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Many years ago, the gold standard for post-operative supplementation was Flintstones children’s chewable vitamins, as well as Tums for calcium. Unfortunately, this regimen was woefully incomplete. Without the proper supplements, people developed deficiencies. Not always immediately—the body has stores of many vitamins—but they did eventually appear. In some people, circumstances helped to accelerate nutrient depletion. My friend Andrea had babies. Greedy little (adorable) things that they were, those babies stole from her vitamin stores. Her Flintstones and Tums simply couldn’t keep up. Andrea got rickets.
These cautionary tales are everywhere in the weight loss surgery world. There are countless post-ops five, ten, or more years out who have dug themselves out from deficiencies that were caused, at least in part, by bad medical advice. Despite these stories and the giant strides that have been made in bariatric and nutritional research, the recommendations given by surgeons are still outdated.
