July 2022
Jacqui Lewis - BHSc Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine
What's All the Noise About
Taking Vitamins After Weight Loss Surgery?
Although it is an amazing tool, Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is not
the only ingredient to long-term weight loss success.
The three main components are
Healthy Diet
Consistent Exercise Routine
Daily Bariatric Vitamins Supplementation
Because Bariatric Surgery vitamin deficiency is common, taking daily vitamin supplementation is critical to achieving long-term results and maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine.
Why are supplements necessary if my diet includes all the essential vitamins and minerals?
Bariatric Surgery instigates weight loss by preventing your body from consuming more calories than it burns, which results in a calorie deficit. Conversely, there is a risk of nutritional deficiencies or malnutrition, which can leave you feeling awful!
The American Society Of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) states the following in the "Weight Loss Surgery Guidelines" PDF.
The critical nutrients affected by any form of bariatric surgery include:
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Iron deficiency or anaemia (up to 48% of WLS are iron deficient within the first year)
- Vitamin D3
- Calcium deficiency
Bypass patients must monitor fat-soluble Vitamins A, D, E and Vitamin K.
The surgical procedure directly impacts the absorption and transport of the above nutrients. However, other nutritional deficiencies may occur due to the limited room in your new tummy to accommodate enough food to meet your daily needs.
Why aren't traditional vitamin and drugstore supplements effective enough for a Bariatric patient?
It's essential to get your supplements right so you prevent things like:
- Nutritionally related hair loss
- Vitamin deficiencies that cause fatigue
- Brain fog
- Sore swollen tongue / cracked lips / ulcers
- Poor immunity, slow wound healing and poor skin health
- Memory loss
- Osteoporosis due to calcium deficiency
- Overall feeling poorly, and in extreme situations - neurological damage such as paranthesis or loss of function and feeling
Bariatric multivitamin supplements such as BN Healthy are formulated based on the ASMBS guidelines to prevent these complexities and leave you to live your best life after WLS.
Your multivitamin and mineral supplements are your health insurance policy!
What happens if I don't take a Bariatric Multi?
Gastric Sleeve and Gastric Bypass patients who opt out of supplementation generally report they "feel ok" and can't see what they are missing. However, about two years into the journey, cracks may start to form, as their body has essentially been running on empty - long enough to have considerable impacts on health.
Once this point is reached, a catch-up operation begins! A tedious slog of doctor's visits for iron infusions, Vitamin B12 injections, and blood monitoring follows. The dream of losing weight and feeling fabulous feels further away once again.
I keep forgetting to take my WLS Multi: What can I do?
Hopefully, more profound knowledge of why Bariatric Multis are so important will help you make the daily exercise of taking them higher on your to-do list to keep you on track every day.
If you tend to be forgetful, here are some tips:
1. Visual cues are critical: Write reminders on the fridge, your bathroom mirror
2. Set an alarm! You set one to wake up. Set an alarm to take your Bariatric Vitamin as well.
Bathroom
Where you watch TV or relax
Kitchen bench
Office or workspace
Tying it all together, vitamin supplements for weight loss, which is your ultimate goal, are achieved by your body consuming the proper amount of nutrients and vitamins. Taken daily, these supplements. Until you are totally on board with the feeling that you deserve good health or are important enough to be at the top of your priorities list, you might find you "forget" or "can't" or "will try to do it better next week".
When this happens regularly with self-care, it's good to reach out for some support from a counsellor, psychologist or coach to refine your beliefs to match the health and weight loss goal you have set for yourself.
When this happens regularly with self-care, it's good to reach out for some support from a counsellor, psychologist or coach to refine your beliefs to match the health and weight loss goal you have set for yourself.Nutritional deficiencies after Bariatric Surgery can absolutely be mitigated or resolved through nutritional supplements such as BN Healthy products.
Undergoing Weight Loss Surgery is a tremendous step toward long-term health if it is utilized properly as a tool. This means establishing and maintaining new habits that will ultimately maximize your health: proper nutrition, an exercise regimen, and taking your vitamins!
Note: Vitamin supplements for weight loss are not the same as Bariatric vitamin supplements. Bariatric vitamin supplements are not designed for weight loss. However, by taking bariatric vitamin supplements, your body will function adequately, which only helps the weight loss process.
Supplements explicitly designed for weight loss should only be used under the medical supervision of a physician. The best multivitamin for Bariatric patients follows the ASMBS guidelines. All BN Healthy products are formulated to follow these guidelines.
It's for the BEST OF YOUR LIFE.
Not sure what supplements to look for?
BN Healthy Bariatric vitamins and supplements cater to all Weight Loss Surgery types.
We have made it easy to help you choose the right product for YOU in under a minute.
