Gastric Bypass
Why Dieting Alone Simply Doesn’t Work
Have you found that what seems like endless days of dieting slowly yield fewer and fewer incremental pounds lost? Today, we will discuss why obese patients who try to embark on dietary restriction alone have difficulty maintaining their weight loss progress and often end up regaining their weight.
Restricting your caloric intake is the fastest way to lose weight, certainly at the beginning of your dietary program. Avoiding ingesting calories in the first place is far easier than burning them off later, either through exercise or resting metabolic activity. However, the human body is incredibly adaptable and will make changes to compensate for this reduced caloric intake. The body, which has considered your higher weight as normal for years, will work hard to maintain what it wrongly believes to be an equilibrium. We now know that the body develops a sort of set point. It will adjust the metabolism and how it stores fat to maintain that setpoint. Dieting alone is often insufficient to break through and continue losing weight long-term.
Gastric Bypass for GERD
Obesity is a leading cause of GERD and related issues, like hiatal hernias. Studies have shown that increased body mass index and excess eating can stress the esophagus. Certain bariatric surgeries can correct GERD, but others can bring it about or worsen existing cases.
The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure is the gold standard in eliminating severe and uncontrolled GERD. This is particularly true when comparing it to the gastric band or the gastric sleeve, both of which may cause a small number of patients to experience new or worsened acid reflux. However, it is worth noting that the likelihood of new or worsened GERD after the gastric sleeve is significantly reduced when a hiatal hernia, if present, is identified and correct during surgery.
