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Supplement checklist.

A procedure-specific bariatric supplement checklist built directly from the ASMBS 2016 Integrated Health Nutritional Guidelines and the 2019 AACE/TOS/ASMBS clinical practice update. Select your procedure and life stage to see your daily targets.

Educational tool, not medical advice. Doses shown are baseline preventative targets from published ASMBS guidance. Your bariatric team may prescribe different doses based on your blood work, comorbidities, medications, or deficiencies. Always follow the personalised regimen your surgeon, dietitian, or primary-care prescriber has given you. Do not change supplement doses based on this page alone.

Your details

Different procedures cause different malabsorption patterns.
Affects iron dosing only (menstruating females need more iron).
Pregnancy planning increases folate. Discuss any pregnancy plan with your bariatric team first.

Your daily supplement checklist

    Timing & absorption tips

    Separate calcium and iron by at least 2 hours.
    • Calcium binds iron and reduces its absorption. Take them at different meals.
    • Calcium citrate can be taken with or without food. Calcium carbonate needs food.
    • Split calcium into 500–600 mg doses — the body cannot absorb a single dose larger than that effectively.
    • Vitamin C with iron improves iron absorption.
    • Take vitamin B12 sublingually or by injection — most post-bypass patients cannot absorb it well from regular oral tablets.
    • Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) are best absorbed with a meal that contains some fat.
    • Chewable or liquid forms are recommended for the first 3–6 months after surgery.

    Routine monitoring

    ASMBS recommends post-bariatric blood work at:

    • 3, 6, and 12 months in year 1
    • Annually thereafter for life
    • More often if symptomatic (fatigue, hair loss, neurological symptoms, bone pain)

    Common panel: CBC, ferritin, iron studies, vitamin B12 (with MMA), folate, vitamin D (25-OH), calcium, PTH, magnesium, zinc, copper. Add vitamin A for BPD-DS / SADI-S.

    Sources

    Parrott J, et al. American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Integrated Health Nutritional Guidelines for the Surgical Weight Loss Patient 2016 Update: Micronutrients. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2017;13(5):727-741. — PubMed

    Mechanick JI, et al. Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Perioperative Nutrition, Metabolic, and Nonsurgical Support of Patients Undergoing Bariatric Procedures — 2019 Update. — ASMBS Clinical Practice Guidelines

    Obesity Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines — obesitycanada.ca/guidelines

    ASMBS guidelines are general clinical guidance. Your surgical centre may prescribe a different brand-name bariatric multivitamin (Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate, ProCare, BariMelts, etc.) designed to meet these targets in fewer pills. Follow the regimen your team has given you.

    Want personalised guidance?

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