We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!
Problems with protein
cmchandler74
Posts: 507 Member
Hello, everyone. I'm hoping you guys can lend me some insight.
I am just over one month pre-op. I had my gastric sleeve on Mardi Gras Day, or as my friend Ben, who has also had the surgery calls it, "Unfat Tuesday."
My problem is that I seem to have a violent nauseous reaction to the protein shakes. Whenever I have any type of drink protein supplement, it nauseates me to the point of being non-functional. I have quit drinking them entirely, which, of course, is wreaking havoc with me being able to get in the 70 grams of protein a day my doctor has recommended. I have used Isopure with some success, so it doesn't seem to be the whey, but I can't put Isopure on everything I eat. I'm currently in the pureed food stage for another week before transitioning to soft mechanical.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm taking a good multi-vitamin that has biotin so hopefully I won't have drastic hair loss, but ideally, I know I need to up my protein intake.
I am just over one month pre-op. I had my gastric sleeve on Mardi Gras Day, or as my friend Ben, who has also had the surgery calls it, "Unfat Tuesday."
My problem is that I seem to have a violent nauseous reaction to the protein shakes. Whenever I have any type of drink protein supplement, it nauseates me to the point of being non-functional. I have quit drinking them entirely, which, of course, is wreaking havoc with me being able to get in the 70 grams of protein a day my doctor has recommended. I have used Isopure with some success, so it doesn't seem to be the whey, but I can't put Isopure on everything I eat. I'm currently in the pureed food stage for another week before transitioning to soft mechanical.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm taking a good multi-vitamin that has biotin so hopefully I won't have drastic hair loss, but ideally, I know I need to up my protein intake.
0
Replies
-
Do you think it might be the thickness of the shakes? If so, I would dilute them with water or add unflavored protein powder to your pureed foods. There are also some protein soups that a lot of people on here like that might be good. I use a drink that I mix with water and crystal light called profuse that you can get online at profusehealth.com. Its a liquid instead of a shake. Hang in there. Your stomach will get more tolerant of different foods before you know it.0
-
How are you with eating greek yogourt? If it's too thick you could water it down a little and maybe blend some low GI fruit in there for taste? I can't tolerate protein shakes and I haven't even had the surgery yet, so that will be my go-to protein source in the first weeks after surgery.0
-
Yeah, I couldn't do the protein shakes or powder after surgery either. Things that helped:
Fage 2% greek yogurt. I added vanilla extract and splenda. 20G of protein
Replacing 12-24 oz of your water with skim milk - 8g protein/8 oz
Refried beans with a bit of velveeta (not a ton of protein, but the velveeta makes it taste better and has more than the beans even)
Try making popsicles or ice cream out of the protein shakes or adding protein powder to pudding and making popsicles out of that. It still has a taste issue but not a thickness issue any more. I used a vanilla protein shake, blended with ice and a banana for taste and then sat it in the freezer until I could eat it with a spoon. It was way better.
You could puree some fish and pretend it is fancy pate. I did not do this, but theoretically you could.
I was told to aim for 60g protein. I usually hit between 45 and 50 on purees. Once I was able to eat soft food and added fish I got up to 60 pretty regularly. Just do the best you can I guess. Good luck!0 -
There are some great ideas here. (Also, thanks for overlooking "pre-op" when I meant "post-op.")
I've been making greek yogurt thinned with skim milk a staple, so I'll try to up it in content by going frozen with it for snacks. I have also been eating refried beans but I haven't thought to add cheese, so I'll do that as well.
As for protein shakes, I can only use the Isopure powder to supplement - everything else has made me so sick. If I even drink half a glass of anything with the protein shake powders in it, I get so nauseated I can't function. But I will try the Isopure with pudding - hadn't thought of that. If I make it with skim milk on top of that, then it'll be a double-hit.
And maybe I'll just start hitting skim milk in general much harder. I've tried three different types of protein shake supplements now and all of them have debilitated me, so I'm just not willing to try them again.
Someone suggested that I might want to try some of the organic protein shakes that are out there, but I'm wary to waste money on yet another thing that may make me ill. Has anyone had any experience with them?0 -
Hi - I haven't tried organic, but I'm wondering if it's the whey? I'm sure there are folks on here who use the soy, etc. I pretty much found the only protein drink I could stand was similar to what jm1fullerton was saying - I used Optimum Nutrition Tropical Punch and mixed it with Crystal Light. Nashua Nutrition will let you buy little samples of certain protein powders for 1.95 each. Might be worth checking out. Good luck!0
-
Yeah, the shakes nauseated me because of their thickness. Preop I thought they were great. I'd maybe try mixing a bit of the powder you can tolerate in with the beans as well. Even if it's only 1/4 a serving or something. Every little bit helps. But yeah, hitting the skim milk helped me the most I think.0
-
Also, have you tried the Isopure liquid drinks? I see you have the powder but they also have flavored liquid drinks that are a ton of protein and count towards your water intake. They are the consistency of water.0
-
I had not heard about the Isopure liquid drinks, so I will definitely check those out. And I'm not sure it's the whey that I'm reacting to because Isopure is whey powder and I don't have problems with that. I was thinking this morning that it could be iron - I have a pretty bad reaction to it under normal circumstances, and if those powders have it in them (I haven't checked yet), that could be the problem.0
-
First, I recommend trying sample sizes of as many different protein shake types as you can. There is such a variety of flavors and textures and types of protein. Before we had surgery my husband stocked us up an a HUGE tub of protein powder and then we hated it. ...liked it before surgery and hated it after. So try single servings if you can and see what you can tolerate and expect it to change with time, it most likely will. I think it's Nector or one of the other brands that has a flavorless clear protein that you can add to other things, like greek yogurt etc. You might try that. I found with one particular protein powder that drinking it warm, like hot chocolate made it better. So do some experimentation. Post op there will be things that will be a problem for while and then not. I'm 3 years out from RNY. For the 1st 9 months or so eggs made me vomit every time I tried them. Now I'm fine with them, but honey makes me dump to this day (though unfortunately I can eat a candy bar and be fine).
0 -
Unjury makes anuonflavored protein powder that really helps by adding protein to savory items. Broth with the unflavored + spices makes a good savory drink. If it is the whey that you are reacting to , it won't help, but it is a thought. If it is the thickness or sweetness, Syntrax nectar makes a bunch of fruity flavors that taste quite good. I liked the Roadside Lemonade best. You can get a sampler pack from them directly ($15 for 15 single serving packets of most of their flavors).
https://www.si03.com/reg_index.htm
Look for the phone numberin the Nectar Variety Sampler area on the front page.
Rob0 -
I couldn't do any of the suggested protein shakes. I do a vegan protein shake and I've had no issues with it. It's calls Veggie protein powder. I got it in vanilla and chocolate. I mix 1 scoop with 8oz of cashew milk and fill the rest of my tumbler with water. It helps me get more water in and it thins out the shake. I like to add pb2 powder, instant decaf coffee or a squirt of lime in the vanilla to mix things up a bit.0
This discussion has been closed.