why do people who do weightloss surg. don't go into starvati

I asked that same question a few weeks ago, and the responses I received were that it was because they were morbidly obese to begin with and the starvation mode doesn't apply to morbidly obese people... so I don't know..?

I wonder if it's beacuse their stomach is telling their body that's full, so it doesn't think it's starving? I don't know, but I would be interested to find out.

Good question. I don't know the answer, but I have some speculation. :laugh: If they can only eat that much (300-400 calories) for a little while, when they can eat more, maybe they are gradually increasing the amount rather than adding back calories in large amounts. Each little bit they increased might tell their body, okay, I have enough food, I can lose a little more. Then they do it again and again. Only a theory, looking forward to seeing the responses.

I'm pretty sure they are also put on a bunch of nutritional supplements, @ least starting out. So while they may not be "eating" as much, their bodies still get the vitamins/minerals that it needs.

It does sound a bit extreme to only be eating 300-400 cals. I thought that they just ate much smaller meals a LOT more often, like every 2 hours or so. However, morbidly obese people can handle extreme caloric deficits much better than the person that only needs to lose 20-30#.

Essentially, the more fat your body has on it, the longer it will take to go into starvation mode. If you are several hundred pounds overweight, you body has ample stored fat that it feels comfortable burning the fat as excess energy without feeling like it is going to be starving itself, because there will still be a lot less. So if you are very obese, you can under eat and still lose fat. I wouldn't recommend it unless its for something like a surgery, since it's still not healthy to give your body that little nutrients, but you will not go into starvation mode.

Now, if you don't have a ton of weight to lose, or if you've lost a lot of weight and haven't changed your diet from when you started, you body has less fat stores to release as energy, so it will go into starvation mode easier.

Check out this thread for some more info: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

I know 4 people who have had weight loss surgeries. One (a friend of my mom's) had her stomach "stapled" (whatever the hell that is) some 25 years ago and lost weight for a while. She is now back to morbidly obese and is even wheelchair bound. Her 2 daughters had gastric bypass they looked great for a few years, and now they are both fat again (although I know they are both heavy drinkers=liquid calories). My other friend just got the "sleeve" surgery done, and is the only one who hasn't gained the weight back....YET. My point is: I believe they DO go into starvation mode. It is just a temporary fix, like everything else.

Its all about the greyling effect. Something about a hormone that is produced that triggers your brains hungry cycle. After these kinds of surgery, it kicks in big time and the brain does not literally think it is hungry. Most of these patients really do not feel hunger for about 6 months post-op. They are supervised by nutritionists and doctors and gradually add back the correct amount of foods to eat like a normal portion, but like anything else, if they don't follow the guidelines of their program, they will reverse the effects and end up where they started.

The lap band procedure is a restrictive surgery. The roux-n-y gastric bypass surgery is both restrictive and absorptive. What that means is they staple off a part of the stomach so it only holds about an ounce. The duodenum of the small intestines is bypassed, therefore food is absorbed by the body in a different way.

Besides the supplements these individuals take, they are told to eat a diet very high in protein. When they drink water, it is never with a meal, but they need to sip water all day. They do not eat foods high in sugar or else they suffer from dumping syndrome. If they follow the meal, they almost enter a state a ketosis, therefore fat stores are burned instead of the carbohydrates we all consume.

So...having had weight loss surgery, here's some info that I have, and it's only basic (it's a long enough post ) For the heavy duty info, do some research on the internet. There is tons of good solid info out there written by surgeons who do this sort of work:

1. There are different types of weight loss surgeries and not all are gastric bypass. the Roux en Y and the Duodenal Switch (my spelling is off) are gastric bypass. Then there is the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (I had this) which is NOT a gastric bypass but is used as part of the DS for morbidly obese folks as a step prior to the bypass if the patients doctor feels they are not healthy enough yet for a bypass due to the obesity. Lastly, there is the lap band, again, not a gastric bypass.

2. All of us have a restricted capacity to hold food.

3. Bypass patients, due to the bypass, lose much of their weight because of malabsorption combined with whatever was done to their stomach (vsg, stapling, whatever). The malabsorption is a result of the redirecting of the small/large intestines.

4. VSG patients (also known as the sleeve) lose weight primarily because we have tiny stomachs and eat far less than other folks at any one time. Our stomachs are surgically reshaped and resemble a banana shape. There is no redirecting of the intestines like a gastric bypass. thus, food is not malabsorbed and passes through the body as it always did. The part of the stomach that produces the hunger hormone, ghrellin, is removed, so, feeling hungry for MOST VSG patients is not something that bothers us too much after the surgery. At first, we lose weight because of the restriction and lack of hunger. Afterward, the lack of hunger is a really nice "boost" to not overeat but we still have to watch and eat sensibly.

My stomach, after the surgery held about 2 oz. of food. Now, a year later, it's between 6-8 oz, forever. I eat several tiny meals a day, low fat, low carb, high protein. Right now, I'm working on getting at least 1700 calories a day so I can maintain rather than lose weight.

5. Lap Bands are devices surgically placed at the bottom of the neck of your stomach to restrict the initial amount of food you eat. as the food breaks down, it then passes into the larger part of your stomach under the restrictive device and moves through the body normally. The device is connected to a port under your skin that the doctor will fill with saline solution periodically to adjust the tightness of the device around the neck of the stomach area

So, generally speaking, everyone has a different story about someone who had a WLS that did/didn't work. The thing is, bypasses, Lap Bands and VSGs are only tools. Like everyone else in the world who has to lose weight and then maintain it, WLS patients have to learn to eat correctly, exercise, and change their lifestyles. So why do it? We all have our own reasons.

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful!

Best regards,

J