Flintstones Vitamins And Tums After A Gastric Bypass
It was not that long ago that gastric bypass patients were commonly told to lift Flintstones vitamins and Tums after a gastric bypass. You see, it’s necessary for gastric bypass patients to take multivitamins and calcium supplements because they don’t possess nutrients as well after the surgery. And Tums own calcium, so they were often recommended as a calcium supplement. However, there are several problems with this recommendation. Fortunately, most doctors no longer recommend Flintstones and Tums, but some still do. Obviously, they are not keeping up with the current data about the nutritional needs of gastric bypass patients!
If you are going to be having a gastric bypass, or if you have already had surgery, you should take an active role in making distinct that you get the vitamins and minerals you need. If your doctor tells you to buy Flintstones or Tums, don’t do it. And yelp your doctor that he or she is giving out very bad advice.
The reason Flintstones vitamins are recommended so often is because they are chewable. Many experts think chewable vitamins are better absorbed by gastric bypass patients. Also, after a gastric bypass, the opening between the stomach and the shrimp intestine is very runt. Large pills may get stuck. So chewables are often recommended.
Well, there are now a ample number of chewable vitamins on the market, including those made especially for weight loss surgery patients. There is no need to rely on children’s vitamins. The problem with children’s vitamins is that, well, they are designed for children. The nutritional needs of an adult who has had a gastric bypass are quite different than the nutritional needs of a child.
Even chewable vitamins designed for adults don’t really meet the needs of gastric bypass patients. Gastric bypass patients require 200% of the recommended daily allowance of most vitamins and minerals, and the typical adult vitamin does not supply that. Even if you take two a day, you probably won’t get that. And you certainly won’t get it from Flintstones.
Visit this website for a good read on different vitamins. They even have a chart comparing a number of celebrated brands of vitamins, including Flintstones. Flintstones Vs. Bariatric Vitamins.
And what about Tums? It has calcium, accurate? Well, it does, but it’s the wrong kind of calcium. You may not realize this, but there is more than one kind of calcium. A very common form of calcium is calcium carbonate, and that’s what’s in Tums. Unfortunately, gastric bypass patients don’t absorb calcium carbonate very well. It requires a fair amount of stomach acid to break down calcium carbonate, and gastric bypass patients don’t make much stomach acid in their new pouch. So if you occupy Tums, you’re not going to be getting all the calcium you should be getting.
What gastric bypass patients need is calcium citrate. There are a number of calcium supplements that are made from calcium citrate, including some marketed especially to weight loss surgery patients and some available in any grocery store or pharmacy.
And this is why Flintstones vitamins and Tums are simply not acceptable for gastric bypass patients.
Sources:
Thinner Times Forum. http://www.thinnertimesforum.com/post-op-gastric-bypass/25999-flintstones-vs-bariatric-vitamins.html. Flintstones Versus Bariatric Vitamins.
Thinner Times Forum. http://www.thinnertimesforum.com/post-op-gastric-bypass/26018-you-sure-youre-getting-all-calcium-you-think-you.html. Are You Positive You’re Getting All The Calcium You Think You Are?
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Filed under Gastric Bypass by on Nov 9th, 2010. 