Gastric Bypass Surgery Alters Brain Response to Food
Gastric bypass surgery does more than shrink your stomach. It alters your brain’s response to food in ways that may help you keep off the pounds. Researchers fed Häagen-Dazs ice cream to 42 people ages 23 to 45, then scanned their brains. Among their findings: The hypothalamus and the pituitary worked harder to control the urge to overeat in people who’d undergone the weight-loss surgery than they did in obese people. The research also suggests that eating becomes less pleasurable after surgery, while gut hormones appear to tell the brain that, post-bypass, smaller portions satisfy hunger. That’s a brain primed to avoid weight gain.
Source: Diabetes Care, October 2016
