If you are doing bariatric surgery, have you also noticed that alcohol affects you differently? While it was convenient for you to have 2-3 bindings of your favorite Scot before you got under the knife, now even one peg will make you feel the same as 2-3?
You can spend a little time finding comfort in the fact that you are not the only one who feels that way!
The survey showed that almost 90 percent of patients who have undergone either gastric bypass or a gastric sleeve are now more susceptible to alcohol. They, like you, can feel the effects of alcohol after a few sips. Many also claimed that they lose muscle coordination after one or two drinks and cannot restore their balance even after two to three hours.
If you think that something is wrong with bariatric surgery, we assure you that this is just a myth. It is important to understand that the body undergoes many changes after bariatric surgery, and, in the end, it all comes down to how the body absorbs alcohol and metabolizes it in patients with bariatrics.
When you drink alcohol or any alcoholic beverage with normal intestinal anatomy, it first enters the stomach and is metabolized in a process called gastric alcohol metabolism, where the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase works its magic. However, gender, age, medications, etc. D. May affect blood alcohol levels and its effects here. Alcohol absorption also depends on the rate at which alcohol is emptied in the intestine. Another factor affecting the whole process is food. The presence of food in the stomach slows down the emptying of the stomach and ultimately reduces the rate of absorption of alcohol in the intestine. On the contrary, an empty stomach receives absorption and also increases the risk for the treatment of toxic substances.
Nearly 95 percent of the stomach is bypassed in patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery, and this includes the pylorus. In this state, the alcohol passes directly from the stomach to the intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed by the intestine due to their greater surface area. Add to this postoperative rule that you do not eat while drinking, and you can imagine how much alcohol is absorbed in bariatric patients.
Moreover, the liver also plays a role in the metabolism of alcohol entering the body. But conditions relatively common among people with morbid obesity, such as steatosis and fatty liver disease, make alcohol metabolism somewhat more difficult. In addition, bariatric patients follow a low carbohydrate diet, which means they have a small amount of glycogen. When alcohol enters the body, it depletes the body of glycogen, and also reduces glucose homeostasis. This puts the patient with bariatrics at a higher risk of hypoglycemia.
Although all this may seem scary to you, however, you simply turn to a bariatric surgeon before you plan to drink alcohol again. A thorough understanding and several precautions can help you enjoy your drink without affecting your health.
