Why do I have to see a Dietitian Pre and Post Bariatric Surgery Anyway?

If I am getting bariatric surgery for weight loss, why do I have to see a dietitian?

As a Bariatric Registered Dietitian, I get that question all the time. Patients think that when they have been through the weight loss fiasco with diets and deals, points, food delivery, urine testing, injecting, carbohydrate counting, and Keto, their diet days are a thing of the past.

Patients figure that when they have made the decision to get Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery, they are done with dieting. Well, it all depends on your frame of reference. A “diet” can be used to help many ailments from Diabetes to Autism from GOUT to Cancer. The dietitian is available for many reasons. This includes the Bariatric Diet that you will help you make changes before and after your surgery to help you lose the weight you desire and keep it off, for good.

Some people think that dietitians are for weight loss only. But what about when you are in the hospital? The correct diet can make a patient's recovery much easier regardless of the type of surgery. Or what about the calculations of a tube feeding; who does that? The dietitian, of course. People associate the word “DIET” with some sort of food shortage or change in what they are going to be able to eat. As mentioned above, a “DIET” can be used to help an existing ailment or to eat healthier as in a “lifestyle change,” and that usually includes; weight loss.

Before Bariatric weight loss surgery, either the bariatric center or insurance company will require you to have one to six dietary consult visits 30 days apart with a Bariatric Registered Dietitian.