The Best Foods to Eat Before and After Surgery

Despite our best efforts to manage our health on our own, sometimes surgery is needed to fully restore health. This was the case for me with endometriosis. The endometriosis was so wide spread, I needed the laparoscopy procedure to officially diagnose endometriosis and remove much of the extra tissue.

While the surgery was successful, I wish I had put more health practices into play both before and after the procedure to support my overall body in the healing process.

The body goes through a lot during surgery – even minimally invasive surgeries like laparoscopy. The anesthesia alone is a lot. During most surgeries, you also receive an antibiotic to reduce the risk of infection. It’s certainly with great intention; however, antibiotics are not easy on the gut. In fact, they’re quite destructive on the digestive tract.

That’s why being intentional with what you’re eating both leading up to a procedure and immediately following can be incredibly helpful to your overall health. Here are a few things I focus on if I have to undergo any procedure or anesthesia:

Bone broth

Bone broth has become the king in terms of healing foods. It’s delicious, nourishing and easily digested by the body. There’s protein, collagen, and lots of nourishing minerals. It’s no wonder it’s the base of the infamous chicken soup that grandmothers for generation have been recommending to their family members. It can be incredibly healing to the digestive tract, especially if leaky gut is suspected.

I like to make a big batch in the crockpot and then just sip on a cup each day and throughout the week.

Collagen peptides

Collagen is one of the components that makes bone broth as good and healing as it is. Collagen is the protein that supports our hair, skin, nails and digestive tract... and more. As we age, our body’s natural production of collagen decreases as our demand increases. It’s especially in demand during a time of healing and recovery.

Thankfully, the use for this one is super easy. Simply put a scoop of the colorless, odorless, tasteless powder in a hot or cold beverage. Swirl/shake the bottle until the protein powder dissolves and enjoy!

Fermented foods

Fermented foods are nature’s natural form of probiotics. So, these foods support a healthy balance of bacteria in the digestive tract. The ratio of good to bad bacteria can be compromised during surgery. And the antibiotic will heighten this damage. Antibiotics are designed to kill off bacteria – a great solution if/when you have a bacterial infection. The challenge, however, is that in the process of the prescription killing the bad bacteria, it kills off the good bacteria too. You’re essentially wiped clean and forced to rebuild a well-balanced microbiome.

Fermented foods such as pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha are all food/beverage that naturally contain probiotics which help the body restore that balance of bacteria and rebuild the immune system.

So, if you have a procedure on the calendar, you might want to start increasing these foods at least a week prior to support your gut health, immune system, and recovery process.