Nutrition and Vitamin Comparisons - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

MiladyB · 10-12-2009, 10:57 AM

I received this chart from my surgeon's nutritionist today. (I LOVE my nutritionist!!) As a support group leader I get members who have had different types of weight loss surgery. I wanted to know the difference between the nutrition and vitamin recommendations for the varies types of weight loss surgeries. She sent me this chart and I thought all of you might find it as helpful as I did.

Corrine · 10-12-2009, 11:38 AM

That's an excellent chart Beth. Pity we don't all have a nutritionalist with that knowledge.

MiladyB · 10-12-2009, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corrine

That's an excellent chart Beth. Pity we don't all have a nutritionalist with that knowledge.

Yep, she certainly has a heart for her job. She isn't a wls patient but she struggled with being morbidly obese for years. She's been able to maintain a 80 pound weight loss for years. I told her once how much people on here appreciate her knowledge and all the information she gives. She teared up.

So yeah, I think I've got a prize in her.

poet_kelly · 10-12-2009, 12:08 PM

Beth, I love your dietician!

I have a question, though. Under vitamins, it doesn't list B12. Do they not recommend that?

Kelly

hollycerniglia · 10-12-2009, 12:18 PM

Thanks for the chart. It was helpful.

MiladyB · 10-12-2009, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poet_kelly

Beth, I love your dietician!

I have a question, though. Under vitamins, it doesn't list B12. Do they not recommend that?

Kelly

Kelly, they don't include B12 because they have their patients take the Celebrate vitamins. Celebrate has the highest amount of B12 in their multi than any other bariatric vitamin. The practice has found that the amounts in the vitamins are enough to maintain a normal level of B12 the majority of the time. So no additional B12 is needed unless labs indicate the need. I was doing an additional B12 sublingual for several months. My B12 came back really high. I stopped taking the additional B12 and just stayed with the Celebrate multi-vitamin. It seems to be enough for me because my B12 levels are high normal at this time. I get it checked every 6 months to keep an eye on it.

poet_kelly · 10-12-2009, 01:56 PM

Huh. I thought we couldn't asborb it from a vitamin that we swallow, because we now lack the intrinsic factor that you need to absorb it? I take ENS, and two of those has the same amount of B12 as the chewable multis, plus I use the B12 patch, and mine's still kinda low. Wonder why?

Kelly

MiladyB · 10-12-2009, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poet_kelly

Huh. I thought we couldn't asborb it from a vitamin that we swallow, because we now lack the intrinsic factor that you need to absorb it? I take ENS, and two of those has the same amount of B12 as the chewable multis, plus I use the B12 patch, and mine's still kinda low. Wonder why?

Kelly

Kelly, from the information that I have read we can absorb B12 in an oral formulation as long as we are taking an adequate amount.

You can refer to this article from Webscape:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545489_5

Quote:

Vitamin B12 absorption is dependent on the presence of intrinsic factor, which is produced in the parietal cells of the stomach. In addition, hydrochloric acid is necessary to cleave vitamin B12 from protein in the stomach. These variations can lead to deficiencies in patients after gastric bypass surgery.[21] Monthly B12 injections are effective in this population; however, appropriate supplementation can also be achieved by using the oral formulation (1000 µg daily). [22] This helps these patients avoid the inconvenience of frequent health care visits and the pain associated with injections.

Everyone is different and the absorption of many of the vitamins will vary from one person to another. It's not only with B12. For example I am on 100mg of iron to keep my levels in the low normal range. Others will do just fine with only 30mg of iron. You just never know. Exactly the reason we need to keep such a close eye on our labs.

TooManyExcuses · 11-04-2009, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiladyB

Celebrate has the highest amount of B12 in their multi than any other bariatric vitamin.

This is incorrect. Bariatric Fusion vitamins have 600mcg of B12. Compared to the 350mcg of Celebrate. Aditionally, Fusion vitamins also have calcium citrate and iron in its vitamins. Celebrate does not. You need additonal supplements for calcium and iron. Fusion is also 25 bucks a month and you take 4 vitamins a day. It is by far the most complete vitamin for WLS patients. It is 25 bucks a month. Celebrate are 15 bucks if you buy 90 days, but you still need to add the iron, the calcium and you are getting a lesser quanitity of b12, which all people WLS or not, have a very difficult time absorbing

poet_kelly · 11-04-2009, 12:58 PM

Bariatric Fusion says on the label you only need to take four a day, but the ASMBS says we need 200% of the RDA of most vitamins and minerals after RNY, and four Bariatric Fusion doesn't give you that. It gives you 200% of some stuff, but four only gives you 100% of many things, including vitamin E, riboflavin, niacin, B6, and pantothenic acid. You would need to take eight a day in order to get the 200% we need.

They do contain some calcium citrate, but they contain some calcium carbonate. And they don't tell you how of of each they contain, only that it's 300 mg total per tablet. So if you took four a day, that would be 1200 mg. Only there is no way to know how much of it is citrate and how much is carbonate. And we need 1500 - 2000 mg calcium per day. So you would need to take some additional calcium citrate, but there's no way to figure out just how much.

Kelly