Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric Bypass Surgery is considered to be the gold standard procedure in bariatric  surgery. It’s the surgery to which we compare any new procedure. Gastric Bypass has two mechanisms to achieve weight loss. The first mechanism is restriction; we divide the stomach into a big and a small portion, leaving the little one with a capacity of less than 10% of the original one, leading to experience satiety with small portions of food. Then, we reconnect this little stomach portion directly to the small bowel, leaving 2 meters of small intestine without absorbing calories, this is the second mechanism of weight loss, malabsorption of nutrients. This surgery –besides helping to ingest less calories– makes our body produce many hormones called incretins, that help reverse insulin resistance and diabetes. As many as 80% of the diabetic patients that decide to get this procedure, can leave all their Diabetes medications! That is why this procedure is the ideal for diabetic patients.  You must consider that besides malabsorption of calories, we also absorb less nutrients like vitamins and minerals, that is why we must supplement these after the surgery permanently.  This procedure helps us lose slightly more weight than a gastric sleeve –up to 85% of our excess weight.