All-in-One Bariatric Vitamins: Are They a Good Choice for Gastric Bypass Patients?

Most weight loss surgery patients take vitamins four or five times a day. I have a shoe box full of vitamin bottles and once a week I set up my pill container. You know, those things that have little spaces for pills for each day of the week? Otherwise opening all those pill bottles and getting out my vitamins several time a day would be a huge hassle. And most people would love to be able to only take four pills a day, all out of the same bottle. It would make life a lot easier and it would save money.

And there are several different companies that make all-in-one bariatric vitamins. Most of them say you only need four tablets a day.

So how come most of us aren't taking those all-in-one deals?

Because they don't meet our needs. It would be great if they did, but they don't. Just because they print "bariatric" on the label and say you only need four a day, that just doesn't make it true. Even though some surgeons sell these in their offices (which makes me cringe), that doesn't mean they meet our needs.

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery says we need 200% of the RDA of most things. But most of those brands that say you only have to take four a day, do not give you 200% in just four. With most of those, you'd need EIGHT a day.

The ASMBS also says we need 1500-2000 mg calcium CITRATE a day. It needs to be citrate because we no longer have enough stomach acid to absorb calcium carbonate. But those all-in-one brands usually have calcium carbonate. In addition, many of the all-in-one brands contain forms of some other vitamins or minerals that we do not absorb well because of our RNY.

We also must take a B12 supplement. We can't absorb B12 from a chewable multi, or any multi we swallow. We do not have enough intrinsic factor in our pouches. So we have to take a sublingual B12, or the nasal spray, or the shots.

If you want to take one of these, you can, of course, but if you want to get the nutrients you need, you will need to take a LOT of other vitamins in addition to the EIGHT all-in-one tablets you'd need. Personally, I find a good multi I can take just twice a day more convenient and more affordable.

Sources:

American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. http://nutrition.otago.ac.nz/__data/assets/file/0005/4784/BariatricNutritionReading.pdf. Bariatric Nutrition: Suggestions for the Surgical Weight Loss Patient.

Nestle Nutrition. http://www.nestlenutritionstore.com/departments/weight-management-nutrition/post-bariatric-surgery-nutrition/optisource-vitamin-mineral-supplement. Optisource Chewable Vitamin and Mineral Supplement.

Bariatric Fusion. http://www.bariatricfusion.com/supplementnutrition.php. Nutritional Information.