Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook

Chapter 2: What to Expect and What to Eat 27

Being sugar savvy

We mention sugar-free food numerous times

in the diet guidelines, but it can be difficult to

determine if a food is truly sugar free. Always

check ingredient labels, and in addition to the

word sugar, be on the lookout for sugar’s many

aliases:

✓ Honey

✓ Dextrin/dextrose

✓ High fructose

corn syrup

✓ Fructose

✓ Glucose

✓ Sucrose

✓ Galactose

✓ Fruit juice

concentrate

✓ Cane syrup

✓ Lactose

✓ Maltose

✓ Turbinado

✓ Brown sugar

✓ Molasses

Some sweeteners known as sugar alcohols

have fewer calories than sugar but may

produce gas, bloating, and diarrhea. They are

may be listed as

✓ Mannitol

✓ Sorbitol

✓ Xylitol

✓ Maltitol

✓ Isomalt

Using sugar substitutes in moderation is

perfectly okay. They tend to be low in calories,

but remember that just because a food has a

sugar substitute doesn’t mean it’s lower in

calories than foods that contain sugar. If sugar

is taken out of a product, it’s often replaced

with fat, so make sure you read nutrition labels

carefully. Some popular sugar substitutes

include

✓ Acesulfame-K

✓ Aspartame

✓ Saccharin

✓ Sucralose

✓ Tagatose

✓ Stevia

Watch out for the terms sugar free and no

added sugar. There’s a big difference! Sugar

free means just that — it has no sugar. Think

diet soda or diet (sugar-free) gelatin. No added

sugar doesn’t necessarily mean it has no sugar.

Some foods, like fruit, have natural sugar, which

is why you have to dilute fruit juice 50/50 with

water, particularly if you are a bypass patient

(though it’s a good idea for everyone in terms of

calories avoided).

Stage 2: Full Liquids

Full liquids are foods that are liquid or semi-liquid at room temperature and

you can’t see through. These foods should pour off a spoon (not just fall off

in a lump). If you’re tolerating clear liquids, your surgeon may approve full

liquids as soon as the second day after surgery.

Eat slowly, listen to your body, and stop eating before you are full. Eating

past this point may result in nausea and/or vomiting. Remember that it

typically takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that your stomach is full.

The quicker you eat, the less opportunity it has to register in your brain that

you’re satisfied.