Give up Coffee?

[comet321 0]

Hi. My surgery is scheduled for 9/1 and I will start my pre-op diet next week. Do you need to give up caffeinated coffee with the lapband? If so, can someone tell me why? That is actually my biggest worry at present. Thanks!

[Bandster25 0]

My surgeon said that some caffeine is fine, but it's probably not healthy to drink excessive amounts of it. It does usually stimulate appetite, so just be aware of that effect. Just try not to drink more than 1-2 cups a day, and don't add anything with lots of calories to it.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Ask your surgeon. My nutritionist said it was forbidden and when I pinned her down (and I had to ask more than once) she finally said defensively: "Well its an appetite stimulant for some".

Oddly...it is also considered an appetite SUPPRESSANT for some (it used to be in many OTC diet pills LOL)

For me..it does neither. So the reasoning didn't apply. And actually they are finding unless you are sensitive to it and it pumps up your blood pressure, for example, some caffeine is actually GOOD for you.

Further for some reason people who drink 6 cups or more of coffee each day are less likely to develop diabetes II, or so I've read.

SO....find out IF your doc says no, and if so, WHY....

[Julia_N 2]

My doctor wanted me to limit coffee to 16 ounces a day. I find that one good cup in the morning does me fine. I drink a lot of high-quality tea during the day instead and I find that I enjoy that more.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

My doctor wanted me to limit coffee to 16 ounces a day. I find that one good cup in the morning does me fine. I drink a lot of high-quality tea during the day instead and I find that I enjoy that more.

You know what we traditionally think of as tea (orange or black pekoe for example) also has caffeine, although usually 1/2 or so of what a comparable amt of coffee would have.

You should ask your doc if it's the COFFEE he wants you to limit, or the caffeine. OR maybe you meant you drink high-quality decaffeinated tea. I drink high quality Lipton myself. :cool: Which has naturally occuring caffeine, and anti-oxidants.

[gettingbacktoskinnymini 0]

Caffeine's been an issue for me. I've been having Decaf which still has some caffeine in it. I've just been told to limit caffeine. In the short term it might suppress my appetite but after a couple of hours, I'll be ravenously hungry! I'm still on the thin liquids post-op and I'm having fantasies of going to a starbucks for a coffee. Still a liquid! I actually drank flat soda too because i really wanted a diet soda!

Edited August 9, 2009 by gettingbacktoskinnymini

[RestlessMonkey 7]

It is important to 1. find out why your doc limits it, if s/he does and then 2. decide if the reasoning pertains to you.

I'm lucky in that I don't appear to have issues with caffeine. I love my iced tea, my 1 cup of coffee (about 12-14 oz) in the AM but on days when I can't have it (or for example pre and post op when I avoided it because my doc said to) I had no issues; no headaches, no anger or short temper, no "jonesing" for a glass of tea or a cup.

I'm glad...(I have my issues but caffeine isn't one, apparently) but we all have to use judgment.

[comet321 0]

Thanks everyone. I think I can release the absolute worry I had. I am comfortable cutting back to 1 or 2 cups per day, but I know I am not ready to go cold turkey on coffee during all of these other changes.

[crzytchr 3]

Ask your surgeon. My nutritionist said it was forbidden and when I pinned her down (and I had to ask more than once) she finally said defensively: "Well its an appetite stimulant for some".

It was my surgeon at the seminar that said the exact same thing. I have been ingesting coffee since I was 2 and it doesn't have that effect on me. I can also drink coffee at 10 pm and go straight to bed. Needless to say, I didn't give up coffee at all. I do, however, make sure to get adequate Water in during the day to counteract the diuretic effect of the caffeine. Thank you, Monkey, for that advice!

[phatgreenbunny 0]

My surgeon said the acid in the coffee could sit close to the band and cause erosion I was told no coffee for 6 months I lasted 2 without it but finally caved.

[Julia_N 2]

You know what we traditionally think of as tea (orange or black pekoe for example) also has caffeine, although usually 1/2 or so of what a comparable amt of coffee would have.

You should ask your doc if it's the coffee he wants you to limit, or the caffeine. OR maybe you meant you drink high-quality decaffeinated tea. I drink high quality Lipton myself. Which has naturally occuring caffeine, and anti-oxidants.

Most of my tea is caffeine-free, or very low in caffeine. Sometimes I make a cup of Morning Thunder, which is supercharged. I like my coffee real strong, so too much can give me indigestion. I think that's what my doctor is more concerned with, rather than the caffeine. I do miss those great big Venti mocha lattes -- nonfat, of course.

[Petunia825 0]

This was a struggle for me. My dr and dietician said no caffeine, however, I only drink one cup in the morning. What I have done since being banded, I drink half a cup with cream and no sweetner. I have lost the taste for sweetners. Good luck to you.

[wnt2lose 0]

I make a Protein coffee for Breakfast every morning and it satisfies my caffieine and coffee craving. I mix my Protein Powder either chocolate or vanilla with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk and fill my travel mug with coffee and off I go! Just like Starbuck's! Hasn't seemed to bother me yet, and I've been banded almost two years.

[gettingbacktoskinnymini 0]

It might be worth taking it easy at the beginning. I have a sensitive stomach and so the coffee gave me terrible heartburn in the thin liquid stage. Too acidic.