Diet

Pre-surgery nutrition can be considered as similar to getting ready for a sporting event where you are preparing your body to cope with additional stress. In the context of surgery, you are preparing your body to help cope and recover from the stress of a surgical procedure. This includes filling your bank with nutrients that support healing and boost your immune health.

We would advise considering your diet as soon as you know you are being planned for an operation and at the minimum trying to incorporate more calories and healthy choices as soon as the plan for surgery has been made, ideally in the four-six weeks before. As outlined in the section above on average, women should have around 2,000 calories a day and men should have around 2,500 calories a day. Keeping a diary of what you eat each day can be a helpful way of ensuring you are eating enough calories and having a balanced diet. A link to an example of this is included at the bottom of this page. 

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Your pre-surgery diet ideally should contain:

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• At least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day such that they make up at least a third of what you eat each day. Variety of vegetables is important. Green vegetables in particular are rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, K and magnesium. Incorporating as many of these as possible in your diet in the lead up to surgery is beneficial for your post-operative recovery and healing. Examples include spinach, broccoli and salad. 

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• Lean protein. Protein provides building blocks for our muscles, bones and immune system.  Protein needs are based on the amount of muscle that you have, but research has shown that 65 – 100 grams per day are proving to be optimal. This means lean protein should be approximately one third of your daily intake and ideally each meal should contain a source of lean protein. Consider adding sources of protein to any snacks you may have, for example almonds as a snack or adding almond butter to fruit snacks. 

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Examples of protein include:

-          Meat (e.g. chicken, turkey, beef, pork , lamb)

-          Fish (e.g. cod, haddock, salmon, mackerel, sardines)

-          Eggs

-          Dairy (e.g. milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yoghurt)

-          Nuts and seeds ( e.g. peanuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts, nut butters)

-          Meat alternatives ( e.g quorn products, soya products (e.g. tofu, tempeh)

-          Bean, lentils, pulses

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• Starchy foods. Approximately one third of your daily intake should be these. Wholegrains are particularly good as they are rich in B-vitamins which are very good for your health and recovery. Examples include whole-wheat/granary bread, brown rice, oats, lentils and whole-wheat pasta. 

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• Healthy fats - found in, for example, avocado, olive oil, nuts, oily fish such as salmon.

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• Stay hydrated. Aim to drink 6-8 glasses of fluid a day, avoiding high sugar high caffeine drinks where possible. Again some people find it helpful to keep a record of what they drink in a day to really be able to understand what that looks like for them. As we get older our signals for thirst lessen while our requirements stay the same. Keeping a note of what you are drinking in a day can therefore be especially helpful.

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Try to avoid: 

• Excess refined sugar, such as in high sugar drinks, many deserts and cakes and sweets. 

• Highly processed foods such as ready meals, pasties and pies. 

• Excess caffeine

• Alcohol

These create more stress on the body and actually remove nutrients from the body to metabolise properly.