What are the best protein shakes for gastric sleeve patients?
There are two types of protein supplements: ready-to-drink (store-bought) protein shakes, and protein shakes made with protein powder. In order to make protein shakes for gastric sleeve patients with protein powder, you have to mix the powder with milk or water. This requires a blender or a shaker bottle, and a little extra time and effort. Some people, prioritizing convenience, prefer to buy ready-to-drink protein shakes, but if they knew what they were drinking, they would probably feel sick to their stomach.
Ready-to-drink protein shakes are full of emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, sweeteners, and flavors. Ingredients like these improve characteristics like taste, texture, and shelf stability, but can cause uncomfortable side effects and long-term gut damage. This is worrisome because more and more research shows that disruptions to the composition and function of the gut microbiome (the collection of microorganisms that help you digest food) can impact the success of bariatric surgery. In other words, patients with healthy gut microbiomes have better outcomes; a healthy gut plays an important role in weight loss and helps reduce the likelihood of complications post-bariatric surgery. An overview of existing literature also shows that bariatric surgery itself can damage the gut microbiome, meaning that bariatric patients are at increased risk of developing gut-related diseases.
I therefore recommend that you avoid ready-to-drink protein shakes, and make your own gastric sleeve protein shakes with protein powder. That said, not all protein powders are created equal either, and many contain the same additives found in ready-to-drink shakes!
One of the reasons why we make the best protein powder for gastric sleeve patients is that we do not use food additives. Most protein powders, on the other hand, are full of food additives. Although not necessarily bad for you in small quantities, additives can add up quickly (especially if you drink a protein shake every day) and cause gastrointestinal (GI) side effects like bloating, constipation, diarrhea, gas, and stomach pain. This is because food additives are hard to digest, and sit in your gut for longer than food should, which gives your gut bacteria more time to eat. As they eat, these bacteria produce gas, which causes bloating and stomach pain. Gas also slows colonic transit (the amount of time it takes food to travel through the colon), and can lead to constipation. In the long term, food additives can disrupt regulatory pathways in the intestine, which can result in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and systemic inflammatory disorders.