| Gastric Banding: How Is The Procedure Done?
If you are considering undergoing gastric banding in efforts to lose excess and maintain ideal weight, and if diet modification, exercise and lifestyle changes have all proven ineffective, your best bet would be to undergo a gastric banding surgery. Gastric banding is a type of bariatric surgery which limits the holding capacity of the stomach so that the individual does not gain weight. It makes sense – less food means less calories, therefore less weight gain. Here’s an explanation about how the procedure is done:
The procedure is called “gastric banding” because it uses a silicone band which is fitted around the upper portion of the stomach and tightened, creating a little pouch. The “tightening” is achieved by injecting saline through a port inserted through the abdominal wall. This “port” is what the surgeon uses if the band needs to be adjusted in the future.
This pouch prevents total usage of stomach space, allowing only about half a cup of food in. (The average adult stomach would typically hold six cups.) When the individual eats, the small pouch will fill faster, sending a message of “fullness” to the brain. The person, then, will stop eating after only a few spoonfuls, because he or she feels full.
Between the created upper stomach pouch and the larger lower stomach area is a small opening created because of the tightening of the band around the organ. Through this tiny hole, food from the upper stomach pouch passes slowly into the rest of the stomach. After this is done, the digestion process continues. Food from his lower stomach area reaches the small intestine which then absorbs its minimal calories and nutrients.
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