One of the biggest questions running in the minds of patients, after a gastric sleeve surgery is what kind of diet they should follow. You cannot start eating everything right away naturally, but instead should follow a strict gastric sleeve post op diet to avoid side effects, complications and facilitate weight loss.

Gastric sleeve surgery is becoming a common weight loss remedy for some people. The size of the stomach is shrunk for it to accommodate less food. For you to achieve successful results and reduce chances of complications and side effects, you have to strictly follow a gastric sleeve diet before and after the procedure. There are a pre op diet and post op diet, which you should follow strictly for excellent results with minimized complications.

For the surgery to be carried out, you have to be safe and one way to be safe. It is to ensure that your liver does not stand in the way of the surgeon. It has to shrink. The doctor can reach the stomach safely for the surgery. This requires a two week for this diet prior to the procedure  to increase your protein intake, reduce carbohydrate intake and eliminate sugar intake. A typical diet for these two weeks would be protein shake without sugar in the morning, vegetables and lean meat for both lunch and dinner. A low carbohydrate snack accompanied by small salads with vinegar, berries and nuts. For your drinks, you can choose anything that is low in calories and sugar free. You may be required to eliminate any carbonated drinks and caffeine in the last two days towards the surgery.

Gastric sleeve is a surgical weight loss procedure which your stomach is reduced by removing the lateral to about 25 percent. This surgery reduces your stomach size of a tube or sleeve like structure. The holding capacity of the stomach is about 1.54 liters of liquid and food down to about 200 ml. The normal movement of food from your mouth into your stomach and then into the intestinal tract is not altered. There’s no malabsorption to nutrient as there’s with the bypass gastric procedure. Despite the stomach being smaller, the sleeve of your stomach still functions normally. Nutrients and food continue to enter and leave in the same manner. Acid is made to help digestion continuously, and essential minerals and vitamins such as calcium, folate, B12 and iron can be absorbed normally.