What Are Slider Foods? · The Inspiration Edit

If you’ve had bariatric surgery then you will need to know all about slider foods. I have to admit, I had to ask my dietician the question, “what is a slider food“, when I first started my bariatric journey because I genuinely had no idea.

Not knowing about slider foods can be a huge stumbling block for anyone about to embark on their bariatric weight loss journey, whether your having a gastric bypass, sleeve or lap band, understanding slider foods is super important.

What Is A Slider Food?

Slider foods, to weight loss patients are foods which are made from soft simple processed carbohydrates. All slider foods have very little or no nutritional value and these types of foods can make weight loss uncomfortable, difficult and can also result in weight gain.

Here are some examples of slider foods:

Biscuits
Chips or crisps
Crackers, Saltine crackers, graham crackers, ritz crackers, cheese crackers
Pretzels and Popcorn
Tortilla chips and salsa
Potato chips
Cookies
Cake
Sweets, Candy and Lollies

Slider foods are foods which are able to slide through the stomach pouch quickly. I’ll now share why sliders foods are bad for anyone who has had weight loss surgery.

Why Are Slider Foods Bad?

As stated above a slider food is well known for sliding straight into the stomach and back out again. Following weight loss surgery the digestion of food changes. When bariatric patients eat the right foods, the stomach pouch should cause feelings of fullness and restriction.

When a slider food is eaten, it will slip straight through the stomach pouch and enter the jejunum. This will cause a slurry of carbohydrates to be absorbed quickly by the body and that will stall or reverse weight loss.

Bariatric patients can sometimes fall into bad habits of eating slider type foods. This can become a problem and sabotage all efforts for weight loss. If your eating slider foods unknowingly then you may have plateaued and may feel like your bariatric surgery did not work. Furthermore if slider foods tend to be salty and can encourage other bad habits such as drinking whilst eating, helping food to slide through to the intestines even faster.

At the end of the day a slider food has little nutrition and won’t help you in your weight loss goals.

Dumping Syndrome From Slider Foods

Slider foods can cause dumping syndrome and trust me, you don’t want to experience this! I have and it is very uncomfortable. Not everyone will experience dumping syndrome following bariatric surgery but those who will wish they hadn’t.

Some of the symptoms of dumping syndrome include:

A feeling of fullness, even after eating just a small amount.
Abdominal cramping or pain.
Nausea or vomiting.
Severe diarrhea.
Sweating, flushing, or light-headedness.
Rapid heartbeat.
Needing to sleep.

Cheating With Slider Food

No matter what bariatric surgery you have had, if you continue to eat slider foods high in carbs then you won’t get the feelings of restriction you need, nor the nutrition your body requires. This will lead to a weight loss plateau and eventually weight gain.

Avoiding high carb foods is imperative if you want to succeed and reach your health goals following your gastric bypass or gastric sleeve operation.

If you find yourself falling into bad habits, eating the wrong types of foods or drinking with your meals, go back to basics and remember the golden rule of eating protein first followed by vegetables.

Eating high amounts of protein is crucial to successful weight loss. Whether you eat beans, lean animal protein or dairy, focusing on the right foods following gastric bypass will help you to stay on track and remain on the losers bench. Here is a list of the best healthy high protein snacks.