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Wine And Weight Loss Surgery Could Turn Out To Be A Dangerous Mixture

By: Don Saunders Following many years of debate we are at last coming around to the unavoidable conclusion that surgery is the only really effective and lasting answer to the problem of severe obesity. And not before time!

Right now obesity is possibly the leading health problem in the Western world and in the USA alone some 60 percent of the population is overweight, with nearly 24 percent being obese and 3 percent extremely obese. Now 3 percent may not appear to be high figure but when you consider that it adds up to more than 9 million extremely obese people that is a fairly major problem.

In spite of the fact that attention is increasingly being turned towards the problem of obesity and its treatment, it is surprising just how much we are still learning about the condition, including the affect that alcohol can have on individuals who have undergone obesity surgery.

For a time now there has been a fair amount of anecdotal evidence to suggest that individuals who have had weight loss surgery are affected more by alcohol than others but it was not until late last year that any attempt was made to determine the extent of the problem.

In a fairly low-key study the affects of alcohol on 19 individuals who had weight loss surgery was compared to the affects on 17 control subjects. The people in the study were each given a small 5 ounce glass of red wine and their breath alcohol was then analyzed at 5 minute intervals until it fell back to zero.

The study revelaed that alcohol levels peaked at a higher level in the weight loss patients and also took much longer to return to zero. However, most interestingly, the study also demonstrated that just }a single|one} small glass of wine was enough to push the breath alcohol level in several weight loss surgery patients above the legal limit for driving in several US states.

The explanation for the raised affects of alcohol on weight loss surgery patients is fairly easy to understand because surgery reduces the volume of the stomach and bypasses part of the intestine, both areas of the body which play a significant role in breaking down alcohol before it finds its way into the bloodstream.

So just what does this mean for weight loss surgery patients?

Well, aside from the clear need to be careful and certainly to refrain from driving after drinking even small amounts of alcohol, the implications for weight loss surgery patients do in fact go a bit wider.

A particular problem is that alcohol acts as a relaxant and this can cause difficulties with post-surgical weight loss and to maintaining weight loss. As alcohol relaxes the stomach, including the lower esophageal sphincter, together with the intestine, patients who enjoy alcohol can eat more and the presence of alcohol in effect counteracts the affects of surgery. As if this were not bad enough a lot of individuals become more socially active following surgery and this generally means an increased intake of alcohol.

There will still need to be considerably more research carried out but, in the end, the fact is that individuals who have obesity surgery need to be aware of the risks of alcohol and act accordingly.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

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