Was a midnight run to the kitchen for a bowl of ice cream your guilty pleasure? How about an extra helping of gravy on your potatoes or meat? Did you come to the conclusion that some of your favorite foods the main culprits of your weight gain that led to you weight-loss surgery?
Here’s a bit of information that you might interpret as good news or bad news if you answered “yes” to the questions above: there are good odds that you will notice changes in your taste buds, among other senses, following your bariatric procedure.
This could mean that foods you once thoroughly enjoyed, foods that may have contributed to some unhealthy eating habits, might taste different going forward.
So what’s going on?
The phenomenon is known as Dysgeusia, which is described as an altered or impaired sense of taste. Doctors believe that it occurs in bariatric patients because of changes in hormonal production and generation due to the areas in the stomach that have been impaired or essentially shut off during the bariatric procedure.
According to the New Jersey Bariatric Center, these hormonal changes in the stomach have an effect on the central nervous system. They say that the nervous system sends “countless” messages relating to hunger, satiety and cravings every day between the GI tract and brain and changes in hormones in the stomach will “likely” produce changes in “taste, smell and gratification” of your “sensory perceptions,” i.e. taste buds.
Studies have shown that bariatric patients tend to experience a change in taste when it comes to foods with high animal fat content. This means that meats, dairy products, fish and eggs might not produce the same savory flavors as you remember. This could be due to the hormone Leptin, which is shown to increase when the body goes through weight loss. Higher production of Leptin could deliver greater food satisfaction when eating less and through foods with less flavor intensity (less animal fats).
So how can this be good for you?
Foods that are high in animal fat content tend to be those sweet, savory and greasy foods that the body craves and can lead to weight gain if consumed too often. If you’re less apt to eating these foods following surgery, it could be a definite benefit to your health. Bariatric patients might also experience less emotional eating because their appetite may feel more satisfied. Foods that we go to when we’re feeling emotional tend to be savory, unhealthy food so these changes to your senses may be help them feel less appealing.
How can this be bad for you?
Some bariatric patients experience sensitivity to high number of food options making it difficult to find foods that are appealing to eat. Following bariatric surgery, the body struggles to absorb the necessary vitamins and minerals it needs due less absorption in the stomach. If patients are struggling with the taste of foods that are good sources of vitamins the body needs, this could lead to nutritional deficiencies that impact well being. Because of this, it is extremely important that bariatric patients take a quality vitamin supplement following surgery.
Eating less fat heavy foods also makes it important to take a multivitamin that is high in fat-soluble vitamins. Vita4Life ADEK Multivitamins contain optimal levels of key nutrients that your body needs to maintain health following bariatric surgery. Vita4Life Multivitamins contain no fillers and are engineered with with bariatric patients in mind. Make Vita4Life Multivitamins and supplements part of your daily health regimen today!