Vegan and gastric bypass

Question
I'm 6 years out and have maintained a 136 pound weight loss.  I've been vegan for the last month.  My concern is the amount of carbs I'm taking in from beans and fruit.  Is it possible to maintain my weight loss with the increase in carbs?  Also, when I had my surgery I was told I should have 80 grams of protein a day.  Is it still that way or can I have less at this point?

Answer
Hi Sheila,

I think it can be reasonable for gastric bypass patients to maintain on a vegan diet, but it does take more work.

You should still be targeting 60-80 grams of protein per day. On a vegan diet, this can mean having to may a lot of attention to how you combine things like nuts, seed, grains, legumes and pulses to assure you get all your essential amino acids in adequate amounts each day. It might also be worth considering some supplementation with soy or pea protein.

If you focus your vegan diet on healthy foods and still stay away from refined starches and sugars, the overall amount of carbohydrate in your diet will not have the same impact. You also still need to keep your overall calories in check, but most people find vegan diet to be pretty filling.

Finally, I really caution vegans about B12, iron, calcium, and zinc. Please make sure you are good with your supplementation and getting regular labs done. It's even more important if you follw this kind of diet as your risk for key deficiencies increases.

Hope this helps!

In Health,

Dr Jacques

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