After Bariatric Surgery, Will Patients Still Have Food Cravings?

Dr. Dahiya explains if a patient will still experience food cravings after her bariatric procedure.

Dr. Dahiya:
That’s a demon that I think we probably live with all our lives. What the surgery provides is it’s going to tell you, you are full. It’s going to tell you that, you know, small meal is your full dinner now. So, does the patient still look at that, “I used to eat big steak and now how come I’m not?” And, you know, some of them actually, not so much craving, but they worry about that, “Oh my God, my protein malnutrition, I used to have so much protein. Now I am not eating.” And that’s where I think our explaining comes into picture.

But the appetite also does come back to an extent. It’s going to be with us, and we have to therefore, adjust, modify, fine-tune our own body also, and “Hey, I have a small pouch. I have, call it a new stomach now, and I have to live with that.”

It’s important for the patient to know because that’s the only way a person, whether me, the patient, that’s how we know when does the meal finish. If I don’t know when am I full, then I am going to keep eating till I am full. And the operation these days we do is not something that it’s, you eat what you want to eat and rest of your calories will go out–no. Everything that you eat, every single calorie will be utilized; therefore, if you don’t learn those things, your operation is not going to succeed.

So we, you know, do have to have a sense that, ”I am full. I am happy with my meal. I am not going to look at how much I ate,” and that’s it.

About Dr. Dahiya, M.D.:
Leading a multi-disciplinary team of experts at Doctor Bariatric is board-certified Shyam L. Dahiya, M.D. who brings more than 20 years of experience in general and trauma surgery. As a general and laparoscopic surgeon, Dr. Dahiya has performed numerous innovative bariatric surgeries including the Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery.