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Alternative Protein Sources For Bariatric Surgery Patients
Thursday, July 01, 2004 -- By Diana Rosa, MS,

This article was reprinted courtesy of WLS Lifestyles, a quarterly magazine dedicated to the weight loss surgery community. For other great articles like this one, or to learn how to subscribe to the magazine, visit www.wlslifestyles.com.

Protein foods are the most important staple of post-bariatric surgery diet due to their ability to help the patient preserve muscle mass while on a very low-calorie-diet. However, it is not uncommon for patients, especially in the first 6-8 months post-op, to complain of trouble with tolerating meat proteins.

They often say that it feels as if the meat "is stuck," or like they just "swallowed a golf ball." Other patients have expressed an interest in changing to a vegetarian diet post-operatively and want to know how can they get enough protein in their daily intake.

The answer for some patients may be alternative protein sources such as tofu, tempeh, seitan and texturized vegetable protein. These are high quality forms of protein that are easy to digest and provide additional health benefits such as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and some hormone-dependent cancers, reducing menopausal symptoms in women and decreasing risk of osteoporosis. They are also very cost efficient as compared to meats.

I do not want to steer patients away from high biological value protein sources such as meat, poultry and fish. However, an alternative to these protein sources can provide variety to the post-surgical diet and can be used in addition to animal proteins. So what are these alternative protein sources, where do I find them, and how are they prepared?

While volumes could be written to answer these questions, I will try to cover the basics on tofu, tempeh, seitan and texturized vegetable proteins (TVP).

TOFU

Tofu is soybean curd that is produced by curdling fresh hot soymilk with a coagulant. The flavor of tofu is bland and easily absorbs flavors from other ingredients it is cooked with. It can be found in extra firm, firm, soft and silken varieties. Extra firm and firm tofu are solid and can be cubed or sliced. It can be grilled or marinated and baked, added to stir-fries, soups and stews. Three ounces of firm tofu contains 85-90 calories, 9 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbohydrate, 4 grams of fat, 200 milligrams of calcium and is also high in B vitamins.

Soft and silken tofu is generally used in recipes that call for blended tofu such as a replacement for ricotta cheese in a lasagna recipe. Silken tofu is a creamier product and can be used to replace cream in cream soups, sour cream or mayonnaise in dips, or salad dressings or as a substitute for cream cheese in most recipes. Soft and silken tofu contains 48 calories, 5 grams protein, and 1.8 grams of fat, 2 grams carbohydrate per 3 ounce serving. Soft and silken tofu does not contain as much calcium or b-vitamins as firm tofu.

TEMPEH

Tempeh is a fermented soybean cake sometimes mixed with rice, millet or vegetables. The texture of tempeh is chunky and firm, and it has a smoky, nutty and sometimes sweet taste depending on what it has been mixed with. It can be grilled, stir-fried or added to soup, casseroles or chili.

Tempeh has 175 calories, 18 grams of protein, 9 grams carbohydrate and 11 grams of fat per 3-ounce portion. It can be found in the refrigerator section of your health food or natural foods market and some supermarkets are also starting to stock it in their produce or natural foods sections. Don’t be afraid! It really does taste very good.

SEITAN

Seitan is derived from the protein portion of wheat. It can be used in place of meat in many recipes due to its texture being very close to meat, so much so, that many vegetarians shun it because it is too “meat-like.” Seitan has 7.5 grams of protein, 0 grams of fat and 0 carbohydrate per 1 ounce, which means it has .5 grams more protein than meat, poultry or fish.

You can find seitan in the refrigerator section of health food stores and Asian markets (sometimes called Mi-Tan). It is commercially available through White Wave foods and Litelife foods. It is usually vacuum packed in stew-like chunks, which are soaking in a marinade. You can also make your own seitan with Vital wheat gluten or mixes made by Arrowhead Mills and other manufacturers. You may have already eaten seitan if you ever had meatless hot dogs or lunchmeats or faux chicken or beef dishes at a Chinese restaurant.

This product has a myriad of uses and is very quick to prepare. It needs very little cooking as the prepared product has been simmered for an hour before packaging. It can be used in almost any recipe in place of meat and is best if simmered for 5 minutes, in just enough broth to cover the diced, sliced or chunked pieces of seitan, before adding to the final product. If the recipe you are using has any type of sauce, you can just add the pieces of seitan to the dish and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.

TEXTURIZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (TVP)

Texturized vegetable protein is found in many different forms and sizes, from very small granules to stew size chunks, and needs to be re-hydrated in liquid before using. When it is re-hydrated it has a chewy texture similar to meat. It contains 85 calories, 16 grams of protein, .1 gram of fat, and 8 grams of carbohydrate per ounce and is a good source of dietary fiber.

This product can also be used in a variety of ways depending on the size of the product being used. Small granules can be re-hydrated and used to make a “faux” chicken salad, while larger pieces can be used in stews or chili. TVP will absorb the flavor of the liquid it is re-hydrated in or the sauce it is simmered in; however, it does need to be re-hydrated before adding to a sauce unless it will be simmered for hours. This product is generally found in health food markets.

IN CONCLUSION

The alternative protein sources mentioned in this article are only a few of the high protein, non-meat alternatives available on the market today. There are a variety of products available in your local supermarket that are made with soy, such as cheese, milk, sour cream, cream cheese, lunch “meats” and “meat” crumbles, that are high protein, low-fat, lactose-free alternatives to the products that may be causing some gastrointestinal distress.

You have chosen to start a new life post-surgery; exploring some alternative food sources might be a step in the right direction.

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Suzanne-
Lap RNY 1-29-02