dianeseattle
Member
I think hydration is one of the most difficult concepts to understand after surgery. Most people struggle to drink "enough" water even if they're told how much to drink. A lot of people are addicted to soda and other beverages they drank too much of before surgery.
But focusing only on water, I'd like to share with you that there's a solid medical reason why it's the liquid of choice post-op.
Water doesn't simply quench thirst. It interacts with your organs, your metabolism, your heart function, your brain's ability to process thoughts. I remember many years ago reading that you can live a lot longer without food than you can without water.
But let me underscore the benefit of water on your entire body. It's necessary for every organ from your skin to your brain, and of course, helps dispose of toxins and waste.
But most of us struggle with water consumption and we want to take in other liquids instead. A sugar-free popsicle is a pretty good substitute, but a protein shake is not. You simply cannot skip water in favor of soda or nutritional drinks. You can certainly drink both. But Water has a specific set of chemical functions your body needs to survive.
When I had my surgery 16 years ago, I was recruited into a 7-year university study about all the aspects of bariatric surgery. I had to fill out hundreds of pages of documents and go in for physical and blood tests every month. And I mean, they took six or seven vials of blood at a time. I'm still not sure that was; as necessary as it was sadistic!
I was constantly monitored for water consumption. I was also monitored for other drinks, but I didn't enjoy them, so I made my own protein drinks and drank about a gallon of water every day.
Things turned out really well for me. My whole life changed. Most notably, I think, was how my diet slowed the aging process. I'm 72 and there's not one thing wrong with me. I should knock wood there. But people die young in my family. I've lost a brother and a sister. He was younger, she was older. I remember watching them decline and being scared to death and wondering how they could drink so much soda and eat so much junk food while they were dying.
I have a lot of respect for Johns Hopkins Medical School and have found them extremely helpful over these last 16 years. I think this is an especially helpful document related to hydration. I hope you agree.
But focusing only on water, I'd like to share with you that there's a solid medical reason why it's the liquid of choice post-op.
Water doesn't simply quench thirst. It interacts with your organs, your metabolism, your heart function, your brain's ability to process thoughts. I remember many years ago reading that you can live a lot longer without food than you can without water.
But let me underscore the benefit of water on your entire body. It's necessary for every organ from your skin to your brain, and of course, helps dispose of toxins and waste.
But most of us struggle with water consumption and we want to take in other liquids instead. A sugar-free popsicle is a pretty good substitute, but a protein shake is not. You simply cannot skip water in favor of soda or nutritional drinks. You can certainly drink both. But Water has a specific set of chemical functions your body needs to survive.
When I had my surgery 16 years ago, I was recruited into a 7-year university study about all the aspects of bariatric surgery. I had to fill out hundreds of pages of documents and go in for physical and blood tests every month. And I mean, they took six or seven vials of blood at a time. I'm still not sure that was; as necessary as it was sadistic!
I was constantly monitored for water consumption. I was also monitored for other drinks, but I didn't enjoy them, so I made my own protein drinks and drank about a gallon of water every day.
Things turned out really well for me. My whole life changed. Most notably, I think, was how my diet slowed the aging process. I'm 72 and there's not one thing wrong with me. I should knock wood there. But people die young in my family. I've lost a brother and a sister. He was younger, she was older. I remember watching them decline and being scared to death and wondering how they could drink so much soda and eat so much junk food while they were dying.
I have a lot of respect for Johns Hopkins Medical School and have found them extremely helpful over these last 16 years. I think this is an especially helpful document related to hydration. I hope you agree.
