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How Does Surgery Promote Weight Loss?

by Kate Evelyn

Overview

For most individuals trying to lose weight, a low calorie diet and at least 30 minutes of exercise a day will do the trick. However, people who are severely obese, with BMIs of 40 or above, may want to have weight loss surgery to help speed up the process of getting lean. Surgery is not a miracle cure though. While it does promote weight loss, patients still have to maintain it with a lifestyle change.

Gastric Bypass

This is the most publicized of the weight loss surgeries and is also called a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. In normal situations, the stomach stretches as people eat more. People have the capability to eat as much as a gallon of food in one sitting, which is way more than they need. To combat overeating, the surgeon creates a small stomach pouch that holds about an ounce of food and attaches it directly to the bottom of the esophagus. The lower, expandable portion of the stomach is bypassed completely. Then the surgeon staples the other end of the pouch to a short "Roux" limb, which connects it to the small intestine, allowing food to skip the first two sections of the intestine. This makes the person feel full much quicker, since the stomach pouch cannot hold much food, and the shorter intestine gives the body less time to absorb nutrients, which can turn into excess fat.
Gastric Banding

Gastric banding is less invasive than gastric bypass and can be reversed if needed. In this procedure, the surgeon wraps a silicone band around the upper stomach. Then she attaches a plastic tube to the band and puts the other end in an easily accessible place close to the surface of the patient's skin. The surgeon does this so saline can be injected into the band to make it tighter and released to loosen it up. The small intestine remains intact. Like gastric bypass, gastric banding promotes weight loss since the stomach is limited to an ounce of food at a time. However, this can be adjusted as the patient starts to lose weight.
Diet Changes

Surgery also promotes weight loss because it requires major dietary changes afterward. With the small size of the stomach pouch, an individual cannot overeat because it will often cause severe pain, vomiting and queasiness. Surgery also forces people to eat more slowly, since unchewed food can lodge in the pouch and is decidedly unpleasant. As the patient recovers from surgery, his stomach pouch will eventually expand to hold about a cup and a half.