Surgery

Gastric Bypass Surgery Diet Article

Stop calcium deficiency in gastric bypass patients

Most americans do not get enough calcium in their diets; the average daily intake is five hundred milligrams shy of the rdi (recommended daily intake) of 1,000 to 1,500 milligrams. Gastric bypass surgery patients are even more unlikely to intake enough dietary calcium and without supplementation they can become calcium deficient which ultimately results in osteoporosis. Weight loss surgery individuals are limited by the volume of calcium rich foods they may consume.

In addition, the malabsorption issue caused from gastric bypass presents another problem. Since the bowel does not readily absorb calcium and the stomach is drastically shortened there is limited opportunity for the calcium to be absorbed in the body. Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body - we have two or three pounds of it, most of which is situated in the bones and teeth. In addition to building bones and teeth, calcium is an electrolyte required for transmitting nerve signals, water balance, acid/alkaline balance and maintaining osmotic pressure. It helps the blood to coagulate and is necessary for the heart muscle function. It's long been known that calcium can aid in the prevention of osteoporosis, but new studies are identifying calcium for it's anticancer actions within the colon. A lot of dietary calcium comes from dairy products but will also be found in sardines, canned salmon, green leafy vegetables and tofu. The national academy of sciences has raised the calcium guideline to 1,000 milligrams a day for people less than 51, and to 1,200-1,500 milligrams a day for people over fifty-one.

Gastric bypass surgery patients can do 3 things to better assimilate calcium in the Body: First, ingest a chewable calcium supplement twice daily. Second, exercise consistently. Third, enjoy sunshine every day.

Chewable supplements taken twice daily will more rapidly dissolve and assimilate into the body than hard pills. They should be five hundred milligrams each; the body cannot absorb more than 500 milligrams at a time. The best supplements are calcium citrate, calcium carbonate and calcium lactate. Next, studies show that individuals who exercise regularly better assimilate calcium into the body than sedentary individuals. Even though us astronauts ingest calcium supplements in orbit, they return to earth calcium deficient; nasa believes absence of physical activity prevents their bodies from assimilating the calcium. And exercise is also very good for gastric bypass surgery patients to keep the weight down! Finally, get a lot sunshine. Twenty minutes a day of direct or indirect sunlight will give the body plenty of natural vitamin d, the "sunshine vitamin", which is necessary for calcium assimilation.

Doing these three things will make you feel great today and will contribute to healthier aging. Osteoporosis is an epidemic in this country and is straight attributed to calcium deficiency. We all know that when an elderly person falls and breaks a hip death is imminent. Osteoporosis is almost always the reason why hipbones break when elderly people fall. In the event of osteoporosis there is nothing the body can do to defend itself from the lack of calcium associated with aging. Supplementation is essential throughout adulthood to avoid chronic calcium deficiency.