To understand how bariatric surgery results in weight loss, you first need to understand the normal digestive process.
The Normal Digestive Process:
Normally, after food is swallowed it enters the stomach, which holds the food and allows small amounts to pass further into the digestive tract. The stomach can usually hold up to about 48 ounces of food.
As food continues through the digestive process, digestive juices and enzymes help absorb calories and nutrients. Most iron and calcium is absorbed as it moves from the stomach into the first section of the small intestine. The rest of the digestive process occurs in the remaining two sections - about 20 feet - of the small intestine. Food that cannot be digested in the small intestine is stored in the large intestine until it is eliminated.
Bariatric Surgery Promotes Weight Loss In Two Ways:
- By restricting the amount of food that can be stored. Gastric banding and gastric bypass limit the amount of food the stomach can hold by closing off or removing parts of the stomach. These operations also delay emptying of the stomach.
- By reducing the amount of food absorbed. Gastric bypass surgically connects a lower segment of the small intestine to the stomach.
The use of bariatric surgery to control severe obesity was developed after physicians observed weight loss among patients who had large portions of the stomach or small intestine removed as treatment for cancer or severe ulcers.
Learn more
To learn more about the Mission Hospital Weight Loss Program, register today to attend one of the free weight loss information sessions. To know which information session is right for you, we will need your body mass index (BMI); calculate it using our online BMI form. Then call 828-213-2222, option 2; Monday through Friday between the hours of 8-5 or submit an online application and a weight management representative will contact you.
Mission Hospital Weight Management Program is conveniently located at Regional Medical Park just off I-40 at exit 51.
2 Medical Park Drive, Suite 102
Asheville, NC 28803
828-213-4100
