Gastric bypass surgery is done to primarily solve or treat morbid or severe obesity and other health problems associated with it. With this procedure the stomach is made smaller. The food will bypass part of the small intestine. By doing so, the patient will consume less because he feels full immediately. Getting full easily would reduce the calories taken by the body and eventually lead to weight loss.

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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Obesity is worldwide problem. There are millions worldwide who are suffering from this disease. In the United States, there are about 12.5 million children and adolescents who are overweight. Children are also suffering from the diseases associated with obesity and disease traditionally seen only in older people, like diabetes and heart disease. Because of these health problems, they are looking for weight-loss options and gastric bypass surgery is one of them.

Gastric bypass surgery is not the popular among the young population though. About 1% of those who undergo the procedure are teens according to the survey reported in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in March 2007. There is a relative increase on the number of teens undergoing the procedure, but still remains unpopular or uncommon.

Sadly, obese children think that they are living a kind of life like those who have cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, according to the survey done by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Teens suffering from obesity would deal with being teased, socially not accepted, and unable to participate in social activities.

Not all obese teens are recommended to undergo gastric bypass surgery. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2004, there are guidelines that should be considered before a teen or an adolescent is recommended for gastric bypass or any weight-loss surgery:

Failed to lose weight by any organized attempt of weight management for the last six or more months, with an assistance of a doctor.

Have reached a physiological and skeletal maturity. Adolescents that have reached an age (or older) of 13 years old for girls and 15 years old for boys have reached this level of maturity.

Has a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40 associated with severe obesity-related problems. Has body mass index of more than 50 even though there are no serious obesity-related problems.

There are medical and physiological examinations and evaluations performed before the surgery, the teen undergoing that should be prepared to handle these evaluations.

In general, those who have undergone gastric bypass surgery are advised to avoid pregnancy at least two years after the surgery. This is to avoid any complications and increasing risk to the fetus because of drastic weight loss. Anybody, not only teens, should be aware and agree on this.

Prepared to follow strict dietary regulations after the surgery. There is a strict diet that patients should follow like low sugar, low fat, low-carbohydrates, and low-calories meal plans.

Have a supportive environment. Because of the dramatic change in their lifestyle, teens should have supportive family environment that will be able to guide them to the different changes. Often times, there are patients of weight loss surgeries who would suffer from different physiological and psychological side-effects, like depression. Families should be prepared in helping their children through these stages.

There are doctors who would say that conducting gastric bypass or other bariatric surgery on teen-agers are safer than conducting the procedure with adults. Teens have not developed any case of obesity-related problems like high blood pressure and heart disease which are common among adults and also increases the risks of surgeries. Teens also heal faster and required less time spent in the hospital.

There are many benefits by undergoing gastric bypass and weight-loss surgeries. Some patients would even report losing 5% of their weight within the first month and about 50 to 60% within a year. Associated obesity related problems are also reduced by having the surgery. However, not everybody is recommended to undergo the procedure.

Even a teen is required to have be able to make sound decisions, before undergoing surgery. Afterall, maturity does not come with age.

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Hey if youre reading this it means you and I both have run up against that “cant lose weight myth”, but we both chose to believe it. It wasn’t our fault though, because our parents, friends, loved ones, co-workers and even people who didn’t like us, were quick to tell us to give it up, you will never lose weight. Chances are if you were like me you started believing them at an early age, perhaps as early as 4 or 5.

On top of that if it was your child hood friends, they taunted you with sayings like “Fatty, Fatty, 2 By 4 you can’t fit through the bathroom door. All of this because you were overweight and it didn’t matter what you did, it seemed you couldn’t get it off.

Stop believing right now that you cant lose weight. I’m here to tell you that its a myth and you can lose weight I did.

A short while ago I weighed well over 220 pounds (I was small boned and only 5’6”, had high blood pressure, borderline diabetic and my personal life was in a total melt down. I couldn’t hold a job because of my health problems and the people I tried to work with were worse than children about me being overweight. I was the joke of the work place, so as soon as I couldn’t take it anymore, I did my best to get laid off so I could collect unemployment or I just quit.

I did that one too many times and my family left me. Obviously I hit rock bottom then. I made up my mind I had to win them back and that’s when I found out “you cant lose weight” was a myth.

Shortly thereafter I was watching the Dr. Phil show and he was talking to people just like you and me. You know the “fat ones”. He told those folks they had to stop believing they couldn’t lose weight. Right then is when I realized that was precisely what was stopping me. I believed I can’t lose weight.

As I continued to listen to Dr Phil what he said made more and more sense. To make a long story short what he said was I had to believe I could lose weight and that I would have to change my lifestyle to accomplish my weight loss goals. The fact is I started that very day.

My first step was to go to my doctor and have him check me out to make sure I could start an exercise program without killing myself. Then I contacted a friend from my church and we became accountable to each other for each reprogramming our mind and reaching our weight loss goals.

Now here’s the fun part, we began to challenge each other in our goals, changing our lifestyle (eating habits) and progressing from a slow walk to a faster walk. Today we are up to 3 miles in just under 36 minutes.

Was this easy? Heck No! But I have lost 53 pounds and my friend has lost 47 pounds. The important thing is we have gotten it off and kept it off for more than a year. I’m now working and my family has allowed me back into their life. Is everything rosy, no but it’s a whole lot better than it was.

I’m living proof you cant lose weight is a myth. You need to search your mind, dig deep into your gut, get a plan together and stick to it.

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Because of so many illnesses and chronic diseases that occur among people through the years, more and more individuals are playing attention to their health and fitness because these would help them combat certain medical conditions. Today, one of the major reasons why people are overweight or suffer from minor and major health risks is that they dont practice having a healthy diet.

Effective formula for a healthy diet

Healthy dietwhich include eating balanced amount of food from all food groupsalong with exercise or regular physical activity can lessen peoples inclination to health problems. Doctors say that though basic principle of healthy diet is simple, there are those people who are having a hard time sticking to it. The major reasons behind this include a super busy lifestyle, work that causes a lot of stress or even an environment that is not conducive to having a healthy diet.

Despite hectic schedules and busy lifestyles, people can start and maintain a healthy diet if they really want to. Experts say that nothing is impossible to formulating and effective diets plan if one really wants to achieve a healthy mind and body.

For starters, experts advise a mix up food choices from each food group. Eating a large variety of foods and veggies can also serve as a warm up in avoiding the foods that contribute to drastic weight gain. Having a balanced intake of calcium-rich foods, whole grains, and protein-rich products will also keep you in track. To be able to maintain eating a healthy diet, you must also know your restrictions of fats, salt and sugars levels, and intakes. Lastly, you must monitor your body weight regularly for you to determine if your body is absorbing all the nutrients that it needs.

When do you know if your diet is healthy?

Being free from any illness or medical condition is the major determinant that a person is healthy. For those who are having a hard time identifying what is healthy on their diet and which are now, here are some tips for you. Experts say that a diet is healthy if it is: – based on starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta, and potatoes because they are a good source of energynot to mention being the main source of a range of nutrients of a persons diet like fiber, calcium, iron, and vitamin B;

– loaded up a lot of fruits and veggies such as orange, apples, celery, broccoli, carrots, beans and peas because eating at least 5 portions of any variety can provide the vitamins the body needs and it also satisfies hunger without having to worry about fats and excess carbohydrates;

– filled with fish dishes that have high amounts of fish oil because it can provide protein, vitamins, and minerals that are not available to other food groups;

– low on saturated fats and excess sugars such as meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cake, biscuits, cream and the others because they are high in complex calories stored in the muscles and sugars that can cause tooth decay.

– less in salt content because experts believe that goods that are high in salt or meals that uses too much salt can raise the persons blood pressure which can lead to more complicated diseases especially those related to coronary illnesses; and

– high in water content because experts believe that for a person to achieve optimum health and fitness, he or she should take in lots and lots of water and foods that are high in fluid content to keep the body well-hydrated.

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