I’m not a big Oprah watcher but one recent show she did, entitled “Suddenly Skinny”, was very important for me to see. While the folks on Oprah’s message boards are up in arms about it, I thought it was well done and high time that somebody finally brought this issue out into the open.
The show focused on women who had gastric bypass surgery and then suffered from addiction transfer. The show did not imply that all people who undergo gastric bypass surgery suffer from this but it did bring the issue out into the open and get a healthy, honest dialog going about a very real issue. Many people become obese because they have an addiction to food. Having a gastric bypass eliminates one’s ability to overeat, at least initially. When an addict who has not properly addressed their issues can’t get the substance they’re addicted to, they will transfer that addiction to a substance that they can get.
In the case of Carnie Wilson, a woman who became the poster child for gastric bypass and was one of Oprah’s guests, her substance of choice became alcohol. You see, after a gastric bypass, you have virtually no stomach at all. Whatever you consume, solid or liquid, goes straight past the tiny pouch that used to be your stomach and goes right into the intestines. When this is food, it is a good thing because it isn’t broken down and absorbed as completely as it would have been in the stomach. When this is alcohol, it shoots straight into your bloodstream.
I remember that about a year after my gastric bypass, I went out with some friends and had a beer. It hit me so hard that I was drunk before I’d drank half of it. By the end of that beer, I’d lost all sense of reason. This is a very, very dangerous thing for post-op gastric bypass patients, especially if they have addictive personalities. Luckily for me, I realized the danger and spent some serious time and effort working on my own issues while staying well away from alcohol.
There is much more to think about than weight loss when considering gastric bypass. Losing the weight doesn’t solve your problems, no matter how much you think it will. Weight loss will make you physically healthier but you must face the issues that brought you to obesity in the first place. After surgery, you can no longer bury those issues under food.
If you’ve had a gastric bypass or are considering it, please visit Oprah’s site and see the program. You can see video and read more about this program at Oprah’s website here.
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