You lose weight after a gastric bypass surgery because you're restricted to a very low calorie diet. You can only eat tiny portions because your stomach is much smaller. Some high-calorie foods high in sugar and fat cannot be eaten because they cause nausea and vomiting, and part of the digestive tract is bypassed, which reduces the absorption of nutrients and calories.
If you're looking for a safer alternative to gastric bypass, you might consider a doctor-supervised very low calorie diet (VLCD), without the surgery. VLCDs have been shown to result in weight loss of up to 15 to 20 percent of the patient's initial weight in three to six months, but follow-up therapy is needed to maintain the weight loss.
The diet itself may require hospitalization or a stay in a treatment center so your physician can monitor your progress and health. This can be expensive, but there are some advantages over gastric bypass surgery. Although there are some risks, a very low calorie diet is far safer than surgery when the patient receives regular care from a physician.
The diet usually consists of liquid shakes or bars that have been specially formulated to include all the vitamins and minerals the patient needs. Using the pre-made shakes and bars makes it easy to regulate the number of calories without sacrificing nutrition.
A new five-year study financed by a large BlueCross BlueShield insurance plan is designed to find out if a VLCD, with or without weight loss medication, is as effective in treating obesity as the more expensive and dangerous weight loss surgeries. At this time, most group insurance policies do not cover any treatment associated with obesity, but the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure is being added as a benefit to some plans.
Obesity treatment was scourged from most policies after the diet pill scams of the 80's and 90's, but insurance companies are discovering that the costs of obesity are extremely high. If weight loss treatment, either surgery or doctor-monitored VLCD, can reduce the incidence of diabetes and heart disease that accompany obesity, the reduction in these chronic illnesses would more than pay for the additional costs of covering weight loss treatment. If it is proven that a VLCD results in long-term weight loss, this treatment may be added as a benefit to some policies.
A VLCD diet contains around 800 calories a day and the typical patient can lose up to 44 pounds in three months. In past studies it has been found that most obese patients who reduce their weight through doctor-supervised diet will regain much of the lost weight unless they receive ongoing behavioral therapy and nutritional counseling. This is also true for some post-gastric bypass patients.
There are always side effects associated with major changes in diet, and patients on a very low calorie diet may experience fatigue, constipation, nausea or diarrhea. These symptoms are usually temporary. The fast weight loss can also trigger one of the major complications associated with gastric bypass surgery - gallstones or gallbladder infection. Medication is available to reduce this risk, but it is important to become aware of the symptoms of gallstones and seek immediate treatment if the symptoms appear.
It is possible that a low-calorie diet of 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day may be just as effective for long-term weight loss as a VLCD. The weight will drop more slowly, but the diet is easier for most people to accept as a long-term lifestyle.
Behavioral changes are the most important aspect of any obesity treatment, either surgical or dietary. The weight will only stay off as long as new, healthier diets are maintained. Regular exercise is equally important.
Behavioral modification and nutritional counseling can help, and your physician or the obesity center at a local hospital should be able to give you a referral to a qualified counselor. The obesity center should also be able to assist you in finding a physician who can provide the necessary medical supervision if you decide to try a very low calorie diet as an alternative to gastric bypass.
