Perhaps it’s More About Re-connecting with your Brain(s) Rather than Bypassing Your Stomach
A recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition titled “Gastric bypass surgery for obesity decreases the reward value of a sweet-fat stimulus as assessed in a progressive ratio task” attempts to explain the fact that this surgery seems to improve metabolic health more that a simple reduction in calories. The simple conclusion of the study is that people who undergo this surgery for obesity tend to lose their taste for sweet and fat-laden food. The only unfortunate thing about this study is they failed to separate the effects of sweet food from fatty foods. For rewards they used candy containing both excessive amounts of sugar or HFCS and partially hydrogenated fats.
Recent studies have suggested that cravings for sweet and starchy foods are associated with both obesity and brain dysfunction. The role of cravings for fat is less clear. The study stated: “In conclusion, the progressive ratio task showed a reduction in appetitive behavior for a reward that contained sugar and fat but not for vegetables after gastric bypass surgery for obesity.” In simple terms, people after gastric bypass surgery seemed to be less interested in food loaded with sugar, HFCS and fat. Of course this describes typical American junk food.
Another limitation of this study is they failed to isolate the effects of high glycemic carbohydrates on cravings. We now know that these rapidly absorbed carbohydrates seem to be responsible for setting up a carbohydrate craving cycle that promotes increased consumption of the craved food.
Tell Me Something That I Don’t Already Know
If the authors of this study had bothered to talk with me, I could have saved them a lot of time and money. We have known for years that consuming foods loaded with sugar, HFCS and high glycemic carbohydrates leads to a form of food-induced brain dysfunction called Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. The first symptom people develop with CARB syndrome is craving for sweet and starchy food. We now know that excessive fructose mainly from sugar and HFCS is the driving force behind insulin resistance and central obesity. When you have insulin resistance and consume high glycemic carbohydrates, your brain is subjected to magnified glucose spikes. Over time these toxic glucose spikes trigger diffuse brain dysfunction leading to a long list of brain dysfunction symptoms. Because the brain plays a key role in regulating fat storage, people with CARB syndrome store too much fat even when they don’t overeat.
Thus virtually every patient who qualifies for gastric bypass surgery has CARB syndrome. Years ago I noticed that the day after their surgery, their brain dysfunction symptoms completely disappeared. I mean they were gone! I had spent years trying to figure out ways to suppress these symptoms, but I had never come up with a treatment that worked like a magic wand—no symptoms after 24 hours! I had to figure out what was going on. How could carving up the GI tract have an immediate effect on brain function?
When it Comes to Fat Loss, Your Brain Calls the Shots
What’s interesting is that even though their brain dysfunction symptoms disappeared overnight, they didn’t start losing fat for weeks or months. Because they can’t eat much food immediately after surgery, for a period of time they tend to lose lean body mass rather than fat. Once they are able to eat more food in a month or so, they finally start to lose fat. What I find interesting is that brain function improves well before there is any change in body composition. This would imply that when it comes to fat regulation, the brain calls the shot. Of course this is consistent with the CARB syndrome disease model. I also noticed that my patients who undergo gastric banding for obesity do not seem to experience this improvement in brain function immediately after the surgery.
The most common type of gastric bypass surgery is called a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. This somewhat complicated procedure creates a new stomach about the size of a golf ball. The rest of the stomach is left in place but it doesn’t receive any food. It continues to produce gastric acid that passes through part of the small intestine until it connects with another portion of the small intestine that contains food coming from the new stomach. At this point the digestive enzymes and food mix so it can be properly digested.
Brains, Brains Everywhere
We now know that you have two brains—the one between your ears and a second brain called the enteric nervous system that controls movement of food through your intestinal tract. Your two brains communicate with each other through both nerve connections and numerous hormones. It’s interesting to note that some of the classic symptoms of CARB syndrome are bloating, gas, cramps and alternating diarrhea and constipation. These are classical irritable bowel syndrome symptoms and we now believe that most cases of irritable bowel syndrome are in fact CARB syndrome where the enteric nervous system begins to malfunction.
Let’s Start Talking Again
For some reason gastric bypass surgery seems to immediately improve communication between the two brains. Although we don’t understand the underlying physiology, gastric bypass surgery immediately improves brain function in people with CARB syndrome. Both brains once again start to function as intended. Because most physicians are still unaware of the CARB syndrome disease model, they miss these important changes in their patient’s brain dysfunction symptoms. Patients who took the now notorious phen-fen (phentermine plus fenfluramine) diet pills experienced a similar immediate improvement in brain function. They felt different. Their carbohydrate cravings disappeared, their hunger levels returned to normal, their moods improved, their ability to think and concentrate improved, their intestinal symptoms improved—the list goes on and on. And none of this occurred because of weight loss. As a matter of fact, fat loss likely occurred because their brains were once again acting in concert to properly auto-regulate fat stores.
It’s also interesting to note that various treatments targeted at the vagus nerve have been used to treat obesity. The vagus nerve sends signals back and forth from the brain in your head to the brain controlling your gut. We have known for years that severing the vagus nerve often results in weight loss. Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California SF who specializes in obesity, is exploring a procedure called laparoscopic vagotomy that severs the vagus nerve to treat obesity. This type of surgery is still considered experimental.
Several companies now make devices that use electric signals to intermittently block the vagus nerve. This is called VBLOC therapy and it looks promising for the future. At least some patients who use this technology or undergo a laparoscopic vagotomy also seem to have an immediate reduction in their CARB syndrome symptoms, although not to the same extent as gastric bypass surgery.
Fix Your Brain(s), Lose the Fat
Think about it—three entirely different treatments–surgery, vagus nerve blocking and diet pills, all seem to have the exact same effect on improving brain function and all three treatments seem to lead to fat loss because both brains are once again working in concert. This suggests that we need to refocus our strategy for combating the obesity epidemic by concentrating on our two brains. The CARB syndrome disease model reflects this reality. Fix your brain(s), lose the fat. It isn’t rocket science but it is science.
Over the past few decades I have concentrated on doing just that. I am constantly looking for ways to improve brain function that doesn’t involve risky surgery or drugs with dangerous side effects. Because it is now clear that the combination of excessive fructose mainly from sugar and HFCS, and high glycemic carbohydrates mainly from grains are the primary trigger of CARB syndrome and CARB syndrome is by far the most common reason people become obese, eliminating these elements from the diet is a key component of my treatment approach. In order to effectively do so, I learned that you need to suppress carbohydrate cravings and there are many supplements that do so. People with CARB syndrome also have low levels of monoamine neurotransmitters, so I have devised a very effective approach to normalizing levels of these key chemicals. I outline these treatments in detail in my e-book “Sugar-Brain Digest: Obesity” available on my web site at https://carbsyndrome.com.
You Do Have a Choice
So if you have CARB syndrome and significant obesity, why not just go under the knife to improve the function of your brains and to lose fat? For one thing, this surgery is not risk free. There is some risk inherent in the surgery itself and many patients end up with significant vitamin deficiencies that may impair their health in the future.
I have also noticed that patients who go through this surgery often relapse within 9-12 months. Their brain dysfunction symptoms start to come back with a vengeance. The first symptom to hit is cravings for sweet and starchy foods. This of course pushes a person to eat more of the food that is frying their two brains. They also once again start to store extra fat even when they don’t overeat. Although they may not regain all of the weight they lost after the surgery, they simply don’t feel well because their brains are in the toilet.
I have treated hundreds of patients after gastric bypass surgery and if they follow my advice, they always do well. I have also treated thousands of obese patients with CARB syndrome who didn’t go through gastric bypass surgery and if they follow my advice, they also do very well. I guess it comes down to a simple question. Why go through surgery that carries significant short and long-term risks if you don’t need to do so? It’s your health and future, so the decision is yours. My job is to make sure that you understand all the options.
Docww, i urge you get together with Dr Frank Shallenberger and Dr Al Sears, these guys are true pioneers in the field of Alternative medicine, true HEALERS if you will.. I’ll bet my bottom dollar you’d be pleasantly surprise what you will uncover..Best to you Seg
Seg–I’ll check them out. Thanks for the tip!
Doc i forgot to mention their websites, Al is at http://www.alsearsmd.com and Frankie is at http://www.realcuresletter.com..
Al has a good exercise program it’s called PACE EXPRESS, takes 12 minutes with no equipment and thats it you’re done , 3, 4 times a week..That is what i been using since the beginning of the year, it’s good and base on science it’s also patented..