Food intolerance after bariatric surgery

I wish I knew

If there is something I wish I had known before the surgery, there will be some foods that will become out of my reach. Not because they are unhealthy, but because I will develop certain food intolerance. Really, it happens. And it is far more common than you think.

 

I have always had a strong allergy to shellfish and everything from the sea, apart from tuna, mackerel, and sardines. If it has a lot of tentacles, and legs and looks funny, it is a big no. It is no fun allergy as if I had some rash or swollen lips. It means anaphylactic shock for me. So it is no fun at all and I have to be very careful.

Milk and all dairy

What I didn’t know was that after the surgery there would be some things that I used to eat without any problems whatsoever, but now my stomach won’t like them at all. I realized this the first weeks after when I was supposed to survive on yogurts, milk, and cottage cheese. Holly Molly. I tried once and I thought we were heading to the emergency.

 

My stomach started to hurt a lot, it was a nasty pinching pain, I was bloated like a party balloon and farted like an old man. I felt like vomiting, I was weak and shaking. This was not good. And it repeated the next day. No, the milk products were not bad, it was my stomach that had a very strong opinion about milk and its derivates.

 

Luckily this one was only temporary and I could go back to everything-milk about three months later. But it was a very good lecture and every time I was introduced to a new thing in my meals, I was extra careful because I never knew what it would do.

Meat – for a whole year

The very same thing happened to meat. And I mean any meat. The first year, I was suffering like an animal. I was forcing myself into eating meat, it is protein and it is a must, but it was a horror story. If I had known what I know now, I would have saved myself a lot of unnecessary suffering.

 

I could eat ham, but I couldn’t stomach chicken, nor any other meat. It was causing me a lot of problems. The same as the milk before. And it took me a year and a half to be able to go back to eating meat without suffering. Well, I don’t eat much meat anyway now. I have some chicken and turkey, and that’s it.

 

I had to learn to have protein from other sources. The trouble is that my stomach is super small, and it doesn’t have enough capacity to eat a whole amount of protein from non-meat sources. Do you know how big is the pile of lentils that has the same amount of protein as a chicken breast? It is like Mt Everest towering on the plate. It is not that I don’t want to eat that much, it is technically impossible to get it all in.

Protein shake is my friend

So I had to rely on protein shakes, which were never my great friends. I developed a certain aversion against them during my pre-op diet and till today I have them only when I am very far from my protein goal to cover the breach. Maybe I wasn’t lucky, but I still haven’t found any that tasted better than school chalk diluted in water. Meh…

Carbonated drinks

Speaking of beverages, it is not a good idea for me to drink anything carbonated. All the gas stays in and I am bloated, incredibly full, and feel bad for the rest of the day. it is a no-go for me. There was something about it when your surgeon told you to forget about this. Well, but a lot of people go back to pops, even though the diet version. I just can’t.

Potatoes and bananas

I will also be careful with potatoes and bananas. These two for some reason spike my blood sugar. Never had this problem before, but now it looks as if I were pre-diabetic when I eat those. Silly really. I used to love both. Well, it doesn’t mean I completely threw them away out of my food pantry. I have them, but only very occasionally. Maybe once a month. I don’t want to upset my poor pancreas too much.

 

I know about a lot of people who had to give up completely bread and pasta. These two for some reason also cause digestive problems. They say that it feels as if it got stuck and didn’t want to move anywhere further. Pretty nasty feeling, I have to say.

Stomach is your new boss

There might be many more things that people can’t eat after bariatric surgery. Each stomach is different and has its preferences. What I say is that my stomach became my boss. I do as “he” wants.

 

Are you accepting food today, Sir? Omg, let’s use the opportunity and send some quickly before he changes his mind! Oh, but you didn’t mean chicken. Oh, I am sorry. How about some tuna? Could that be? Oh, you like it? Come on! Here you have a whole can of it. That’s the right portion, ok. I won’t send more… I go like this in my conversation with him all day 😀

 

Your nutritionist will tell you what to eat and how much, that is obvious, it is their job but the last word will always have Mr Stomach. You may have a perfect meal planned, cooked and served, everything by the book, but if he says he doesn’t want it, all you can do is put it back in a container and stuff it back into the fridge.

Life in small food containers

And trust me, in the beginning, you will need a lot of these small containers. I mean a lot, a lot, and some more. Your fridge will become a minefield full of these small food boxes. I hope you have the same understanding partner as I do, who willingly finishes everything you leave behind 😀

 

This is something I wish I had known before. Not to be scared that I won’t be able to eat this or that. I had it pretty clear that I would have to eat in a very different way compared to before. I wish I had known that something like this can and will happen. I was forcing myself to eat things that were straight no, the stomach didn’t want it, but I was a good patient and was obeying what my nutritionist said.

Learn from other people

I am wiser now. I had gone through this and now I know. So if somebody who is still at the beginning of the journey, is reading this, learn from my mistakes. You will spare yourself a good deal of suffering. Simply talk to your nutritionist and tell them that your stomach doesn’t want this and that. They will tell you what to do and what swap is possible for you during the stage where you are. Don’t experiment yourself, these people know what you should do.

 

The thing is that if you keep your suffering to yourself, you are all alone in it. Tell them, don’t be ashamed. You are not weird or weak. Normally, some things won’t be ok for you for some time. Or maybe forever. Who knows? Just talk to your team. They are there for you and to help you.

Did you also have some of these problems? Are you the lucky one who can eat anything and everything and you go completely unpunished? Or have you developed some intolerances you didn’t have before? Share your story!