Bubbles, beer, wine and spirits after gastric sleeve surgery
Reader's question: Hi trudy..really enjoying your helpful book...have not had a drink yet..3 months..but a bit confused,,u suggest choosing beer over wine over spirits..my surgeon is not keen on beer..bubbles...and dietician has suggested wine or scotch may be a better choice for me....any thoughts?? Thanks!
Great question with no short answer but I will try. If you were my client ....
Bubbles - lots of conjecture around this after a gastric sleeve. There ought to be no physiological reason why you could not manage bubbles. But for a small few, the bubbles might cause more burping and/or reflux. If you have a history of reflux, you may already know whether bubbles cause(ed) you discomfort or not. Try bubbles for yourself to find out ... aim not to eat at the same time so you avoid any confusion with over-filling the sleeve. Drink the same volume of fluid that you know you tolerate well. That's the easy part.
Beer vs wine vs spirit. The latter two contain more kJs than beer for the same volume. Because you are volume limited, drinking beer means you would drink fewer kJs. Wine and spirits have a higher alcohol content. For some, it now takes less alcohol to get them tipsy. In the end, the choice hinges on how much and how often you drink alcohol, when and why you drink it. If you don't drink much and you don't drink often, wine or spirits will be fine if they fit the social occasion. If you have a drink every night after work, the kJs from alcohol will sneak up quickly if you choose spirits over beer. Of course, if you plan to dine when you drink, then the overall volume of food + drinks needs to be managed.
Be guided by your dietitian and surgeon as they know your full history. If you test the bubbles, be honest with your surgeon and dietitian so they learn from your experience - good or bad. I'd love feedback about your bubble test if you do one!
cheers
Trudy