Nutritional deficiency is a serious concern for people who have undergone gastric bypass or lap-band weight loss surgery. Most patients are instructed to supplement their low-calorie diet with vitamin and mineral supplements. In addition, patients can make informed food choices to boost their nurtrient intake while respecting the restrictions of weight loss surgery.

Two foods patients should include in their diet are bananas and walnuts. Here's why:

Bananas are rich in potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining heart function and blood pressure.

Bananas help activate the stomach lining cells protecting against ulcers and acting as an antacid.

Bananas are effective in normalizing movement through the digestive tract and ease constipation.

Bananas contain a compound that nourishes the friendly bacteria in the colon and helps the body absorb calcium

Bananas are available year round at low cost.

Nutrition per 1 medium banana:
Calories: 108
Protein: 1.3 grams
Carbohydrates: 27 grams
Natural Sugar: 14.4 grams
Fiber 3.1 grams

Daily Values:
Vitamin B: 35%
Vitamin C: 18%
Potassium: 13%

Walnuts contain omega-3 essential fatty acids, a special type of protective fat the body cannot manufacture.

The omega-3 fats can improve cardiovascular health, promote better cognitive function and work as anti-inflammatory agents against asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis.

Walnuts contain an antioxidant compound called ellagic acid which supports the immune system and has several anticancer properties.

Nutrition per 1 tablespoon of dry raw walnuts:
Calories: 175
Fat: 16.7 (1 gram saturated)
Protein: 6.8 grams
Carbohydrate: 2.8 grams
Fiber 1.9 grams

Daily Values:
Omega 3 fatty acids: 90.8%
Manganese: 42.5%
Copper: 20%
Tryptophan: 15%

One way patients can get a reasonable serving of bananas and walnuts is in a WLS safe Banana-Walnut Bread.

An award winning journalist and former newspaper editor Kaye Bailey brings expertise in writing and personal experience with gastric bypass surgery to EzineArticles.com. Ms. Bailey developed a passion for writing at an early age. As a teenager she found writing her feelings about obesity helped her cope in a world that is often cruel to overweight children and adults alike.

Ms. Bailey says she found out she was fat in kindergarten when another child told her she was fat. “I didn’t even know what fat was but I could tell it was bad and I didn’t want to be fat. Until that day I had been unaware I was different. But there I was, a five-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on the floor learning a new word that would define me.”

At age 33 she underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. For the first time in her life after multiple failed diet attempts she lost weight. She said the decision to have surgery took courage, nerve, and a little bit of plain old faith. But she learned surgery was the easy part. Dealing with newfound emotions, struggling with food choices and fighting to keep from regaining weight were unexpected bumps in the road following massive weight loss with surgery.

Having spent most of her life overweight Ms. Bailey is strongly empathetic toward the obese, particularly overweight children. This compassion compelled her to found the website LivingAfterWLS.com, a fast-growing resource of information, understanding and support for the weight loss surgery community. While weight loss surgery is publicly perceived as an easy fix to obesity Ms. Bailey maintains the struggles after surgery challenge the vigor of even the most dedicated individual. As WLS becomes more readily available patients are finding there is a lack of long-term aftercare and support from bariatric centers.

The LivingAfterWLS.com site is complimented with daily blog. The blog, livingafterwls.blogspot.com offers readers the chance to comment or leave feedback about fresh content added daily. This site contains success stories and recipes as well as general information and WLS inspired topics. Complementing the site is a monthly newsletter titled “You Have Arrived” available exclusively to people who subscribe through the website or the blog. The path forward includes community forums, nutrition and fitness tracking tools.

Ms. Bailey makes her home on a ranch in the Rocky Mountains with her husband of eight years who has been her consort in life after WLS.