Bariatric Surgery, also known as weight loss surgery [WLS] or metabolic surgery, refers to a group of surgeries that alter your digestive system to help you lose weight. There are a number of bariatric surgical procedures available, however the type of surgery you undergo will depend on your personal choice, your medical history, and your surgeon. Care and support before and after surgery should be provided by a multidisciplinary team comprising of Surgeon, Bariatrician, GP, Dietitian, Nurse, Psychologist/Counsellor and often an Exercise Physiologist.
Bariatric Surgery assists with weight loss by a combination of restriction and malabsorption of foods in the gastrointestinal tract. Bariatric Surgery is also useful for causing hormonal changes in the gut, to alter your feelings of hunger and satiety (fullness). Some people may also experience taste changes with sugary and fatty foods, which can also help assist with making healthier choices.
These procedures are typically performed laparoscopically. For more information, please refer to the Coffs Harbour Surgical web site for a list of advantages and disadvantages of the different types of bariatric surgery.
How and what you eat is important both before and after the surgery; changing at different stages of your weight loss journey and dependant on the type of surgery you choose. Often Surgeons may say that their role is mostly complete after your procedure; however, post WLS the care and support by the whole multidisciplinary team needs to be is life-long. The relationship with your Dietitian and your nutrition is one of the most important. As you can imagine, if the volume of your stomach capacity is reduced by over ¾, trying to obtain adequate nutrition is much more difficult. Surgery impacts the availability and uptake of a number of nutrients and the risk of deficiencies is greater unless your intake and supplementation is monitored.
The Dietitian’s role is often only associated with the weight loss process and if people are losing weight, then they assume they don’t require follow up. However, there are nutritional impacts of the surgery that can be both short and long term;
Research indicates that long term follow-up with a Bariatric Dietitian has significant benefit in both short and long term success, assisting in prevention of weight regain, helping to improve your relationship with food and make eating enjoyable.
Our Dietitians understand the importance of nutrition after bariatric surgery. We understand weight loss surgery is not a "one size fits all" approach and we tailor your nutrition program to suit you. We pride ourselves on providing high quality healthcare and working with you to support you through your weight loss surgery journey.
As this ongoing support is so important, we have developed a comprehensive Bariatric nutrition care package. This includes pre-operative consultations and post-operative reviews.
Click here to find out more about our nutrition packages for surgery.
Please see our resource 'Types of Weight Loss Surgery' for the different types of surgery you may have had or are considering:
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