The importance of Protein after Weight Loss Surgery
Today I would like to talk to you about protein and why Dr. Campos, bariatric doctor here at Mexicali Bariatric Center insists so much on protein for weight loss surgery patients. I'm not talking immediately post-op, of course, it’s important to consume protein when you're healing because it will help heal your tissues and recover faster.
I've broken down how does protein intake actually determines your long term weight loss success.
1.- It’s actually harder for your body to digest and metabolize protein, so just by choosing protein versus any other food you will burn more calories.
2.- Protein will actually make you feel full for a longer time, when we have patients that call us and say: We're getting hungry in between meals or I eat and I'm starting to get hungry, we immediately want to check how much protein are they getting. Carbs will make you hungrier sooner, so you want to focus on your protein, you are less hungry, you eat less so you lose weight faster, protein will help you do that.
3.- And the third reason is that protein will actually help you build muscle. Why is muscle important in your weight loss? First, you want to lose your fat instead of your muscle, let’s say you jump on the scale and you've lost 10 pounds; fat is 3 times larger than muscle, meaning muscle can be 3 times more compact than fat, so you'll want to lose the fat and keep the muscle, How do you do that? You eat more your protein. That’s very important.
Another reason why building muscle is so important is that muscle will actually help you burn calories and you don't have to do anything. Just by sitting there, if you have more muscle mass you'll burn more calories. Muscle will burn 22% more calories than any other tissue in your body.
Who doesn't want that?
Who doesn't want that?
This is why men lose weight faster than women, because men typically have more muscle mass and this is also the reason why older patients lose weight a little bit slower, we lose muscle mass as we get older. There are numbers out there that indicate that a person loses ½ a pound of muscle mass in certain years and then 1 to 2 pounds a year on further years. So, let’s say that you're a woman and you are over 60, you will be losing weight more slowly if you don't have enough muscle mass. You should build more muscle by consuming more protein, focus on really getting in the daily protein requirements, specially if you are in that category.
How much protein? that’s a very good question.
It varies a lot, there are protein calculators out there, but on average at Mexicali Bariatric Center we ask our gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and DS patients to supplement 60 to 70 grams of protein a day, this is additional to what they're eating, we are targeting that somebody should be getting around 90 to 100 grams of protein a day, but is very difficult to get that with the small amounts that you are eating after weight loss surgery, so this is why supplementation is important. Drinking protein shakes, powders, liquids will help you reach your protein target, and it’s even safe to get up until 120 grams, it depends, check with your doctor or go on the online protein calculator, it depends on your weight, your age, gender and other variables, but you will get the target number there.
One last thing, in order for it to be healthy for you to be getting this much protein, water needs to go hand in hand with the protein, this is very important. Don't forget that. I hope this helps!
I will write to you soon.
For more information on weight loss surgery please visit mexicalibariatric.com or call us toll free at 1-888-344-3916.
