pouch rules for dummies

jadrad7 · October 12, 2003

I found this on a UK support board:

http://leslie_anne1.tripod.com/pouch_rules.htm

Alexandra · October 12, 2003

This is an interesting read, but please, everyone, be aware that it was written about GASTRIC BYPASS and the pouch that results from such surgery. Banding is a very different procedure and the descriptions of pouch size and time frame simply do not apply.

jadrad7 · October 13, 2003

Alexandra, What about that Water loading stuff? Does that apply to us and what good does it do to drink water that fast?

Alexandra · October 13, 2003

Well, drinking lots of Water quickly right before a meal will, of course, make you feel full. The gist of the article seems to be that there is some point in timing it, measuring it, obsessing over it, and I just don't think that's so.

Many people attest that drinking lots of Water in the hour leading up to a meal makes for a smaller meal. Whether that will work for you -- and whether the sensation of fullness will last at all -- is just something you'll have to try. Water moves through the stoma faster than anything else, of course, so it can't be relied upon to fill your pouch at all. The concept of water loading with regard to one's pouch would seem counterintuitive for that reason.

The advice I've always been given, through years of being told to drink lots of water for various reasons, is to drink it continuously throughout the day. I see no reason to change that just because I have a band.

quakergirl · October 13, 2003

I agree with Alexandra on the Water loading thing. I don't feel like water fills up my pouch. It seems to slide right through. Yes, it does quiet my hunger pangs if I'm VERY hungry (although I no longer get hungry to the same degree I did pre-op), but I think I still have the same capacity for eating.

But that pouch rules thing is interesting all the same. I find it interesting that it says that pouch size doesn't correlate to weight loss.

donali · October 13, 2003

The Water loading is NOT because the Water stays in the pouch. Water loading is drinking as much as you can, as fast as you can in a short amount of time. Anyone with any restriction can drink faster than the pouch empties. That creates a backup, which stretches the pouch walls, and signals the full feeling. Even though the stretch itself may not last for very long (because the water drains right out), the signal of fullness can last 15 minutes or longer. For many people this is a great help in taking that edge of their hunger enough to slow down their eating, which gives them more time to feel the full signal on real food before it's "too late", and they've already overeaten (because they were eating too fast).

This is true of people without pouches as well.