Your Unique Vitamin and Nutrition Needs After Bariatric Surgery

If you’re considering bariatric surgery, you’re likely looking for information about how your eating habits are going to change. 

Your stomach is going to be much smaller, so you won’t be able to consume as much food as you did prior to surgery. Plus, the surgery alters the way your body absorbs nutrients. For these reasons, you must take supplemental vitamins for the rest of your life to meet your nutritional needs.

At Turnquest Surgical Solutions, our board-certified bariatric surgeons, Dexter Turnquest, MD, and Victoria C. Chang, MD, provide expert bariatric surgery to help you lose weight and regain a better quality of life. 

After your surgery, we provide instructions on what vitamins and minerals to take to ensure adequate nutrition. It’s not a recommendation; it’s a requirement.

For example, without enough vitamin B12 or iron, you may experience dizziness or lightheadedness, nerve damage, and/or an accelerated heart rate. Serious illness can result from failure to take supplements as directed. 

Your vitamin intake after surgery is going to be unique to you based on which weight loss procedure you have and your lab work. 

You’ll likely be taking the following supplements:  multivitamins, iron, calcium with vitamin D, iron and vitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin B, along with any others as your lab work dictates. 

To receive enough nutrition through regular vitamins at a drugstore, you’d need to purchase multiple bottles of each supplement. 

It’s common for bariatric practices to offer patients supplements containing high levels of vitamins and minerals to save you time and money. We offer special supplements designed to give your body what it needs to function after bariatric surgery. 

Multivitamins 

The multivitamins you need after bariatric surgery are very different from those you buy in the drugstore. You need much higher doses. 

If you can swallow multivitamins, we offer choices that provide equal amounts of supplementation in one vitamin compared to up to 12 drugstore vitamin choices. If you have trouble swallowing a multivitamin, we offer chewy vitamins in a variety of flavors. 

Calcium and vitamin D

You need extra calcium and vitamin D after your surgery. We provide both chewable and nonchewable forms of these critical supplements. Your heart, muscles, and nerves require calcium to operate properly. 

Both calcium and vitamin D help keep your bones strong. Bone pain and muscle weakness are signs of a vitamin D deficiency and shouldn’t be ignored. 

B vitamins 

Vitamin B12 helps prevent anemia and is necessary for blood and nerve health. You need vitamin B1 to help your body form the cells that produce energy and induce normal metabolic reactions. 

Vitamin B50 complex is a booster that helps prevent infection and supports all facets of your health. 

In addition, you’ll likely experience biotin loss after gastric surgery. Biotin helps prevent hair loss as well as plays a role in metabolism and energy production. We may prescribe a special biotin supplement for you. 

Iron 

You normally absorb iron in the duodenum, which is part of your small intestine. After some bariatric procedures, food doesn’t enter the duodenum. This leads to iron deficiency. 

Iron helps produce hemoglobin, which carries life-giving oxygen to your body’s cells.

We ensure your daily intake includes enough iron through recommended foods and supplements. 

Protein 

Your food intake is much smaller after surgery, so it’s harder for you to get all the protein you need. We ensure your diet includes high levels of protein you need to be healthy, with options ranging from protein bars to protein mixes and meal replacements. 

Call us at Turnquest Surgical Solutions in Houston, Texas, or request an appointment through our online portal today if you’re considering bariatric surgery.