"The Malabsorbtion Advantage" ..Does it go away???

Sorry if this is a re-post, but I want to hear more info on this subject.  Somebody told me that our bodies will eventually adapt and become as efficient as pre-op at sucking the calories and nutrients from food passing through even though it has a shorter span of small intestine to do it within. I found this to be very disheartening because it tells me that weight gain is eventually inevitable. Does anyone know if we lose the malabsorbtion advantage completely over time??                                                                                  Thanks!   "The Beast"

I heard somewhere that that's a myth. Maybe Dx has some info?

Dave

Beast,
It seems to me that saying weight gain would be inevitable is kind of a "defeatist" look at it.
Even if we did lose all of the malabsorbtion over time... one of the main ideas here is to get a fresh start and re-learn how to eat properly for the rest of our lives.
I see it as a second chance to correct all of the horrible eating habits that I developed the first time around. You know... a nice, little system re-boot!


Be Well,
A.J.

I agree with you AJ, and I'm losing weight pretty good, but there'll always be that lurking fear in the background of gaining the weight back. I'd like to think that my calorie intake wont be absorbed like it was pre-op even though it's impossible to eat like that anymore. And Dave, I hope you're right!

3beast, I’m on a different computer this morning and can’t find anything on this hard drive- But, As I Recall, One of the DS Doc-Gurus, did a study concerning the increased number of intestinal ville found in patients after removal or bypass of portions of intestine. (those little hair-like structures that absorb) Although there was some “adaptation” (around 3 to 5%) the effect was negligible on the mal-absorption aspect of Gastric By-Pass patients. like AJ, I was struck by- “it tells me that weight gain is eventually inevitable.” I did have these facts in a post about “Pouch stretching /size…” Check the statistics- From 5 to 10 year post-op patient study.... 17% of RNY patients reach their Ideal Body Weight. 68 % of RNY Patients Lose between 75% to 99% of their excess body weight. *(That’s 85% of All RNY patients reaching a BMI in the NORMAL RANGE !) 10% or 10 in 100 lose an average of 63% of their excess body weight. *(most of these will be Overweight like the rest of the non-Morbidly Obese People in the country) 5% or 5 in 100 RNY patients lose less than half of their excess body weight. (and for those with DS, the numbers are even better, with LAP-Band, slightly, SLIGHTLY lower.) Further, Most Bariatric Surgeons (speaking of RNY) state that –  “…it is not surgical procedure flaws that cause people to regain weight, but that They never learn how to use their pouch properly.  The pouch is misused By grazing throughout the day, drinking hi-calorie liquids, Or eating soft easily digestible foods that are high in carbohydrate and fat, Such as fried potatoes, sweets, breads, and pasta.” Worried that - “this weight loss tool will stop working and I will resort back to my old self.” Very Common Worry.  As common out here as Deep Navels! 5 out of a Hundred may have that problem.  5 out of every 100, is a far cry from “inevitable failure.” In fact, it is a great case for “inevitable success.” Yes? Best Wishes- Dx

 

WLS is a tool.  Work it and it does work, no matter the procedure...all have been proven to work.  One observation being on the boards here and going to the support groups.  Men lose the weight more quickly and tend to keep the weight off over a longer period of time.  This would make sense since we have a greater muscle structure to begin with.  Also the younger the person the greater chance for sustained weight loss.  Could your body move better (at the same weight) at age 30 or at 50?  So getting back to men...studies have shown that men lose the weight more quickly and tend to keep off more.  So the word inevitable really may not apply to many of us here on this board...Brian

I have to agree with AJ on this one, it seems like you are being a bit defeatist. I must say that if a person  relies soley on the procedure to lose and keep weight off... then they are most likely going to be one of the 5 in 100 to fail. Even though I am still very early in my weight loss journey, I tell myself that the malabsorbtion does not apply to me. Here's my reasoning... I have the horrible tendancy to be able to justify ANYTHING especially food related. Malabsorbtion to me, makes it much easier to justify eating something unhealthy or more than I should, through grazing. In my mind, it becomes easy to say "hey, go ahead and eat some of that Mac & Cheese, your body isn't going to absorb most of it anyway".  Sorry to ramble, I guess what I am getting at is that if you are relying on malabsorbtion to maintain your weight loss... then you probably aren't making correct food and lifestyle choices, which is the primary reason we all have the procedure done.

Thanks for the replies guys!  Maybe "inevitible" wasn't the best choice of words to use, but you have to remember that I'm only 7 weeks into the bypass life and have been failing at "diets" for 30+ years... so it takes awhile for the head to adjust to winning the battle for once.