A common side effect that you will often hear about with gastric bypass surgery is something known as "dumping syndrome". Dumping Syndrome is caused by food or fluid passing too quickly from the stomach into the small intestine. This can be partly avoided by making dietary changes in order to slow the emptying speed of your stomach. The main ways of doing so include only taking small but frequent intakes of food and fluids............regular small meals instead of larger ones. Avoiding Sugary foods or fluids do not drink with meals. Not only does this cause the food you have eaten to swell in your pouch, you will make the food travel faster if it’s “pushed along” by the liquid and can cause you to dump. The symptoms for dumping syndrome vary in people, and some may never experience it. These symptoms include nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, bloated feeling, dizziness and sweating, fast heart rate, even fainting in extreme cases, but these symptoms can be reduced considerably by strictly following your dietician’s guidelines. It is also recommended that during a “dumping” episode, you lie down, the less energy you use, the quicker the dump will stop generally. On leaving hospital, you should be fully aware of the dietician’s advice on what to do next. This advice varies between different surgeons and depends on the type of weight loss surgery you have had, the size of your pouch and any complications that may have been detected. With Bypass patients, regardless of where in the country you have had your surgery, there are many general rules or dos and don’ts that are recommended. These include the following 1. Whether you are eating or drinking and you feel full, and then STOP. Trying to force any more in, will make you vomit or feel very uncomfortable. 2. You should no longer eat or drink at the same time, there should be a clear gap of 30 minutes at least before and after eating. If you fill up on fluids, too close to eating, this may make you feel too full and not let you eat and can also induce dumping syndrome. 3. When you are choosing food, opt for low fat/low sugar content to avoid dumping and to maximise your weight loss. Remember: LOW FAT is less than 3g per 100g food and LOW SUGAR is less than 2g per 100g of food or drink. 4. Do not eat your food too quickly, and chew your food until it becomes liquid before swallowing. 5. Eat a varied diet and try eating from a smaller plate, this helps keep your portions small and the look of the meal and its size will not overwhelm you. 6. Concentrate on your fluid intake, take a bottle of no added sugar squash out with you on your journeys, it is important to keep drinking to avoid dehydration.......remember you will not be absorbing so much fluid from your diet at first. 7. Re-consider the way you cook foods in future, try grilling, steaming, baking rather than frying. Avoid adding extra fats where possible.