5 Breakfast Ideas After Gastric Bypass Surgery for Weight Loss

5 Healthy breakfast ideas after gastric bypass surgery are presented here. It is important to understand your body’s needs and how to adjust to your new diet routine before ordering or preparing a meal.

Some patients have extreme difficulty in choosing meals because of intolerance, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

Lunch and Dinner recipes and ideas are presented in other posts.

Breakfast and Gastric Bypass …

Eating a healthy breakfast has an important role in fitness, particularly after an invasive surgery like gastric bypass.

Certain factors come in the way of a healthy breakfast, such as poor appetite, irritation, abdominal pain, or discomfort.

Also, it is vital to maintain a decent calorie intake for the sake of healing and recovery.

Most patients skip this meal for reasons like an irritated mood or being unaware of what to eat.

Their digestive tract is altered, so certain foods become unappealing, and patients also choose to eat significantly less, not to gain weight. However, not consuming food is the most unhealthy decision.

Nutritional Deficiencies After Gastric Bypass:

After gastric bypass, 30-70% of patients often have nutritional deficiencies. Among these most common deficiencies are protein, iron, zinc, folate, calcium, vitamin B1, B12, and vitamin D deficiency.

The decrease in meat and fish and small intakes of dairy products further aggravated the adequacy of proteins, iron, and zinc.

Similarly, reduced consumption of starchy foods and insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables harmed fiber and soluble vitamins, particularly thiamine.

When severe nutritional deficiencies occur, they may lead to various symptoms, including anemia, hypoalbuminemia, edema, peripheral neuropathy (folate, B12), hair loss (protein), as well as Wernicke encephalopathy and beriberi (B1), a metabolic bone disease of vitamin D and calcium, and anemia due to iron deficiency.

Thus, for post-surgical management of patients, nutritional monitoring, quality of food, and quantity of food consumed should be considered in daily living to get better outcomes after the surgery.

Caloric Intake After Gastric Bypass Surgery:

Patients under post-surgical management reduce their daily caloric intake and their portion sizes.

After surgery, in the first few weeks, the postoperative diet generally provides 500-800 kcal/day, a very low-calorie diet.

Between 3 months and 1 year, calorie intake gradually increases from 800 to 1000 kcal/day.

Up to 5 years post operational calorie intake increases gradually but remains lower than the preoperative values. 

Dietary Energy Density (DED) After Gastric Bypass:

Dietary energy density (DED) is a term that varies from nutrient to nutrient in any meal.

The dietary energy density (DED) decreases significantly from 1.07 to 0.78 kcal/g 6 weeks after bariatric surgery and from 0.90 kcal/g to 0.96 kcal/g after 1 and 2 post-surgical years.

Among macronutrients, compared to proteins and carbohydrates, fats have the highest influence on DED due to their high energy content (4, 4, and 9 kcal/g, respectively).

In contrast, water-containing foods such as vegetables and fruits have low DED; thus, their excessive use has a good effect on DED as well as giving the feeling of fullness without increasing total calorie intake.

Liquid Intake After Bariatric Surgery:

Hydration is critical after surgery because it is the most common post-operative complication.

• What to drink:

Water, milk, soy milk, protein shakes, decaffeinated tea or coffee (without added cream or sugar), and other non-carbonated and sugar-free beverages.

• Amount per day:

64 to 100 ounces—progressing in volume throughout your post-operative diet stages.

• What to avoid:

juices, caffeinated beverages ( including soda, coffee, tea, and energy drinks), carbonated waters, alcohol, lemonade, sweetened tea, sugary sports drinks, and any sugar-sweetened beverages.

5 Breakfast Ideas After Gastric Bypass Surgery:

If you are searching for a healthy breakfast after bariatric surgery, these are some post-operative breakfast options for bariatric patients.

1. Scrambled eggs:

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon low-fat milk
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

• Set a small skillet over medium heat and coat the bottom of the skillet with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the help of a fork or whisk the eggs. Add milk and thyme and beat well.
• In the skillet, add the egg mixture, turn the heat to medium-low, and cook for 5 minutes.

2. ---

   Cherry-Almond protein shake:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of 3-5 ounce low-fat black cherry yogurt
• ½ cup water
• ½ cup low-fat milk
• ½ cup frozen pitted cherries
• ¼ cup or 1 scoop vanilla or plain protein powder
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

Procedure:

• In a blender, add yogurt, water, milk, cherries, protein powder, and almond extract and bend it for 2 to 3 minutes until the protein powder is appropriately mixed and dissolved.
• Pour the shake into a glass and enjoy it.
• Refrigerate the remaining shake if you don’t drink it and reblend it prior to serving.

3. ---

   Egg and veggie wrap:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole scrambled egg
• 1 whole grain tortilla
• ½ cup vegetables (cooked)
• ¼ cup diced tomatoes
• Avocado and shredded cheese for topping (optional)

Procedure:

• In a non-stick skillet, cook scrambled egg over medium to low heat.
• On a skillet, warm the whole grain tortilla for a few seconds.
• Fill the center of the tortilla with cooked veggies and scrambled eggs.
• Fold the tortilla wrap from its sides and serve.

4. ---

   Protein-Packed oatmeal:

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup almond milk or skim milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1 scoop vanilla or plain protein powder
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• For optional topping: banana, chopped nuts

Procedure:

• Over medium heat, in a small saucepan, add rolled oats and almond or skim milk, and bring to a simmer.
• Add protein powder, peanut butter, and chia seeds.
• Cook and stir until the oats reach your desired consistency.
• Remove from the stove and transfer it to a bowl.
• Top with topping and enjoy.

5. ---

   Avocado Toast:

Ingredients:

• 1 slice of toasted whole-grain bread
• ½ cup mashed avocado
• ¼ cup sliced tomatoes
• 1 sliced boiled egg
• Salt pepper to taste

Procedure:

• On the toasted bread, spread the mashed avocado evenly.
• Top with sliced boiled egg and tomato slices.
• Season with pepper and salt.