When I was going in for gall bladder surgery, which was also laproscopic, my surgeon told me NOT to drink milk or milk substitutions (such as soy or almond milk...also my beloved cheese) at all. I was told that unless I was pregnant or menopausal there was no need for me to consume milk products at all if I have a multi-vitamin since I could get the nutrients through the balanced low-fat diet I was on already. I suppose it's a case to case basis...but being told to avoid all milk products entirely seemed odd to me at first...and interestingly enough I became lactose-intolerant post-surgery. Go figure.

I know this is an old thread, but I am looking into WLS and at this hospital's program, which I believe is a Center of Excellence or something like that. I was told by the co-ordinator that the milk diet is true. She said it is on a per case basis but they require a 2-4 week pre op diet of fat free milk only. She told me that this shrinks the liver, reduces time in surgery and has shown to result in better weight loss after surgery. I haven't gone through the informational seminar yet, or had a discussion with the actual Doctor, but I'm not sure I have it in me to fulfill this requirement. I'm not a milk drinker. I haven't drank milk since I was a couple of years old. The co-ordinator told me to discuss this with the dietitian and maybe there's a way to alter the requirement enough so that I can get through it. Supposedly the center is one of the best in the area and the Dr's well respected, so …???? There's one other facility my insurance allows me to go to so I'll check that one out too, hopefully no milk diet there. If it was a protein drink….I could probably get by, but FF milk? GAG.

this milk-only diet requirement sounds very fishy to me, regardless of whether it's a center of excellence. MANY MANY people are lactose intolerant and requiring them to drink nothing but milk is a recipe for disaster. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check out the other facility - if nothing else, for your own sanity.

Weight loss - no matter how it's done - does indeed shrink the liver and make the surgery easier, but first things first. Is your liver actually enlarged? it's common in people who qualify for the surgery, but it's not found in every single person.

I never had WLS but I know a lot of people who did, and this is the first I've ever heard of this milk only diet. In fact, I've heard that you must lose some weight prior to the surgery, but never just milk. But I googled this, and according to what I read, this is very common.

I too recommend that you check with the other facility and compare the recommendations of both.

It's popular here in Europe for pre-op liver shrinkage/weightloss and is promoted by the national centre of excellence in the country I live in. There's a link here to a patient information leaflets our local hospital gives to pre-op patients. It is a legitimate plan, but is only used in some cases which is why people may not have heard of it.

Thanks, knoxie - that was very helpful. Based on this, it looks like this MILK AND YOGHURT diet is a backup, in case a person can't follow the regular diet. This is the second paragraph of the pamphlet - emphasis added:

This is an alternative eating plan if you feel unable to follow the regular
meal ‘normal’ food diet as discussed with the specialist dietitian. This diet
is a milk and yoghurt diet. This will have a similar effect on your liver in
reducing its size

Personally, I also wonder about the warning that even ONE normal meal will undo the liver-shrinking effects of the milk diet, but that might just be arrogance on the part of the docs, since EVERYONE KNOWS that people who qualify for WLS are notoriously noncompliant [NOT!]

Speaking only for myself I find that if I have little or no choice in what I have to eat I have no problems eating just that. Like when I did the optifast. I was making meals for my family but had no problems not eating because I knew that all I was supposed to be having was optifast. I think that this is similar, certainly a lot cheaper than buying optifast. Long term not ideal but for a couple of weeks? Through in some supplements and it probably isn't half bad.

No problem jiffypop.

I have seen more extreme applications of it (milk, a multivitamin and some chicken broth for sodium) but that was at the discretion of the surgeon concerned. Anyone I've heard of who has followed it (with the exception of the extreme case above) has been allowed small amounts of yoghurt etc.