Bariatric Surgery Weight Loss Diet Carbohydrate Intake
Citation: Relation Between Carbohydrate Intake and Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery. Obesity Surgery. 2008 Jul 10.
The authors of this study note that one of the key factors in weight loss and weight maintenance following gastric bypass surgery is the amount of satiety, or fullness, a patient experiences during the post surgery weight loss diet period. They hypothesize that an effective method for controlling hunger and maintaining a feeling of fullness is to avoid carbohydrate intake and otherwise reduce the glycemic load of the diet foods consumed.
Macronutrient Consumption Following Weight Loss Surgery
The present study set out to test that hypothesis by measuring the macronutrient and micronutrient values of the foods that patients consumed in the period following gastric bypass surgery, and comparing those values with the weight loss and reported satiety of the study’s participants.
The researchers found a negative correlation between carbohydrate intake and average monthly weight loss. This means that weight loss surgery patients who ate the fewest total carbohydrates after the surgery lost the most weight. The bariatric surgery patients who ate the largest number of carbohydrates, conversely, lost the least weight.
Another significant correlation was found between the glycemic load of the patients’ post surgery weight loss diet and their total energy intake. Glycemic load is a measure of the total amount that a given food item will add to your blood sugar, so this finding essentially means that the patients who ate the greatest number of carbohydrates also ended up eating the greatest number of calories.
The authors conclude that carbohydrate intake and glycemic load are significant factors in the success of a post bariatric surgery weight loss diet.
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Low Carbohydrate Weight Loss Diet, Surgery Weight Loss Diet • July 2008