This week’s Bariatric Patient Question of the Week is one of the most common concerns among weight loss surgery patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery.
Can drinking too much water stretch your stomach after Gastric Bypass surgery?
Many of my own weight loss surgery patients often ask this question during follow-up office visits. It’s certainly a reasonable question.
You know that feeling when you’ve consumed too many fluids and you feel that your stomach is stretched out?
Well, rest assured, you’re in no danger of causing any damage to your post-op stomach pouch. Drinking liquids cannot cause this problem because the liquids pass through your system without restriction.
In fact, I strongly encourage you to drink plenty of water after surgery to prevent dehydration.
But Beware of Overeating After Gastric Bypass
But overeating after your bariatric surgery is another story:
Gastric bypass surgery alters the existing stomach into a tiny pouch that helps very obese people lose excess weight because they are only able to consume a small amount of food. However, consistently overeating can, in fact, result in overstretching the pouch.
As a result, this enlarged, overstretched pouch can allow you to eat more than you might otherwise be able to do and, unfortunately, begin to gain weight.
Water is Your Best Defense
So what’s the best defense against overeating after weight loss surgery?
Drink plenty of water and 0 calorie beverages throughout the day, and use caution in the volume and quality of your food.
If you feel uncertain or concerned about your post-op program, contact our Prime Surgicare team (specifically our staff dietician) who will be happy to help you.
About Dr. Seun Sowemimo, MD, FACS
“Dr. Seun” is a top NJ bariatric surgeon and the medical director at Prime Surgicare, with offices in Freehold serving Monmouth and Ocean counties. He is board-certified, Columbia and Yale University fellowship-trained in advanced laparoscopic, bariatric and general surgery.
To learn more, visit his YouTube channel or call Prime Surgicare at (732)-982-2002.
Dr. Seun,
I am a Doctoral Candidate in counseling psychology at Howard University and I am completing my dissertation on obesity in African American women.
I was contacting you to clarify whether or not a bariatric patient could really stretch and expand their stomach after surgery. I call it “eating through their surgery”. I know there are some of your colleagues who have deemed this a myth. Have there been any studies done on this topic or a possible case study? I would appreciate any assistance in confirming this. Thank you.
Kenneth C. Thomas,
Doctoral Candidate