Hello Weight Loss Surgery Patients,

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Ok, it’s that time of year again when you resolve to get the weight off for good.  You know, that weight that has been holding you back and keeping you from revealing the “real you” to the rest of the world.  Most likely you are now contemplating which route to take to help you achieve your weight loss goal.  Are you considering getting a new gym membership? Starting a fitness boot camp? Joining Jenny Craig? Nutrisystem?  How about the new hcg diet?  If so then you are not alone as research has found that weight loss tops the list when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. 

Most likely, you have made this same resolution before only to end up at this same place again and making the same resolution to lose the weight for good.  Why do you find yourself here yet again?  If you think you lack will power then think again as research shows that most diet and exercise plans are ineffective at helping you get the weight off and keeping it off for good.  In fact, researchers have found that only one technique is effective at helping patients lose more than 10% of their excess body weight and keeping it off forever.  What is this technique?  It’s weight loss surgery!  The gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, and the lapband procedures have been clinically proven to help patients lose around 55%+ of their excess body weight.  For some people that can mean 100 to upwards of 200# lost for life!  What other weight loss program can make that claim and back it up?  NONE!

Are you a weight loss surgery patient whose weight loss has slowed, stopped, or even started to go in the wrong direction? If so then you may be wondering what is keeping the pounds from falling off. In most cases poor weight loss in weight loss surgery patients (gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, lap band) can be contributed to 1 of 5 factors including:

1) Inadequate protein intake (remember that females need 60gm protein/day and males needs at least 80gm/day)

Within each of our intestines lives a colony of bacteria. In fact, researchers believe that each of us have around 4 trillion bacteria in our intestines. Most of the bacteria are located in the large intestine, while very few microorganisms are found in the small intestine. This is a good thing considering that excessive amounts of bacteria in the small intestine may be correlated with obesity. In fact, researchers have found that excessive bacteria in the small intestine may increase the rate of gastric emptying (and thereby decrease satiety/fullness after a meal), decrease the body’s production of the hormone leptin (a hormone that tells you that you are full and to stop eating), and increase the amount of calories that can be extracted from food. As you can see, excessive microbes in the small intestine make it difficult to get skinny.

Now the good news is that in most people the population of bacteria in the small intestine is kept low by a number of factors including: 1) Hydrochloric acid produced in the stomach kills any incoming bugs, 2) Migrating motor complex/Housekeeper wave sweeps/propels bacteria from the small intestine on a frequent basis, 3) Good digestion and absorption in the upper part of the small intestine leaves little food for the bacteria, and 4)bile acids and pancreatic juices exert an antibiotic effect on bacteria in the small intestine. Unfortunately, small intestine bacterial overgrowth is commonly seen in R&Y Gastric Bypass patients as a result of the decreased stomach acid production and the mild malabsorption that results from this procedure. This increase in small bowel bacteria may contribute to digestive disturbances (gas and bloating) and may make it difficult for gastric bypass patients to lose as much weight as they potentially could have if the bacteria weren’t growing where it shouldn’t.