We often talk about who bariatric surgery is right for, but many people want to know the science behind how it works! It’s actually more than just making the stomach smaller; it’s a powerful combination of physical and hormonal changes.
Weight loss surgery works in two primary ways:
1. Restriction: Limiting How Much You Can Eat
Most bariatric procedures, like the Sleeve Gastrectomy, involve physically changing the size of your stomach.
- Smaller Capacity: By reducing the stomach size significantly (sometimes to the size of a banana), the amount of food you can comfortably eat at one time is drastically reduced. This is called restriction.
- Feeling Full Faster: Because your stomach fills up quickly, you feel full sooner and stay satisfied for longer, naturally leading to a decrease in calorie intake.
2. Hormonal Shift: Changing Your Appetite and Metabolism
This is the lesser-known, but often most impactful, part of the surgery.
- Appetite Hormones: Many procedures involve removing the part of the stomach responsible for producing ghrelin, often called the “hunger hormone.” With less ghrelin, your appetite decreases significantly, making it much easier to stick to smaller portion sizes.
- Metabolic Reset: Surgery can also prompt the gut to produce other hormones that help regulate blood sugar, insulin levels, and overall metabolism. This is why bariatric procedures are so incredibly effective at resolving or improving conditions like Type 2 Diabetes—it’s a metabolic procedure as much as a weight loss one.
The Best Tool Requires Teamwork
Whether you choose a procedure like the Gastric Sleeve or the Gastric Bypass, the goal is to give you these two powerful advantages—physical restriction and hormonal support—to break the cycle of long-term obesity.
However, the best outcome always involves teamwork. The surgery is the tool, but the long-term success comes from working with our multidisciplinary team on your diet, exercise, and long-term habits.
Ready to explore your options and the science tailored to your needs? Contact us for a discussion.
