Eye Opener on WLS

I read this on the March 2004 board and had not heard it before. Thought it was very interesting so even though I lurk this may be helpful to others. Donna ***Please read this carefully*** - if you do not get all the vitamins, supplements, protein and other nutritional requirements for your body, you WILL regain because you intestine will adapt!!!! This information should be posted to all RNY, DS, BPD (no DS) or MGB groups everywhere and not just available to Grads who may or may not have known this and may or may not have already done that damage to themselves. Perhaps I should take it upon myself to start disseminating this info across ObesityHelp at the very least... Jennifer (who is MUCH more conscious of what she eats now due to panic of 30-pound regain!) >> This is what I read exactly. A bit discouraging but >> DEFINITELY GOOD TO KNOW! I hope this is eye-opening >> and helpful to everyone. >> >> "After surgery, our bodies fight very hard to get back >> to "normal." The portion of our intestines that remains >> in the food tract adjusts during the two years or so to >> absorb more nutrients. During this "intestinal adaptation" >> period, the small bowel lengthens and balloons, the villi >> become larger, and peristalsis slows. Basically, our >> bodies are doing everything possible (through little >> understood mechanisms) to allow us to absorb more of >> what we eat.... Actually, Michelle has been talking about this for years. > Here is what she has said about hypertrophy: > > One thing I never see addressed here is the issue of > hypertrophy. In general, it works like so. > > Leaving out the bands of all kinds, the rest of us have a > common channel, be it RNY, DS, BPD (no DS) or MGB. > Whatever it is in length is what it WAS day of surgery. It > doesn't last. The intestine was designed to absorb and > transport food. We agree? OK, and it has vilii in it - tiny > hairs or fingers that do the work, help the peristalsis along, > suck the nutrition out of the food. > That is, ONCE the food has been made digestible by passing > through the lower stomach and duodenum. The DS people > have pylorus and some bit of digestion, but the rest of us > don't have that. > So, we've all lost the basic 8 (nutritional elements) in > the lower stomach and missing duodenum. Then would > come the intestine. And while we're all configured a little > differently NOW, the original equipment had the jejunum > (first 12" or so) doing most of the absorption of those > basic 8 elements. Hence the need for supplementation of > those 8, plus whatever else your body requests via nice > black and white lab work (no guessing required). > But for these procedures, in essence, the food takes the > high road and the digestive ****tail takes the low road > and where they finally meet is the common channel, where > all elements mingle together. > Proximals have way more common channel so more mingling > time. > Distals have way less common channel - where the food > and gastric juices get a handshake and move on out. > > We ALL absorb sugar, 100%, except for some of us, who > absorb it at about 150%, lips to hips, no digestion required. > Or in my case, rub it on my arm and watch me plump up. > > The common channel is now doing the job that the entire > intestine used to do, as well as part of what the lower > stomach and duodenum once did. It is not built to do it > well. > As we know, the body will do everything it can to normalize. > Everything. So, the common channel grows more vilii (hairs) > and thickens and elongates, in order to do the triple job > we're asking it to do. We all know the pouch stretches and > we assume it's from eating larger volume; it would also do > this on its own because it is trying to normalize. > If we are malnourished (not enough supplementation, too > pukey to get it in, bad choices - whatever), it will happen > to a greater extent. > My doc keeps reminding me this will happen, but I keep > saying that my common channel is never going to KNOW it > is missing anything because I am burying it in nutrition! > LOL! So, part of the two-year/three-year wall for ALL of us > is that body trying to normalize. The other contributing > factors are, of course, getting sloppy about > supplementation, water, sugars, volume, grazing - all that > stuff. But the underlying thing that befuddles us is that > the stuff we "usta be able to get away with," well, now we > pay the piper and are wondering why. > Hypertrophy (getting over-compensated in the common > channel) is one reason that we have to work a little harder > down the road."" > > So the theory is that if we keep our bodies well nourished > with protein and supplements, it will fool the body into > thinking it doesn't need to repair the 'damage' that was > done t0oit by surgery, at least enough to slow the > hypertrophy. And seeing Michelle at 11 1/2 years out > certainly strengthens that theory. Check out Jennifer-Anne's profile: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=C997589876

Thanks for the information. You told me things I wasn't aware of.