Special Concerns

Learn more about caring for yourself following gastrectomy. Find information here to help understand dumping syndrome and how it can be avoided. Learn what to eat and what not to eat.

Be proactive in talking with your health care provider about monitoring your health, your vitamin levels, your bone density, and addressing your special concerns.

What Foods Should I Eat?

The chart in this page lists foods that are better or less tolerated by people following gastrectomy. The foods in the “Better Tolerated Foods” list are less likely to cause dumping syndrome than the foods in the “Less Tolerated Foods” list. The “Less Tolerated Foods” are known to cause dumping syndrome…

Dumping Syndrome

After stomach surgery, some patients may have what is commonly known as dumping syndrome. Without a stomach to hold the intake of food and fluids, there is no way to regulate the amount of food entering the intestine. You no longer have a reservoir to hold food so that it can gradually enter the…

Nutrient Deficiencies

Anemia Nutritional anemias resulting from vitamin B12, folate, or iron deficiency are common in people who have had a gastrectomy. Anemia may not occur until close to a year or more after surgery but it is important for your healthcare provider to monitor levels of these nutrients. B12 Deficiency…

Fat Maldigestion

In order to properly digest and absorb nutrients, enzymes that are released from the pancreas need to mix with food ingested at meals. These pancreatic enzymes help break food down so that it can be absorbed in the small intestine. After a partial or total gastrectomy, some patients may experience…

Lactose Intolerance

Although lactase, the enzyme required for the absorption of lactose is found in the small intestine, people who have had a gastrectomy may still suffer from symptoms of lactose intolerance. This may be due to the rapid transit of food through the GI system. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include…

Bone Disease

Bone diseases such as osteoporosis, osteopenia, and osteomalacia may also be more common in people who have had a gastrectomy although not all studies have found this to be true. When you have osteoporosis, the strength and size of your bones is reduced…