November 2022
Jacqui Lewis - BHSc Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine
Digestive Health After Bariatric Surgery
Your digestive system is home to many bacteria that affect your body's functions. When there's a team of "good guys" who keeps watching, they keep your digestive processes symptoms-free and your brain and immune system functioning as they should.
These gut bacteria can affect:
- How you store fat
- The balance of glucose levels in your blood
- Respond to hormones that make you feel hungry or satisfied
The wrong “crowd” on board can set the stage for obesity and other health issues later in life.
Gut bacteria may also produce feel-good chemicals that regulate mood, including serotonin and dopamine. A nervous system in your gut (known as the “second brain”) communicates with the brain in your head.
In other words, your body and brain's wellness depend on your digestive health.
Foods for a healthy gut
FIBRE – the insoluble fibre found in
- Fruits - watermelon, grapefruit, nectarines
- Veggies - garlic, onion, asparagus
- Legumes - lentils, soybeans, chickpeas
- Ceral - pasta, oats, rye breads
- Nuts and seeds - cashews, chia seeds
These foods are good sources of fibre that can support the good bacteria in your gut. You can also use supplement fibre when space is in short supply!
What are the signs of "bad bacteria"?
FERMENTATION
- Burping, Flatulence
- Inconsistent Poo (too runny or too hard)
- Constipation
- Reflux, "Foaming” Burps
SLOW DIGESTION
(Irregular elimination of waste - bloating)
Feeling full for a long time after even small meals
REGULAR COLDS & FLU
Urinary tract infections and poor wound healing inside and
outside the body.
THRUSH, CANDIDA
Athlete's foot or tinea (anywhere on the body)
POOR NUTRIENT ABSORPTION
Poor absorption of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.
Easy ways to support your gut health
Stop feeding the bad guys!
The bad guys thrive on refined sugars, alcohol, white bread, pasta, etc.
Think of your good guys like crowd control.
The more you have – the less room there is for the bad guys to thrive!
Drink fresh water. Slowly begin to add foods that are high in fibre, such as vegetable sna dlegumes into your diet. Increase your intake of fermented foods such as kimchi or saucraut and include yoghurt into your diet.
Foods that are key in hedging the good guys set up health-building “colonies” are:
GARLIC
OATS
VEGGIES
Let's look at a comprehensive digestive health regime
Looking after your digestive health after surgery makes total sense!
Considering the surgery itself reconfigures the digestive system, the key to preventing
so many diseases and health complaints begins with healthy digestion.
It makes total sense to centre your focus on the healthiest digestion possible.
Weed, Seed, Seal and Feed
Weed: Eliminate the invasive/pathogenic bacteria that cause disruptions to
- Overall health
Candida albicans
- H-Pylori,
- A few other pathogenic strains are rife in the tummy of a person living with obesity.
Weed out the bad guys by increasing:
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Pomegranates
- Beets
- Carrots
- Raw Garlic
All of which have been used traditionally to kill parasites.
Seed: Plant a new "garden" with healthy bacteria for your health needs.
Each strain brings different benefits and feeds off different components of our food, which is why it is so important to focus on increasing the variety of foods in our diet. Including broad-spectrum probiotic supplements is an option that may assist to re-establish a healthy gut 'colony'. Please just make sure to talk with your health professional if a supplement is right for you!
Think of the probiotic strains as seeds; you'll understand that they will need to be fed and watered the right things to grow into "colonies," which is the ideal scenario for "crowding out the bad bacteria" and protecting your long-term health.
Seal: No, not like the sea animal!! - 'seal' -like creating a place where nothing can leak through. A huge cause of systemic inflammation/immune system reactivity is "leaks” or "gaps" in the digestive tract wall.
As much as the mucosa is permeable, which allows vital nutrients and minerals to pass into the bloodstream, we don't want unprocessed foods leaking. When this happens, the immune system detects these particles as foreign. It mounts its attack—leading to overstimulation of the immune system and other unhealthy effects, such as having these food particles affecting mood as they enter the blood-brain barrier.
Things that can help seal your digestive tract include:
- Bone Broths
- Collagen
- Anti-inflammatory agents like curcumin, slippery elm, and gentian
Feed: Now you've set up the scene:
- Weeded out any nasties
- Seeded and introduced the good guys
- Sealed the digestive tract lining
It's time to feed!
Probiotics (pro-life) need prebiotics - food for the good bacteria to thrive.
Prebiotics come from healthy forms of fibre.
Think of fibre as a big magnetic broom - it sweeps and attracts all manner of toxins from the system and takes them to the toilet where they belong!
