Can Drinking Water Stretch your Stomach after Gastric Bypass?

After undergoing a laparoscopic gastric bypass,  patients often wonder about the limits of their new stomachs. Many are concerned that drinking water will cause their stomach to stretch.

So, can your stomach stretch after gastric sleeve surgery? Yes, it can. Food gets stored for a while in the stomach before being digested in different parts of your guy. As a result, excessive eating can overstretch your stomach after surgery. But drinking water does not seem to have this effect for several reasons.

The first reason is because not all the water you drink stays in your stomach: much of it is taken in immediately to be absorbed by the intestine. The second reason is because the amount of water needed to stretch the stomach simply cannot be consumed in one sitting after gastric bypass.

Benefits of Drinking Water after Gastric Sleeve Surgery

Zero Calories

Drinking water after gastric sleeve surgery has a lot of benefits. Water makes you feel full and thus reduces any compulsion you might have to eat or snack frequently. It also has no calories, giving you all the benefits of feeling full without counting toward your post-op calorie restrictions.

Easy Bowel Movements

When you are dehydrated, your body draws water from your large intestine to try and replace the water you have lost. The stool you pass after a gastric bypass may already be changed because of the medicine and supplements you take. Dehydration after gastric sleeve surgery will make your stool harder and difficult for you to pass it as frequently as you need to. Moreover, constipation is a common concern among gastric sleeve patients.

Drinking a lot of water after a gastric bypass will ensure your stool remains moist and easily glides through your system when you pass it, reducing stomach strain that might interfere with your wound.

Tips for Drinking Water after Surgery

It is recommended that you drink at least 2L in a day after surgery. Since you may not be able to take in as much water in one go as you did before the operation, here are some ways you can keep hydrated:

●     Take small sips of water throughout the day. You can use a phone app with an alert every 5 to 10 minutes to take a sip.

●     Drink water continuously before taking your first meal of the day.

●     Start drinking water again an hour or so after a meal.

●     Keep an eye out on the color of your urine. Dark yellow or brownish urine means you should drink more water.

If you have had gastric sleeve surgery in Long Island with Clarity Surgical make sure to consistently hydrate using water and other low-calorie fluids. As always, contact your doctor if you have any concerns.

Clarity Surgical provides laparoscopic gastric bypass in Long Island, as well as gastric sleeve and gastric balloon in Long Island.