Bariatric Surgery

Any surgery that "cuts off" absorption of foods and nutrition, or cuts out part of the stomach, is cancer waiting to happen. Good nutrition is the key to cancer prevention. Many overweight people are in fact, malnutritioned. They eat high amounts of food, but it is extremely low mineral/vitamin foods. Their body will tell them to eat because they are "nutritionally starving." but they keep eating empty foods. Food cravings come from mineral imbalances. The body is amazing in it's desire to survive. Those with magneisum deficiencies will crave chocolate. Those low on iron can crave ice, dirt, and other weird things.those in water dehydration mode will crave to eat at night, including sugar/salt foods.
The body's first line of defense against invaders is the immune system. They are the troops. Knock out the immune system by not feeding the troops, and see how well they are at fending off attackers....they cant-they are weak.
Fungus, cancer, parasites, bacterias, can invade quite easily and quickly under those conditions. (notice how aquired immune deficiency syndrome (aids) victims will succumb to all kinds of fungal and bacterial attacks.)Aids is VERY similar to cancer.
We can notice that old people, old animals, etc, start getting more health issues. The immune system gets more and more compromised as we age. They start getting shingles, toe and skin fungus, periodontal disease, cancers, heart problems, increased parasite colonies on the body...like fleas,, etc. In fact every just about every illness can be traced to a NUTRITIONAL deficiency and a compromised immune system at it's start.

The key is to change the food he eats. This should reduce his desire to overeat because he will be stopping the trigger foods. Cut those white flours and sugars totally out. No juices, only whole fruit. Have him start eating more organ meats. These are loaded with nutrition. Take magnesium supplements. and drink lots of water.
SOY and CORN are the two things that load the weight on.(corn includes corn syrup). They feed this stuff to food animals to fatten them for slaughter!! When the animals are grass fed, they are lean-lean -lean! These grains must be very reduced in the diet if you want to see a substantial weight change. Both affect the thyroid and metabolism. Do an internet search of "alternate names of soy/corn". Check your labels for those products.

There are a few different kinds of bariatric surgery. Check out obesityhelp.com -- there is info there about the different types of surgery, and there are forums where you can talk with people who have had each kind.

I have a lapband and have lost 50lbs so far. It is the best thing I have ever done for myself.

There are better options for weight loss. The number one thing that people don't realize is that they CAN gain the weight back. I am watching a gal I know do it right now. A better choice would be to try a class from your doctor. I am teaching a class (free) right now at my primary care Dr. office on Thursday nights. Would you like to know more?

S.

Hi Jenni----Any type of surgery is really serious. There are always risks and side-effects. I also am curious as to what his diet has been.

The term diet needs to be redefined. It is not something that we do temporarily in order to lose weight. A healthful diet is a lifelong commitment, something that is practiced every day for optimal health. I hope you don't think I am suggesting that your family's diet is bad, it may just need a little tweaking.

There is a lot of misinformation about what constitutes a healthy diet. For example, I just responded to a post about protein. Too much animal protein leads to a host of medical problems. The World Health Organization recommends a range of 2.5-10% of our daily calories come from protein. For an adult, that looks like a playing card deck sized amount. That includes animal and plant proteins. Since animal protein contains saturated fat and cholesterol, it is best to minimize those, especially if you have problems maintaining a healthy weight.

An optimal diet consists primarily of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. I highly recommend exploring the www.pcrm.org website. Look for the Vegetarian Starter kit in there. I don't necessarily advocate being a vegetarian or vegan, but I do suggest that people eat more vegetarian meals, especially if they are having health problems.

Eating an optimal diet provides lots of fiber. You cannot eat too much food if you are eating high fiber foods. You can ease your family into this type of diet, substituting one vegetarian meal each week, gradually decreasing the amount of animal protein you eat at each meal.

I am learning this by taking a series of classes taught by a Naturopath who has her PhD in Nutrition. In fact, anyone can take her Wellness 101 class by long distance. Dr. Pam lives in Columbus OH. Please call me if you have any questions about anything. I am most happy to help. Your husband, and your family will make more lasting changes for your health if you change your dietary habits. Bariatric surgery won't help unless you change the habits that created the weight problems in the first place. Changing your diet WILL change your risk of disease. The surgery might, but not to the same degree.

Let me know how I can help. Want to get together for coffee? I always am looking for an excuse to come to Troy and shop. Hope this helped. I look forward to your call. D. ###-###-####

Would he consider Weight Watchers? Several folks I know have done it instead of or after bariatric surgery (when they started gaining again). It is very common sense and teaches you how to eat. Some insurances give you a big break on the fee, which isn't a lot anyway considering what you save in not eating the wrong foods. I've lost over 100# so far. You can look on lines for local meetings. The support is wonderful!

Hi Jenni, It is good that you are being thoughtful about this important decision. What does your husband think about it?

It is as much work on the other side of the treatment as a diet is on this side. I've seen several people with this treatment end up malnourished and ill because of it a few years down the road.

May I ask a couple of questions? Why is the weight loss so difficult for your husband? a metabolic disorder? What diets has been trying?

Would you like some more information as you and your husband make this crucial decision?

warmly, M.