Pre Op Diets, Are The Necessary??

Pre op diets, are they necessary?

In a word, yes.

Now, this is a pet peeve of mine. Liquid pre op diets. Someone out there please show me where a low carb liquid pre op diet is superior to a low carb solid food diet! I want to see the peer reviewed studies. I have searched for years and not found a single one!

Doctors talk about LSD or Liver Shrinking Diets. Want to know the real truth? The real truth is that in order to actually shrink your liver it takes weeks, months for your liver to shrink in size. BUT... what an LSD does do it absorb the glycogen from the outer surface of your liver.

When you eat carbs they are converted to glycogen. Glycogen is stored in and on the surface of your liver and in your muscles. When you go on a low carb diet (liquids or solids) your body absorbs the glycogen. Glycogen on your liver is like .... well, snot. Slippery and slimy. It makes it more difficult for your surgeon to hold your liver out of the way when he's working on your stomach. When you do low carb your liver may not shrink in 2 weeks but it will absorb the snot on the outside of your liver making surgery easier for him. If it is easier for him it is safer for you!

I am not an advocate of low carb liquid diets. People don't follow them, they cheat. If you give someone a diet that will do the same thing and they aren't starving to death and dealing with huge food issues, they are more likely to follow the diet. What is more important? Following a stupid liquid low carb diet where you will cheat or following a low carb diet that does the same thing and you actually follow it? My own personal vote is the diet you will follow.

I am not suggesting you break the rules your surgeon set for you. What I most certainly am suggesting is that you ask your surgeon for peer reviewed journal articles showing that a low carb liquid diet is superior to a low carb solid foods diet. He won't have them. Some say it is to clean your intestines and colon pre op. To that I say.. nonsense! Most people become very constipated on a low carb diet. There is no fiber in low carb foods.

He is likely to come back with... Well, it works for us. Tell him fine, HE can do weeks of liquids. Why do you need to do so? What is the value. And I'm here to tell you, those that do a week or two of liquids are no more prepared for the post op diet. It's just a longer amount of time to be on liquids.

I honestly don't know if doctors have a power issue going on or what when it comes to liquid diets. But it is a torture that is not necessary. Make him prove liquids are superior to solids. Low carb is low carb. Heck, a chicken breast has fewer carbs than a protein shake. Eating chicken breast will burn more glycogen than a shake that has carbs in it. Bleh to pre op liquid diets.

I feel so much better now that this is finally in my blog! It's my huge pet peeve on WLS.