To keep your body healthy and prevent loss of muscle mass during your recovery, it is recommended you eat a variety of foods.

Each day you should aim to eat foods from all the food groups and you eating enough food to satisfy your hunger.

As eating may be difficult, you will likely be eating less food than before surgery. This will mean you will be lacking in calories, vitamins and minerals, which can lead to deficiencies in the long term (e.g. iron deficiency anaemia).

To prevent weight loss and muscle loss, you should choose high energy and protein foods, plus:

• Eat small frequent meals
• Boost the energy in your meals and snacks by adding extra:
  • Margarine, butter, oil, gravy, cream, mayonnaise, grated cheese, smooth peanut butter, hazelnut spread
  • Sugar, honey, syrup, ice-cream
• Boost the protein in your meals by adding eggs, cheese, milk, ice-cream, yoghurt, moist, pureed meat, pureed chicken or fish
• Choose full fat protein products (not diet or low fat) unless you are recommended to reduce your weight by your local doctor
• Monitor your weight and notify Dr Gibson if it drops by more than 3-5kg

Using Supplement Drinks

In addition to choosing high energy and protein foods, a nutritional supplement can be an easy and comfortable way to balance your diet. There are a number of nutritional supplements on the market available from pharmacies and some supermarkets.

As a guide choose the supplement which includes the following:

• Approximately 300 calories or 1300Kj per serve
• 10-20g for protein per serve
• Added vitamins and minerals

It is likely you will need to drink at least 1-2 nutritional supplements a day to prevent weight loss.

When the swelling is at its greatest, you may not be able to open your jaw to chew at all. You will need a FLUID DIET which is high in energy and protein.