host posted on October 29, 2008 08:01
Nutritional deficiencies after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity often cannot be prevented by standard multivitamin supplementation.
A study just published in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that the majority of gastric bypass patients cannot maintain their nutritional health on a basic multivitamin supplement. The study followed 137 gastric bypass patients for two years. By the end of year one, 59% of the participants required additional supplements and by the end of year two, this number had increased to 98%. The most common additional supplements needed were B12, folic acid, calcium, iron and vitamin D. Much less commonly, they identified deficiency of thiamine, zinc, magnesium and B6.
The authors concluded that basic multivitamins are not effective at preventing deficiency in gastric bypass.
Source….. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/5/1128