Intragastric balloon: What awaits you after this operation?

A few months ago we saw what the intragastric balloon consisted of and how it can help people with obesity to reduce weight and improve health and quality of life . Do not confuse this type of surgery with a shortcut or whim to lose weight, it is indicated in extreme or complicated cases of obesity.

But it is not about placing the intragastric balloon and continue eating as before waiting for the kilos to disappear. It is a more complicated process in which we must take into account several aspects, the most important: food education .

Possible side effects after placing the balloon

Keep in mind that the ball is a foreign body for our body and this can affect the normal behavior of our digestive system. In the first two or three days may appear the feeling of nausea and vomiting . Rarely diarrhea or gastric pain appears, although if it were to occur it is necessary to go to the doctor.

You can not eat what you want after placing the ball

Taking into account that we have considerably reduced the size of our stomach, we can not continue eating as before placing the ball. First you have to drink liquid foods and, little by little, introduce semi-solid and solid foods as they are tolerated. They also make several meals a day (5-6), with the intention that these meals are light and distribute the daily intake, to avoid excess calories, acidity or heaviness.

So you would start with a liquid-based diet the first few days, followed by semi-solid foods (purées or baby food). Once the first month has passed, normally they begin to introduce solid foods into the diet, in small quantities and chewing very well. Sometimes you can vomit by not tolerating solid foods, so it’s about learning again what solid foods feel better and which ones to avoid.

The diet will be low in calories and sugary drinks and pastries are avoided

A smaller stomach needs smaller meals now, this means a hypocaloric diet . You will also avoid carbonated drinks, sugary foods and pastries, which contain a lot of sugar and have a lot of calories.

Come on, that the first weeks after implanting in intragastric balloon is as if you were on a strict diet . And to avoid nutrient deficits, especially the first month with the liquid and semi-solid diet, it is usual to supplement with protein shakes, iron and vitamins. In addition to needing to take a gastric protector.

To verify that everything is going well, the revisions are periodic and will be analytical to verify that the feeding is correct.

Food reeducation and exercise are fundamental

The intragastric balloon treatment usually lasts about seven months, during which time it is essential that we have acquired new habits : food and exercise. Otherwise, after the withdrawal of the ball we will gain weight progressively until we recover the one we had before.

Learning how to make a healthy purchase, cook, recognize the best foods or establish a daily exercise routine is essential during the treatment. The ball will make us lose many kilos, but to come back is our thing and we have to put a lot of our part.

Not everything is as beautiful as they are painted with the intragastric balloon

You can hear that it is miraculous and that many kilos are lost in a short time (usually lose a kilo per week, about 25-35 during the entire treatment). But the intragastric balloon also involves sacrifice : eating little and not everything you want, learning to eat healthy, exercise, go to periodic checkups and face possible side effects such as nausesa and vomiting.