Susan Maria Leach
Founder of Bariatric Eating
Author Before and After - Living & Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery (HarperCollins Publishers)
I am more than 23 years post op RNY Gastric Bypass but now that I have been using Tirzepatide for over a year, keeping track of my blood labs has never been more important. I am also sixty-three years old so it's infinitely better to discover an issue when its small than once it has permeated important body function.
UVM Graduate - GO CATS GO!
I am also by degree a Medical Laboratory Technologist with specialties in Blood Chemistry, Hematology and Medical Microbiology. Sure it was a long time ago, but blood has not changed other than that the testing is done by high tech computerized machine rather than my doing the tests by hand on a lab bench! It has given me a great medical base for understanding and sharing intricacies of nutrition versus deficiencies. That is how I worked with industry specialists formulate great supplements for the last twenty years! Our GLOW products are excellent. Better than the ones I developed many years ago as there are now better and cleaner ingredients. Out with old, in with new!
Copper and Zinc and B1… OH MY!
I usually get my labs done every year, but this time my Mochi Obesity Specialist Dr. Leonid Kim, asked me to run some of the important but not often checked vitamins and trace minerals to give him a full picture of my overall health. He gave me his list that he likes to see for bariatric post ops, that I’ve added below. It updated my list with the addition of few tests like Copper Zinc and B1. I was cool with it and I had the choice to either go to my primary doc who draws blood in office or go to Quest labs and self request. Mochi could also give me a lab order if I needed it. I decided to go to my primary doc as I wanted to document the weight I had already lost using Mounjaro with Dr. Kim.
Even though I have had contact with a couple of million bariatric people through my book and the bariatric company I originally founded, I still find it shocking that I personally know 3 people who have died from B1 Thiamine deficiency. It is important to have annual labs run on your blood and for you to actually LOOK at your lab report. Ask for a copy or login to the portal. Iron deficiency is more prevalent but B1 can kill you faster.
All A's on my Report Card
All my lab results were all within normal values with zero deficiencies. The great news I did not expect what that the Mounjaro has reduced my cholesterol by more than half from 280 to 120. My Vitamin D level is below 50, but I know how to fix that. Now that I am no longer with with the company I founded in 2004, Bariatric Eating, I no longer know that the product lines I originally developed have not been changed or that they are not being made more cheaply, so I formed a new company, got with old nutraceutical company friends and scientists and develop new, better, more specialized range of GLP1 Bariatric Supplements... GLOW. I could not be happier about the results of these efforts.
Which Supplements to Trust?
MultiGlow Vitamins & Minerals for Weight Loss Support were developed for my own personal health. It's nearly impossible to find a multivitamin that is broad enough to cover anything that has the potential for deficiency. Most manufacturers leave out the more expensive vitamins and minerals, plus use the cheapest sources, often from China that have impurities I do not want to put into my body. While other companies are looking for cheap, I am looking for healthy and LIFE. Glow supplements are exceptional in both quality and formulation.
With bariatric surgery and or GLP1 use, we are looking to fill any possible nutrition gaps in our small volume sparse diet. I highly recommend a strong multivitamin such as new MultiGlow. It is important to understand that people usually do not lose hair because they are losing weight or because of the GLP1 meds, it's because they have undetected deficiencies. After bariatric surgery, you have to take good vitamins and know your lab results! Always get access to the lab report and look at it yourself. It's your body and you need to know where you stand.
With my lower than 50 vitamin D result, I went to Amazon and ordered a bottle of Puritans Pride D3 10,000 IU as they are a clean brand I trust. To raise your D levels, studies show that the most effective way is to pick one day a week to take a 50,000 IU megadose at one time, and repeat for 8 weeks. These 10,000 IU high dose softgels give me the megadose I need by taking just 5 small soft gels. After 8 weeks, I can drop down to daily dose of 1000 which should be covered by my MultiGlow to maintain until next labs. Boom!
Yikes, 35,000% is too much!
I spent many years taking a daily handful of tablets and capsules that overwhelmed me with huge nauseating quantities of vitamins and minerals that my body simply passed. It just did not make sense to me that anyone could possibly need 35,000% of the Daily Requirement of B12, and my lab results showing my B12 at over 2000 proved my theory. Companies do this so it appears that they care when fact is that B12 is super cheap and people BELIEVE it's great for them in megadoses. It distracts from the fact they leave out important more expensive vitamins and minerals.
For the last ten years I have found it more efficient to cover my vitamin mineral bases in case my diet lacked or I failed to absorb and then treat any deficiencies IF should one arise. Those who formulate so called bariatric vitamins fail to consider that not only do we actually do eat food but many of us eat well. We only need to bridge a gap, if any exist. Last year, I had a minor dip in iron that was easily raised by taking stand alone Solgar Gentle Iron and while last months results for D3 were within range, it's been shown that keeping the levels above 50 are healthier.
What Lab Tests Do I Run? Bariatric Labs for GLP1.
Here is an updated 2024 list of Lab Tests needed for Bariatric post ops and those taking GLP1 medications. Any time you cut back on food, you have to make sure you make up the difference between what you do eat and what your body needs to function efficiently. Keep track. It's important.
Standard tests - annual
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
CBC with differential
Lipid Panel
Add ons
B12
Iron
Ferritin
D25 hydroxy
TSH w/reflex to free T4
Then every 3 years 'just in case':
Copper
Zinc
B1
Hb A1c for diabetes
Stay healthy, keep tabs on your labs so you can fix anything that you are missing in your diet. Life is good.
