Can I Have Oatmeal After Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Gastric bypass surgery impacts not only how much a patient eats after the procedure but also what she eats. Learning to adapt to a more restrictive dietary lifestyle takes time. A patient's eating habits will evolve as he learns what his body can and cannot handle. Even the ability to eat a specific food such as oatmeal will change.

Features

• The post-gastric bypass (GB) diet progresses from liquid to soft to solid. For solid food, complete chewing to render the food soft and smooth is very important. For this reason, many post-GB patients develop a fondness for softer foods like oatmeal. Take care to ensure balanced nutrition is still achieved with the more limited food choices. Introduce variety slowly, monitoring the body for any undesired effects.

Time Frame

• Timelines vary by individual. Highland Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., advises its patients to expect progressing to solid food to take nine to 11 weeks. Once solid food is reintegrated into the diet, careful experimentation will be required to determine the foods best tolerated. For example, a patient may be able to eat plain oatmeal, but unable to tolerate flavored oatmeal because of the sugar content. Another patient may be unable to eat oatmeal with dates, raisins or walnuts because of the added solids.

Considerations

• Watching fat and sugar content along with consistency provides the greatest success with the fewest complications. Particularly for patients who have GB surgeries including intestinal bypass, eating or drinking too much fat or sugar at once will lead to "dumping" syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, "dumping" occurs when "foods and liquids enter your small intestine rapidly and in larger amounts than normal, causing nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and sweating."

Get Creative with Food

• Gastric bypass surgery does not mean a life filled with bland, boring food. The ability to eat a wide variety of food will return over time. Learn to use seasonings to create flavorful alternatives. Avoid falling into a rut and eating the same thing day after day. Not only does a repetitive diet become boring but it lacks nutritional balance. Patience is imperative when adapting to any new eating habits, including those necessitated by gastric bypass.

Expert Insight

• After having Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in 1994, my eating habits evolved slowly. At first I could only eat a few spoonfuls of plain oatmeal. With time, I have progressed to a full 1.3-ounce instant date, walnut and raisin instant oatmeal packet, made with 1/2 cup of water, without incident. Fifteen years after surgery, I still avoid the higher sugar content of brown sugar-cinnamon oatmeal to avoid "dumping" syndrome, opting instead for low-sugar fruit flavors. Listen to your body to learn your limitations.