5 Tips for Your Liposuction Recovery Diet
For patients in New York, liposuction recovery questions are top of mind. They already know that the procedure is safe, and they look forward to benefiting from the impact of the cannula on stubborn fat pockets. What they most want to know about is how their recovery will go.
If you’re considering liposuction in New York with us, we probably don’t have to tell you that the more territory we target, the more time you may have to take off work and rest. The post-op period will be shorter for limited areas like saddlebags only, and longer if we perform liposuction on hips, thighs and belly.
There are variables that are specific to you as a patient as well. Good health, good habits, an optimistic attitude and a decent tolerance for discomfort go a long way in helping with recovery. No matter what the situation, though, you can make a difference in downtime with the right diet.
Surprised? It’s true! Read these tips and find out what to eat after liposuction.
1) Increase protein intake. In case you don’t remember the nutrition units of your grade school science classes we’ll remind you: protein feeds the growth of muscle and other body tissues. It also assists in wound healing. A good post-op diet should include plenty of protein.
2) Drink plenty of liquid. Water is best, but you can substitute herbal tea and other light drinks some of the time. Smoothies and soups can add liquid to your diet as well. Staying fully hydrated helps minimize the risk of blood clots and infection. It also helps replace fluid that may be lost due to wound drainage.
3) Choose foods high in fiber. Especially if you decide to take pain medication for a few days after liposuction, constipation could be a challenge. We recommend eating whole grains—meaning while grain bread instead of white bread, for instance, and oatmeal instead of processed cereals. Fruit and vegetables are great sources of fiber too, plus they provide the vitamins and minerals so essential to the body after trauma.
4) Reduce salt in your diet. You probably already know that salt contributes to water retention, and since battling swelling is a main goal after liposuction, you’ll want to minimize your salt intake. That means skipping foods like pizza, of course, and you can try lemon juice on cooked vegetables instead of salt.
5) Consume dairy products in moderation. Cheese, yogurt and other dairy products provide much needed calcium and protein, but the fat in some dairy choices can contribute to constipation (like cheese and ice cream). Try getting “healthy fats” through sources like olive oil and avocados, and when you do eat dairy products select low fat versions. Now would be a good time to try a low-fat probiotic yogurt to promote smooth digestion.
We encourage our New York liposuction patients to consider not just what they eat after surgery, but how they eat as well. Remember that your body has just suffered a bit of a shock, and be extra kind to it. Try eating smaller amounts of food more often rather than large meals. You can also go for a brief, gentle walk after you eat, then rest for a while. These kinds of measures can help your body get the most out of what you put in it.
You may have heard this before but it bears repeating: it’s a good practice to purchase most of your food from the outer rim of the grocery store and minimize what you buy from the inside aisles. Think about it—the outer ring of the market is where the produce, meat and dairy products are found, whereas the middle of the store is where the shelves of chips, cookies and sugary cereals are located. This is good advice for every trip to the grocery store, and especially important after surgery.
Contact us if you’d like to talk about liposuction in New York. As liposuction pioneers, we have more experience to offer you than just about any other practice around, and thousands of happy patients we can tell you about. We’d like you to be one of them!
