Presurgery Diet for Lap-Band

About two weeks before you have the Lap-Band procedure, your surgeon will likely put you on a preoperative diet to get your body ready to undergo surgery and to help you recover more quickly from the process. The diet is intended to reduce the body fat around your stomach and liver, helping to increase the chances that the surgery will be a success.

Benefits

• One of the benefits to dieting before Lap-Band surgery is to reduce fatty triglycerides around the spleen and liver, helping to lessen the chance that you will experience surgical bleeding and a complete abdominal incision, according to the experts at Sinai Hospital. The diet should also help to shrink the size of the liver, a very useful outcome considering that sometimes surgery has to be postponed if the liver is too large.

  Many preoperative diets will increase your protein intake (between 70g and 120g each day) with the goal of helping your preserve your muscle tissue. These diets also are often low in fats, carbohydrates, and calories with the average calorie count ranging from 800 to 1,200 a day.

Foods

• Your preoperative diet will most likely require you to eliminate or severely restrict high-sugar foods, fats (like butter), high carbohydrate foods (like pasta and bread), fried foods, whole milk products, fatty meats, and high calories drinks (like alcoholic beverages and soda).

  Although your diet may seem very restrictive, some of the breakfast foods you will be able to eat are eggs, fruit, yogurt, cereal, and oatmeal while you should be able to have lean meat or fish with green vegetables for dinner. Don't be surprised if your diet also includes protein supplements like Myocel, since high levels of protein can be beneficial in helping the body heal after surgery. Extra protein also helps the body burn fat rather than muscle when you are eating a diet low in fat.

  The health care professionals at Sinai hospital suggest that nondiabetic patients eat four to five servings of proteins, two servings of fruit, two servings of vegetables, two servings of starches (preferably whole grains), and three servings of fat each day. These portions are slightly different for diabetic patients who should work closely with their doctors to regulate their insulin. A serving size of meat is about the same as the size of your hand. Check the labels on packaged foods to determine the appropriate serving size. Also, usually between one half and a cup of fruits and/or vegetables will constitute one serving.

Tips

• Each patient's situation is different, so make sure you consult with your doctor and follow the recommendations he gives you regarding exactly what you should eat before and after your lap band surgery.

  Some surgeons will require you be on a full liquid protein diet for two weeks before surgery. During that time, you will also be required to take vitamin supplements to make sure your body has sufficient nutrients.

  Whatever diet your health care provider recommends, make sure to stick with it. Doing so will not only help you prepare for surgery but also for how you will need to eat afterwards and for the rest of your life.