Looking for a quick and easy sauce to help brighten and moisten your foods after gastric sleeve surgery? Try this Avocado and Greek Yogurt Sauce.
The great thing about this sauce is that it’s made from ingredients that are actually good for you after gastric sleeve surgery. It may not be right for all stages after gastric sleeve surgery, you have to follow Dr. Shillingford’s post op diet guidelines, or your bariatric surgeon’s gastric sleeve diet. But, once you are able to add yogurt and avocado (plus regular consistency proteins) to your gastric sleeve diet, this sauce might help add needed moisture to some meals.
Avocado has a reputation for being high in calories and high in fat. And both of those things are true. But, the fat in avocado is mostly monounsaturated fat (and some saturated and polyunsaturated), which is considered to be healthy. Most of an avocado’s fat is oleic acid, which is linked to health benefits such as decreased inflammation, lower risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, and improvements in blood sugar. And yes, it is high in calories. But the amount of calories is dependent on your portion size. As gastric sleeve patients are limited in how much they can eat at a time, the small portion size reduces the calories consumed. In fact, a 1 oz (or 2 tbsp) portion of avocado is 50 calories (and less than 2 grams of carb, most of which is dietary fiber). So, with a controlled and small portion size this sauce can easily fit into a gastric sleeve diet and you can still be on track for weight loss.
Avocado and Yogurt Sauce
1 ripe avocado, peeled and seed removed
½ cup plain greek yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and pepper
½-⅔ cup water or milk (depending on how thick you want it)
¼ tsp cumin (if desired)
¼ tsp garlic powder (if desired)
1 tsp cilantro (if desired)
Directions:
Add ingredients in a food processor (except water or milk). Pulse or blend. Slowly add in liquid until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.
You can have the sauce plain or add in spices depending on what you plan on eating with the sauce. This is where you get to be creative with your meals. You can change the spices to match your flavor profile. Once you’ve advanced in your gastric sleeve diet, we can recommend trying the sauce with:
- Chicken
- Omelet
- Salmon
To get more ideas on how to moisten your foods to easily tolerate them after gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, or lap band surgery, join one of Dr. Shillingford’s Nutrition Support meetings. His weight loss surgery patients are able to attend a choice of two meetings each month after their bariatric surgery. In Person Nutrition Support Meetings are held in Dr. Shillingford’s Boca Raton office on the second Monday of each month, and the Online Support Meeting is announced each month in Dr. Shillingford’s emailed newsletter and on his Facebook page. To join the newsletter, click here.
