If you are pursuing bariatric surgery, chances are you might have to change your approach to coffee.  As a daily coffee drinker, I understand how tough this may be.  Every coffee lover has their own unique preferences, and the idea of change may be unwelcome.  

In this post, I am here to explain what may need to change about your coffee beverages.  BUT, I will also be offering the best suggestions for making this change as painless as possible.  

Let’s begin by listing out the 4 main things you want to be more mindful of when it comes to your coffee:

1. Caffeine content – Almost all surgeons will require you to cut out or significantly cut back on caffeine in your early post-op phases.  There are 2 main reasons for this.  Reason #1: Caffeine can be irritating which can slow down your stomach’s healing process. For this reason, your surgeon likely will wait a few weeks or even months before clearing you to reintroduce caffeine.  Reason #2: Caffeine acts as a diuretic.  This is just a fancy way of saying that that it pushes extra fluid out of your body compared to if you were drinking water.  Remember that it is easy to become dehydrated right after bariatric surgery because you are drinking so much slower.  For this reason, you don’t want to reintroduce caffeine until you are confidently meeting your fluid goal.  Now here is the good news, the restriction on caffeine is not forever.  Once you are healed and hydrated, caffeine in moderation after bariatric surgery is okay.  
2. Fat content – Creamers and other common additives (heavy cream, half and half,, etc.) are often high in fat.  These high fat liquids are a double edged sword that can easily sabotage weight loss efforts.  For one thing, fats are very dense in calories.  Gram for gram, fats have twice as many calories compared with proteins and carbs.  Secondly, liquids pass through your stomach much quicker than solids.  This combination creates a very sneaky source of calories that can undermine your weight loss efforts. 
3. Sugar content – Similar to the last point, added sugars are another common coffee additive.  It takes a lot of sugar to change the taste of a beverage, especially a bitter-tasting beverage like coffee.  This means that even “lightly sweetened” coffee beverages may pack a lot of calories.  Remember, it’s not just white table sugar you need to look out for, but also other sources as well.  Just because sweeteners such as honey or agave syrup may be labeled as “natural” or marketed as healthier doesn’t mean they don’t have high sugar content.  
4. Coffee shop options – If you are a lover of Starbucks or your local coffee shops, you may be wondering how to navigate this.  I do encourage you to try to shift toward making your coffee drinks at home as much as possible.  Not only will this save you money, but it will reduce temptation and give you better control over what is going in your coffee.  However, I don’t expect anyone to avoid going out all the time.  As long as you do it moderation and go about it mindfully, an occasional coffee from a shop will not make or break your progress.  We will be discussing tips for how to make mindful choice when ordering your coffee out. 

Now let’s talk about tips and tricks to make each of these easier.

Cutting Back on Coffee:

One of the biggest concerns when you consider cutting caffeine is likely caffeine withdrawal.  Symptoms of caffeine withdrawal include headaches, anxiety, and irritability.  The best way to minimize this is to cut back on your coffee gradually.  Optimally, I would recommend planning to start weaning your caffeine 6 weeks or more before your surgery date.  Regardless of whether or not you cut the caffeine quickly or slowly though, there is one thing that can help regardless: swapping your coffee for decaf.  Decaf coffee is usually allowed in the earliest phases post-op.  This is good because research has shown that drinking decaf can actually reduce symptoms of caffeine withdrawal.  If you have never tried decaf coffee, it may be easy to write off.  You may have heard that it tastes different.  While many people cannot taste the difference, some coffee flavor enthusiasts might.  If this is you, there is good news.  By adding a little extra of the coffee grounds when brewing decaf and picking your decaf carefully, the taste difference can usually be overcome.  When picking a decaf coffee, it is worth paying attention to how the coffee was decaffeinated. There are 2 processes for decaffeinating coffee—the ethyl acetate process (EA) and the swiss water process (SW).  While the latter may have a nicer sounding name, it is popular opinion that coffees that are decaffeinated using the ethyl acetate process taste better. Here are some of the most highly rated decaf coffee options I have come across:  

• Olympia Decaf Asterisk Medium Roasted Whole Bean Coffee
• Barretts Coffee Sugarcane Decaf Columbia (Don’t worry, the sugarcane refers to the ethyl acetate, which is a sugarcane derivative, being used to decaffeinate the coffee, not that this has sugar)
• Caffevita Coratella Decaf Coffee
• Decaf Figure 8 Valle Del Cauca Columbian Coffee
• Merit Decaf Coffee

Cutting Back on Fat and Sugar Content

When it comes to adding the cream and sugar component of your coffee, the good news is that you do have lower fat options.  Here are some of the most popular workarounds I have observed: 

• Use Fairlife skim milk or a similar brand for the milk component.  Fairlife and other ultrafiltered milks have higher protein and less sugar content compared to regular milk.  They are also lactose-free.  For this reason, this is a good choice for adding milk to your coffee.  You may even buy an inexpensive coffee frother to froth it up depending on the type of coffee beverage you are going for.
• Use a sugar free coffee syrup.  There are many sugar-free coffee syrup flavors including several great autumn flavors.  My favorites flavors available include Pumpkin Pie, Smores, and Maple Bourbon Pecan, although you will find there are many options to choose from.  Popular brands include Torani sugar-free syrups and Jordan’s Skinny Syrups.  
• Use a sugar-free creamer.  Sugar-free creamers do have a little fat content, but with as little as 10 calories per tablespoon, they are a more weight loss friendly alternatives to regular creamer.  They are available at almost any grocery store in a variety of flavored ranging from french vanilla to hazelnut to pumpkin spice.  
• Use your protein shake as your creamer.  Many people love to do this as it not only adds a little sweetness and creaminess to your coffee but it also gives you extra protein.  Once again, many people find that it is possible to frother their protein shakes as well.  
• Use a coffee protein powder or shake.  Yes, there are caffeinated and decaffeinated options for your protein supplements.  Caffeinated options include Premier Protein Cafe Latte Shake and Chike Nutrition’s Iced Protein Coffee Powder.  For a decaf option, try Celebrate’s Caramel Latte Meal Replacement powder.

Navigating Coffee Shops

Lastly, here are some tips for ordering your coffee out: 

• Ask about sugar free sweeteners. In order to get more weight loss conscious options, you will almost always have to ask for this specifically.  Unfortunately, not all coffee shops will carry sugar-free syrups, but many do.  Starbucks usually has at least a sugar-free vanilla syrup you can ask for.  Some local shops may have others.  
• Be mindful of milk options.  Many people have difficulty tolerating regular cow’s milk.  If there is lactose-free cow’s milk, this is the best option because this will be both lactose-free and have protein.  Most coffee shops don’t carry this, however, instead offering plant-based milks such as almond or oat milk.  Be mindful that these will almost always be the sweetened variety.  If you are especially prone to dumping from added sugars, this is important to remember.  If you do get sweetened milk, you may want to ask for this to be on the lighter side. 
• Ask for espresso in a bigger cup.  One hack I have heard my patients use is to ask for cold espresso and ice in a bigger cup.  Then, they will pour a vanilla-flavored protein shake into this to enjoy a tasty profee beverage! 

Conclusion

I know that coffee is a staple for many people and that changing your beloved morning brew may not be the funnest idea. But I commend you for wanting to make a make a positive change. I appreciate you reading this article today, and I hope that you have found it helpful. Stay tuned for more helpful tips and tricks for bariatric success.