Pre-Surgery Diet May Improve Results, Reduce Complications

By Stephanie Guler - Senior Content & Social Media Developer | January 27th, 2012

They say you are what you eat.

While this saying most definitely applies to the relationship between diet, weight, health and appearance, it might also relate to surgical procedures as well.

A recent study out of the Harvard School of Public Health showed that patients might be able to better prepare their bodies for the stress of surgery by avoiding certain types of food beforehand.

The researchers performed the study on mice, which involved them eating a tryptophan-free diet or taking a tryptophan-blocking medicine a week or two before surgery. Consequently, the mice that avoided tryptophan had less kidney damage and a higher chance of survival after surgery when compared to mice that ate a regular diet.

Dr. James R. Mitchell, study researcher and assistant professor of genetics and complex diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health said, “We’re excited about the possibility of simple, brief dietary interventions to reduce susceptibility to surgical stress, and anxious to see if such treatments will work in people in clinical trials.”

He added, “We don’t know how or if this will translate to humans, but we are hopeful.”

Tryptophan is an amino acid, and amino acids are essentially the building blocks of protein. According to World’s Healthiest Foods, tryptophan is known for promoting relaxation, restfulness and sleep. Foods like red meat, dairy, nuts, seeds, beans, tuna, shellfish and turkey are all rich in tryptophan.

During surgery, one common complication is called ischemia, where blood stops flowing to certain areas of the body. This can lead to

heart attack or stroke. In fact, some heart surgeries have a stroke risk of about 10 percent, but could a strict pre-surgery diet prevent this?

Previous studies have already shown the benefit of reducing protein in the diet in terms of lifespan, and the researchers also knew that lowering calorie intake helped mice to heal better, so they wanted to see if diet also factored into this equation.

According to MSNBC, “researchers fed mice a regular or protein-free diet, and then mimicked surgery in the mice by blocking blood flow in and out of the kidneys.”

Post “op”, the researchers monitored the mice’s kidney function.

The results stated the group of mice that avoided protein had much better kidney function after their surgery, and all of them survived. The mice that ate the normal diet, however, didn’t share the same fate: 40 percent of them died after surgery.

Scientists repeated the study once more, and this time, eliminated specific amino acids to see which one had the greatest affect of the kidneys. Lo and behold, eliminating tryptophan was a winner, as it protected the kidneys the best.

This study could have a major effect on the way doctors and patients think about surgery preparation, and the scientists hope to develop a detailed pre-surgery diet to better eliminate risks and improve outcomes.

Dr. Mitchell explained, “Right now, there aren’t adequate ways to protect the body” from surgery complications. He said a specialized surgery diet “would be a potential way to mitigate this risk, so we need to test this in humans.”

Other researchers in the field support the results of Dr. Mitchell and his colleagues.

Dr. Holly Brown-Borg, a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, who was not involved in the study, told MSNBC, “The work contains high-impact data. They have linked these changes in diet to stress resistance in a major way, something many of us have been working on for years.”

The researchers’ findings certainly make sense. Regardless of whether a patient is undergoing heart bypass surgery, plastic surgery, or orthopedic surgery, the body should be in the best possible shape in order to yield ideal results and recovery.

Although all surgical procedures do come with risk for complications and even death, there are steps patients can take to protect themselves.

At least six weeks before any surgery, patients are advised to quit smoking cigarettes and to avoid blood-thinning medications like aspirin. Why not factor in a healthy, protein-free diet as well to give the body an extra boost?

Not only do natural, healthy foods help you to look and feel great, but they also strengthen your immune system; and this definitely can’t hurt to try in the weeks leading up to a surgical procedure. Before going on any type of diet, however, it’s best to consult your physician or surgeon.

As for Dr. Mitchell’s team, they will continue to do research on the impact of diet restriction and surgical results.

Their next focus will be on stress reduction during surgery, and will try to figure out if eliminating proteins or amino acids from the diet will protect other organs like the heart and brain.

He said, “We want to know what the optimal diet and optimal timing is.”

If you have a surgery scheduled, it’s best to take good care of your body beforehand so it’s fully prepared to handle the stress and recovery post-op. Make sure to follow all instructions given by your surgeon with care, to ensure a smooth surgery and more importantly, your health and safety.

To learn more about other ways to prepare for surgery, contact a doctor near you.

References:

MSNBC News Health. “Pre-surgery diet may boost survival odds”. Web. Jan. 25, 2012. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46136226/ns/health-health_care/

World’s Healthiest Foods. “Tryptophan”. Web. Jan. 27, 2012. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=103

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