Maximum Nutrition, Minimum Calories

There is more to losing weight, maintaining weight and choosing a healthy diet after gastric bypass than simply limiting food intake and avoiding sugars. Patients must learn to make food selections that have a high nutrient:energy ratio. Considerable research indicates that the dietary fat level, independent of total caloric intake, is a predictor of fat storage. A contributing factor is the difference in metabolic efficiency of converting dietary fats to body fat compared to the relative inefficiency of converting carbohydrates to body fat. The recommendation that no more than 25% of daily caloric intake come from fat is in keeping with good nutritional practices and may also lower the risk of heart disease and cancer. Patients should have nutrition counseling supplemented with written materials on label reading and recognizing high fat foods, types of fat and cholesterol, serving sizes, meal planning, low fat cooking and dining out. Choosing foods with a high nutrient:energy ratio allows the patient to eat an increased volume and thus a wider variety of foods to meet their nutrient and energy requirements.