Gastric Sleeve Vitamin & Mineral Supplements

Image of consultant bariatric surgeon, Mr Rishi Singhal

Medically reviewed by Prof Rishi Singhal MBBS, MRCS, FRCS, MD  
By Heather Fry BSC (Hons)

  • Last Reviewed 04/12/2023

Vitamin and Minerals   |  Multivitamin & Mineral |  Calcium and Vitamin D  |  Iron  |  Vitamin B12

Vitamins and minerals are vital for good health. After weight loss surgery, portion sizes are smaller, some food groups may not be tolerated and there may be reduced absorption of vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

Following your gastric sleeve procedure, we strongly recommend that you take vitamin and mineral supplements in line with guidance from The British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS). Most surgeons will advise not to take tablets for the first 6 weeks after your surgery. We have listed alternatives to take during this time, such as chewable or effervescent.

Please note, you only need to choose one of the options from each group.

Multivitamin & Mineral

This must include copper (minimum 2mg), folic acid (400-800µg), iron, selenium, thiamine and 15mg zinc. We have looked at what is currently available, and some options are:

• Aldi Activ-max A-Z Multivitamin & Mineral tablet (twice daily)

• Asda A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals Wellbeing tablet (twice daily)

• Boots Vegan A-Z Wellness Formula tablet (twice daily)

• Forceval capsule (once daily)

• Forceval effervescent (once daily)

• Holland and Barrett ABC to Z Multivitamins tablet (twice daily)

• LloydsPharmacy A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals tablet (twice daily)

• Morrisons A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals tablet (twice daily)

• Sainsbury’s A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals tablet (twice daily)

• Sanatogen A-Z Complete Multivitamin tablet (twice daily)

• Superdrug A-Z Multivitamins with Minerals tablet (twice daily)

• Tesco A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals tablet (twice daily)

Calcium and Vitamin D

Following your procedure, your requirement of calcium is 1200-1500mg per day. You can reach this through diet and supplements. Have a look at our Calcium Guide on our app for ideas of calcium-rich foods. You will also need to take an additional supplement of at least 20µg of vitamin D3. Some options of supplements are:

• Accrete D3 tablet (twice daily)

• Adcal D3 chewable (twice daily)

• Boots Chewable Calcium + Vitamin D twice daily and Boots Vitamin D 10µg tablet once daily

• Calcichew D3 Forte chewable (twice daily)

• Evacal D3 chewable (twice daily)

• TheiCal-D3 chewable (once daily)

• Vitabiotics Ultra Calcium & Vitamin D tablet (twice daily)

Iron

Males and females who do not menstruate should take 45-60mg of iron per day. The following will provide this:

• Galfer syrup (7.5ml daily)

• Ferrous sulphate tablet (once daily)

• Ferrous fumarate tablet (once daily)

• Ferrous gluconate tablet (once daily)

For females who menstruate, your requirement of iron will be a bit higher at around 100mg per day and you can get this form the following:

• Galfer syrup (15ml daily)

• Ferrous sulphate tablet (twice daily)

• Ferrous fumarate tablet (twice daily)

Vitamin B12

It is advised to have intramuscular injections of 1mg vitamin B12 every 3 months following your procedure.

Summary

Here are some examples of what you should be taking:

Option 1 (menstruating female)

Superdrug A-Z Multivitamins with Minerals tablet (twice daily)

And Calcichew D3 Forte (twice daily)

And Ferrous sulphate (twice daily)

And Vitamin B12 1mg injection (every 3 months)

Option 2 (menstruating female)

Asda A-Z Multivitamins & Minerals Wellbeing tablet (twice daily

And Adcal D3 chewable (twice daily)

And Ferrous fumarate (twice daily)

And Vitamin B12 1mg injection (every 3 months)

Option 3 (male / non-menstruating female)

Forceval (once daily)

And Boots Chewable Calcium + Vitamin D (twice daily)

And Boots Vitamin D 10µg tablet (once daily)

And Ferrous sulphate (once daily)

And Vitamin B12 1mg injection (every 3 months)

Option 4 (male / non-menstruating female)

Sanatogen A-Z Complete Multivitamin tablet (twice daily)

And Vitabiotics Ultra Calcium & Vitamin D tablet (twice daily)

And Ferrous sulphate (once daily)

And Vitamin B12 1mg injection (every 3 months)

All the information in this guide is correct at the time of writing.

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Image of consultant bariatric surgeon, Mr Rishi Singhal

All content on this page is reviewed by a multi-disciplinary team lead by Prof Rishi Singhal.

  • Last Reviewed 04/12/2023

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