Frequently I see patients in clinic who say to me “I want a gastric band to stop me eating”. It would be so easy to say “Sure, we can do that for you” and thus cut the consultation time down from one and a half hours to fifteen minutes.
If you think a gastric band will do this for you – forget it. A gastric band is a brilliant invention and I’m probably its biggest fan, but it is not an obstructive device – it isn’t designed to stop you eating. The band is rather a satiety device, designed to make you feel full after eating much smaller amounts of food.
By creating a small stomach, the gastric band effectively tricks the brain into making you feel as though the whole stomach is full, when in fact only the small gastric pouch (about 5% of the total stomach volume) is full. Most importantly of all, the band helps you to stop eating when you are no longer hungry, rather than when you are full. These are not the same! The point at which you are no longer hungry, comes well before you are full and if you can stop at this point, you have learned the secret of success with the gastric band. So before you eat the next mouthful ask yourself whether you are hungry, not whether you are full. And if you’re not hungry – stop eating! By learning to listen in to the stomach/brain “conversation” you will lose weight
Dr David Ashton
15th June 2010
