Carbonated Drinks Post RNY???

I haven't had soda of any sort since before surgery. I have heard that it is OK, and also that you should NEVER have soda again.  I would love to hear some 1st hand pros and cons.  Anyone?

 Follow your surgeon's rules on this one.  My bariatric centre says no carbonated drinks of any kind afterwards and informed that there was an association with weight gain and drinking diet soda after rny.  They couldn't explain why, but said studies found a correlation between the two.

In the individual dietary pre-op class, I was told to have none, but in another class, where we sampled the flavors of vitamins and protien drinks, they said they were OK in moderation.  One office, but two different people leading the class...confusing...

Correlation does not equal causation.  There is absolutely no scientific data demonstrating that drinking diet soda CAUSES weight gain.  In fact, diet soda has zero calories so in and of itself it is not capable of causing weight gain.  It takes 3500 calories to gain a pound. No matter how you add it, you are never going to get to 3500 calories by drinking a zero calorie beverage.

Further, carbonation does NOT stretch your pouch.  Your pouch is made of much stronger stuff than the latex that is used in the balloon example below.

There IS proof however that excessive consumption can and sometimes does cause a negative impact on your bone health.

Having said all that - like all things post op - the eventual decision will be yours.  Some choose to never touch the stuff, while others go back to their preop consumption levels. Personally, I didn't try it until I was 9 months out partly because I wanted to make sure I was completely healed and partly because of some of the scary (but unscientific) stuff I read here on OH.   I am almost 4 years out and now drink Diet Coke just as I used to before surgery.  I have had no ill effects.  My only challenge is watching myself to make sure that I don't substitute the DC for any of my water requirements.

The great thing about all this is that you get to weigh all the input and come to a decision that works for you.  Just as with drinking alcohol postop, you are going to get opinions all over the place on this one. 

Best of luck to you on your journey=)

Actually, Amy, you might want to Google some of the more current research.  There is lots of info now indicating that drinking diet soda DOES cause weight gain.  They don't know exactly why, but they have shown that those who drink both sugared and non-caloric carbonated drinks gain more weight than other individuals.  In the long run, the evidence shows drinking this stuff is really not a good idea.

Actually Linda, I don't  need research to tell me that something with zero calories will NEVER add up to the 3500 calories needed to cause a pound of weight gain.

There is something to be said for what Heidi mentions below - some folks think that because they drink diet soda, they have more calories for food and then  proceed to eat many times over the amount of calories they "saved" from drinking the diet soda.  THAT  will cause weight gain. 

No matter how you slice it though, and unless 2 + 2 does not equal 4 anymore, there is NO WAY that you can say that diet soda causes even an ounce of weight gain.  As the poster stated there IS a correlation.  That is not the same as a cause.  Sorry.  It's just not.

Again, you might want to read more of the recent research on obesity.  Actually, I find it hard to believe that anyone who is on a weight loss surgery board really believes that weight loss is as simple as calories in vs. calories out.  Not only do artificial sweeteners have effects on brain chemistry and hormones, but there is current research indicating that calories from protein, carbs, and fat are not as important in affecting our weight as the consumption of micro-nutrients.  There is also research that indicates that the flora in the intestines of naturally slim people is very different from that in obese people and that eventually, a fecal flora transplant may be the answer instead of today's weight loss surgery.  I'm not buying the calorie is a calorie, is a calorie stuff.  It's as passe' as the Food Pyramid they fed us for the last 30 years.

 I  was told no because the  carbonation  causes the  pouch to  stretch.  Maybe each surgeon is different?

Sure, all surgeons are different.  Regardless of who your surgeon is, though, carbonation cannot stretch the pouch.  It's physiologically impossible.  While all surgeons are different, the pouches of their patients are all bound to the basic laws of physics.

 Years ago they would do a demonstration where they would fill a balloon with Coke and tie it tightly.  After a while the carbonation would cause the balloon to explode.  Pretty scary, except your pouch is open on both ends and carbonation will not stretch or burst it open.

Some people get a lot of gas and uncomfortable feeling from soda.  Others are fine.  I drink it everyday and enjoy it.  It does not cause weight gain if it is sugar free.