Weight Loss After Colon Surgery

Surgical procedures are traumatic events to the body, so some weight loss is expected. Even more weight loss is anticipated in the event of a surgical procedure on your digestive tract, such as colon surgery, as you will have to modify your diet to cope with your post-operative situation. However, with time, patience, and a willingness to work to regain the weight, putting the pounds back on after colon surgery can be as easy as a few extra trips to the kitchen.

Colon Surgery

Understand how colon surgery alters the digestive process to better understand how to cope with it in the future. During most procedures, the length of your colon (large intestine) will be shortened or wholly removed. This will effectively reduce the amount of time your body has to absorb nutrients from food during the process of digestion, as a good portion of digestion occurs within the large intestine. Therefore, immediately following colon surgery you will not only be losing weight through eating less (as you will be on a liquid diet and it is difficult to drink as many calories as you would normally eat), you will also be losing weight through slight malabsorption, as your body will not be fully utilizing the food you consume.

Reversing Weight Loss

Eat more of the right foods to reverse the process of weight loss as soon as you are recovered enough to return to a solid food diet. According to information from the University of Michigan Health System, weight loss following surgery is perfectly normal and you should be able to easily compensate by making slight changes to your regular diet. Limit high-fat and high-fiber foods after colon surgery, but other than that you are unrestricted as far as dietary choices are concerned.

The first step to regaining weight may sound simple, but it is often overlooked -- snack more throughout the day. Instead of having three main meals, consume six or seven smaller meals so that you are constantly grazing throughout the day. This will ensure that you take in more calories without needing to actively think about it. Second, always begin your meals with eating your fill of higher-calorie foods before moving to those with fewer calories. For example, do not begin your meal with a salad, as it is fairly low in calories and will serve to take up room in your stomach that could have been used by more calorie-dense food. Finally, sneak in extra calories by using simple calorie-adding powders like protein and powdered milk. A few scoops per day of either can easily add several hundred calories to your diet.