthly newsletter “You Have Arrived” click on http://www.livingafterwls.com and enter your details in the subscription box.
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Aug
24
WLS Patients Take Too Long to Order Food - What?s That About
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Families who dine out with their loved ones who?ve had gastric bypass surgery often complain the patient takes an unusually long time to order food. Rose, whose mother had gastric bypass about eight months ago asked, ?What?s wrong with her? It?s so frustrating!?
There are a number of reasons gastric bypass patients are indecisive when ordering a meal at a restaurant. Consider some of these:
Perhaps she?s worried about getting sick ? dumping or vomiting. All WLS patients worry about getting sick in public.
Perhaps she has some unresolved emotional issues about leaving too much food on her plate. (Remember the ?clean up your plate? threat of childhood and habit of adulthood.)
She may fear she won?t like what she orders: to a bariatric patient taste takes priority over quantity.
Maybe nothing sounds good to her, in the early stage after WLS food can seem unappealing and even nauseating.
She may not be hungry, but doesn?t want to offend you by rejecting your invitation to dine out.
Some patients in the early stage of living after weight loss surgery feel grief or loss for the foods they once loved gluttonously. She may be feeling loss seeing a menu of many things that she can no longer enjoy.
These things considered, is it possible to ask the family member if there is a specific reason she?s struggling to order her meal? That may be touchy and her feelings are probably raw in this early phase of weight-loss, so be cautious.
Some bariatric patients I know look at on-line menus before dining out. They make a plan ahead of time and know what they will order and enjoy based on the very specific needs of the low-volume, high-protein WLS diet.
I believe Rose?s mother, and others, will gain confidence in eating out and ordering skillfully for their needs. It is important to be patient as the family member attempts to bust a lifetime of bad habits thus finding the way to better health.
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of http://www.livingafterwls.com and http://www.livingafterwls.blogspot.com
LivingAfterWLS is a no-nonsense resource for people Living After Weight Loss Surgery. Our community is growing in numbers even as we are shrinking in pounds. Together we support one another in this lifestyle, that it turns out, is NOT the easy way out.
Fresh & insightful content is added daily, check in often.
To subscribe to the LivingAfterWLS monthly newsletter “You Have Arrived” click on http://www.livingafterwls.com and enter your details in the subscription box.
Mail this post