In gastric bypass surgery, a small pouch is created in the stomach. This small pouch is stapled and the small intestine’s upper portion is also attached to this small pouch. The middle section of the small intestine is attached to the rest of the stomach. Food will bypass the rest of the stomach and the rest of the small intestine. Te stomach will be in smaller size which would make it full faster. Less calories will be absorbed.

This procedure would require diet change. Since the digestive system is altered or shortened, every food intake would be valuable. Some common side effects brought by the surgery is nutritional deficiency like anemia and osteoporosis. This is why it is important for patients to follow a different diet and take mineral and vitamin supplements.

The special gastric bypass diet would make sure that weight loss will be maintained over time. It would normally involve high protein food. Foods high in protein would ensure that new tissues are being built and the wounds are healing properly. Ideal high protein foods will be low in fat like red meat, chicken or turkey without skin, fish, eggs and cottage cheese.

Sugar and fat is among the foods that are avoided. Gastric bypass diet would involve food low in sugar and fat. Sugary foods are high in calories and fat. Fat is difficult to digest. Consuming too much sugar could also result to the Dumping syndrome that has nausea, dizziness, vomiting, sweating, and diarrhea as symptoms. The body could also react the same way to too much fat. Foods with too much fat and sugar, anyway, do not have sufficient nutrients that would be essential to the body.

Foods high in fiber are also limited in gastric bypass diet. Fibers could block the stomach, small intestine and would require more gastric acid to digest it. A doctor’s approval is needed before ingesting any laxative or fiber pills.

This change is not done immediately. There are stages in a gastric bypass diet. Clear liquids would be the first stage. For the first two days, clear liquids like water, sugar-free juice, clear broth and no fizz soda are consumed in small amounts. Within the first two weeks, low-fat, high protein liquids are ingested. It is important to also take chewable multivitamins during this stage.

Doctors would determine when would be the suitable time for the patient to progress to soft or puree diet. Some would be able to eat after two weeks, while others would have to wait longer than that. Some people who are in this stage would sometimes resort to eating strained baby foods. While others would prefer eating soft foods like scrambled eggs, low-fat cheese, blenderized lean meats, etc.

Two months after the surgery, the patient could now start eating regular diet, starting with high-protein food. Food consumed should be in small amounts. Remember that the stomach is reduced in size. After the gastric bypass, the stomach could accommodate about an ounce of food. Eventually, it could stretch and hold about 4 to 8 ounces or a cup to half a cup of food.

One thing that people should be conscious of would be overeating. Gastric bypass surgery can make the stomach smaller, however this does not affect the overall attitude to eating. People could result to overeating because of genetics or emotions. Lifestyle change is important. Overeating could cause regaining the lost weight, expansion of the pouch, and in worst cases rupture of the stomach.

There are many support groups, education, and counselling available to help deal patients with these difficulties.

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Actually, gastric bypass is just among the many similar operations to reduce obesity. To refer all of these procedures, bariatric surgery is the term. These operations intend to reduce accumulated fatty tissues by altering the physiological and psychological attitude of a patient towards food and eating.

How does it alter normal digestion?

What normally happens is that after eating, the food would go through the stomach and then proceed to the small intestine. The nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine before it goes to the large intestine where waste is eventually pushed out of the body. The most common gastric bypass procedure, the Roux-en Y gastric bypass, alters this process.

In the Roux-en gastric bypass, a small pouch is made on the top part of the stomach. The lower part of the stomach, which is much smaller now, is connected directly to the middle part of the small intestine. The stomach was made smaller and at the same time, the intestine was cut short, the upper portion of the small intestine was bypassed. Both the upper portion of the stomach and the small intestine no longer digest food.

Statistics showed that patients would lose 60%, on the average, of their weight after the gastric bypass surgery. There are even who would say that they have lost 80% of their weight. There are studies showing that about 90% of patient who have undergone gastric surgery were able to maintain their weight loss after ten years of having the surgery performed.

Having gastric surgery is not risk-free though. People who have undergone this procedure would report more cases of gallstones, in other studies, they would also report nutritional issues like anemia or osteoporosis.

Every year there are about 140,000 gastric procedure being performed in the United States alone. The results could really be successful, with people being able to get better weight-loss results, however, about 2% of patients would find it very fatal. In the 2%, one percent could be as a result of complications during surgery. The heart in unable to support the pumping it has to do to handle the excess weight or the complication brought by it.

The other one percent cause of fatality among people who gone through the procedure, would be about not following the dietary restrictions that should be followed after the surgery. After gastric surgery, the body could no longer handle too much intake of high-sugar and high-fat food. There is a special diet that those who have just undergone the surgery should follow. Bypass diet would usually include foods that are high in protein but low in fat, fiber, calories, and sugar. There are vitamins and mineral supplements that are required to be taken to avoid health and nutritional deficiencies.

With more and more people turning to gastric bypass surgery as a weight-loss option, it is important to understand not only the procedure and the benefits. It is also important to weigh the risks and if our lifestyle and our body would be able to handle the dramatic loss of weight.

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Those who have undergone weight loss surgeries, lose about 50 to 60% of their body weight, a year after the surgery. Along with the weight loss, they would also be losing ailments associated with obesity like high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, heart diseases and even cancer.

The Procedure

The most common gastric bypass performed is called the Roux-en Y gastric bypass. In this procedure, a small pouch is created on the top of the stomach. It is stapled, to seal it off from the rest of the stomach. This small pouch will no longer digest any food. The upper part of the small intestine, the duodenum, is attached to this small pouch.

When eating, the food would bypass the small pouch in the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine. The food would go directly to the middle section of the intestine called the jejunum. Since it is the small intestine that does the absorption of minerals, vitamins and calories, the body will absorb limited calories only. A Y formation is formed just below the stomach.

Incisions are made in the abdomen to perform the procedure. Surgeons will be using the laparoscope or a small, tubular instrument with a camera. This will enable the surgeon to see the abdomen and perform the surgery. The laparoscopic gastric bypass actually makes the stay in the hospital and the recovery period shorter and quicker.

There are still “open” gastric bypass performed, however, there could be wound-related problems with this kind of procedure. The laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is performed under general anaesthesia. The procedure lasts for about four hours. Patients who have undergone the procedure stay in the hospital for about two to six days to be monitored for any complications.

After the Surgery

Having a smaller stomach has effects on how much food the patient can eat. There are special diets that a patient recovering from gastric bypass surgery follows. Every food that the patient would eat will be important for his nutrition. There are times that they are also recommended nutritional supplements to avoid deficiencies like anemia or vitamin deficiency.

There are patients reporting weight loss of as much as 50 to 60 percent a year after the surgery. There are even some who would report an astounding 80% weight loss. However, it is still possible for patients to stretch their stomachs and have that large size again. There is still a possibility of getting back those lost pounds. That is why doctors would recommend dietary restrictions and exercise plant that would keep the pounds away.

There are also tendencies that gastric bypass patients would develop gallstones, stomach ulcers, hernia or nutritional deficiencies. The part of the stomach which was bypassed can get enlarged, it could cause bloating and hiccups. There is also the Dumping syndrome which happens when the food moves quickly to the small intestine. This can happen after eating foods high in sugar or fat.

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