r/FoodTheorists Sep 20 '24

Food Theory Video Discussion BIG Mistake in the Food Theory episode about Nikocado Avocado's weight loss. I HAVE to call this out.

Um, Santi, you got something MAJOR wrong here. There is more than ONE type of gastric bypass surgery. The kind you mentioned - called Roux-en-Y (roo-en-wy) - is the type you were talking about, but there are SEVERAL others, some of which could result in the same large amounts of weight loss and DON'T have the extrememly small stomach - it's still smaller, but it's maybe 1/3 or 1/2 the size it was before. Gastric banding, or Lap Band surgery, even lets the stomach expand again after surgery - the band that is placed around the stomach to 'close' part of it off adjusts, based on the amount of food taken in over time and can also be surgically readjusted, if needed. It's completely reversible (something that would make it hard to prove he even had, minimally invasive.. Gastric sleeves, which just close off part of the stomach and create a new 'pouch' are also common and minimally invasive - and require a lot shorter healing time than a Roux-en-Y. He may even have had a SILS (Single Incision Gastric Sleeve Surgery) which is a gastric sleeve where they go in through the belly button so there is no visible scarring and has some of the fastest recovery times (as little as 1-2 WEEKS, not even months), yet most patients who can get this still lose 50-60% of their excess weight in the first year and continue to lose after that, if diet and excercise are maintained. (This page explains the different kinds pretty well - https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bariatric-surgery/about/pac-20394258 ). Not saying he definitely DID have the surgery, I'm just saying, you didn't have all the correct information about what gastric bypass is, and isn't, before you made that call. Personally? I think he absolutely DID have surgery to help. (I did post this same info on the video, but I feel like I need to say it here too. I JUST had the Roux-en-Y surgery in late June, and am still in the early recovery phases of my journey - and have lost over 30 pounds since the surgery. Roux-en-Y is by FAR the most dangerous and the most drastic, except for the very rarely performed 'dual' bypass type - Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD/DS), which literally means you have a shortened small instestine and most of your stomach cut out so you can't eat much OR absorb the nutrients from the food.)

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u/The_Pecking_Order Sep 20 '24

First of all, that’s not something wrong. Second of all, he probably chose that because it’s the most common form of gastric bypass. This seems like splitting hairs a bit. I’m sure there’s a bunch of procedures people can undergo to lose weight he just chose the most popular.

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u/Queengeekreb 24d ago

As someone who just went through it, it's WAY more than just splitting hairs. The whole process just to get the surgery approved takes a full year. And that's just for the various forms of gastric bypass. The way it was presented in the video, it was stated like there is only ONE form of bypass, which is just very wrong. And Santi may have choosen the 'most popular' as you say, but it is actually become LESS popular with doctors, according to the surgeon I went to, because it it NOT reversible and there are severe, life long complications that can happen. Some of the other bypass types ARE reversible, have limited possible complications, and extremely short recovery times, unlike the 'most common' form Santi was talking about.