After Surgery

You’ll be put on a diet immediately after surgery!

  • For the first few days you’ll only be given liquids (clear soup, yoghurt, tea). After that, you’ll progress to mashed or soft foods and finally, after 3 or 4 weeks, you’ll be able to eat solid foods again.
  • This type of food intake after surgery is important, as it gives your body time to heal. Adhesions develop during this period, which are necessary to hold the band in place in the long-term.
  • Patients, who eat solid food too soon after their operation, run the risk of dislocating the band. This can necessitate another surgical procedure.
  • Some kinds of food will be more difficult to eat after the operation, and will need to be chewed thoroughly. This depends on the size of the opening between the two stomach parts. There is a direct correlation between the size of this opening and the amount of weight you would like to lose.

Eating habits after surgery

2-3 days after surgery only liquid or semi-liquid (porridge-like) nourishment may be consumed

These include:

  • Tea

  • Fruit juice

  • Vegetable juice

  • Lean/non-fat soup and puréed sauces

  • Purée

  • Fruit pulp

  • Dairy products, quark

  • Buttermilk, yoghurt or whey drinks

After the first three days the patient may change from semi-liquid to soft foods:

  • Minced meat

  • Puréed vegetables, soft-cooked vegetables

  • Soft-cooked pastas (ribbon noodles, or any type of small/thin pasta)

  • Mashed potatoes or dumplings

  • Baby food

  • Compote, bananas, berries

  • Semolina or rice pudding, custard

  • Sliced bread with no crusts

  • Low-fat quark, cheese spread, paté or terrine

During this phase, it is extremely important to forgo the consumption of raw fruit (except bananas) and raw vegetables as well as abrasive, coarsely ground full-grain products.

After about 3 or 4 weeks, patients should gradually move onto firm foods. However difficulty may occur when consuming some foods, particularly at the beginning.