Basically, if you don’t want to be an alcoholic, don’t get weight loss surgery!
LOLz, we kid — though, you should be aware of this research and try to actively curb your alcohol use.
One of the researchers says it best:
“This is perhaps a risk. I don’t think it should deter people from having surgery, but you should be cautious to monitor (alcohol use) after surgery.”
The reason for this is less about what’s physically going on, and more about the mentality of it: if the surgery stops people from overeating, people might turn to drinking as a way to cope with issues.
This in no way means that everyone is going to have problems with alcohol, of course.
The team’s study involved 155 people getting gastric bypass or gastric banding surgery, mostly women — alcohol use dropped immediately following surgery, from 61 percent of people who initially reported drinking to 20 percent at one month post-surgery.
That sounds logical.
Then, three months later, drinking rates had started to creep back up… and at two years out, people were drinking significantly more often than before their procedures!
That was primarily the case for those who had gastric bypass surgery, not banding.
Make sure you’re talking to your doctor about EVERYTHING!
[Image via AP Images.]
