[Sportschosun reporter Jang Jong-ho] "You should avoid eating fruit after bariatric surgery."
Jeong Seong-woo, head of the Bariatric Surgery Center at Incheon Sejong Hospital, said that the most common question from patients visiting the outpatient clinic after bariatric surgery is, "Is it okay to eat a lot of fruit?" He explained that although fruit is often seen as a healthy food because it contains vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, patients should limit their intake after bariatric surgery because it also contains fructose, a source of fat production.
Most of the carbohydrates we eat are used in the form of glucose, which serves as an energy source for the brain, heart, other organs, and muscles.
Fructose is different. It is not used as a good energy source for organs and muscles. Instead, most of it moves to the liver and is stored as fat. This is why fruit intake should be limited.
Jeong said, "Many people think fruit is fine because it is a natural food, but our bodies cannot tell whether fructose came from an apple, juice, or a carbonated drink." He added, "From the liver's perspective, it is all the same fructose."
After bariatric surgery, extra caution is needed.
Protein is the most important nutrient after bariatric surgery.
After surgery, the stomach becomes smaller and the amount of food that can be eaten is limited. If a patient eats too much fruit, they quickly feel full and end up consuming less protein, which the body actually needs. In other words, protein intake becomes insufficient while fructose, which is stored as fat, is consumed in excess.
When fructose increases, the liver begins converting it into fat. In the end, this leads to fatty liver and visceral fat. It can also affect insulin resistance and cause diabetes and metabolic disorders.
In particular, patients should also be careful about foods other than fruit that are high in fructose.
Fruit juice, carbonated drinks, iced tea, syrup coffee, sports drinks, energy drinks, and processed foods containing high-fructose corn syrup are all sources of fructose.
Above all, liquid fructose is more dangerous because it is absorbed quickly and provides little feeling of fullness.
Jeong Seong-woo said, "Fruit that people eat for their health can instead increase fatty liver and visceral fat, and may even trigger metabolic disease again." He added, "After bariatric surgery, you should remember 'protein first.' Avoid fruit and focus on protein from seafood, lean meat, chicken breast, and eggs."
Jang Jong-ho, bellho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
