• Hi, If you cannot get into the site, be sure to Contact Us. Please be advised that the app is no longer in use!

Malabsorption

phatmomma

New Member
I know we don't absorb all our vits and minerals but what about the calories our bodies take in?
 
I was told the same but don't think it has aplied to Me some folk have problems with absorbing too many calories but not me , amazing how different people get different amounts of this x
 
Its true at first our bodies don't absorb all of the calories that we consume because the intestine that absorbs the food we eat has been shortened.

As we get further out our bodies adapt to the loss of intestine and the remaining intestine will grow longer, stronger and more dense villi, these are the little finger-like tentacles that grab nutrients from food as it brushes by them. This increases the amount of calories that are absorbed by our bodies

This adaptation can take up to 2 or 3 years to complete depending on your body and how much was bypassed, but since vitamins and minerals were absorbed in a different part of the intestine that is now gone, no amount of extra villi will make us absorb vitamins and that is why we have to take supplements forever post op

Hope this helps
 
Doesn't the amount of malabsorption depend on how long yr bypass is too? I was told as I'd had a mini bypass my malabsorption wouldn't be as bad as others???
 
Yes, the degree of malabsorption will also depend on how much small intestine you have had bypassed, so a longer bypass = greater malabsorption. Incidentally, the bypass has a big effect on fat malabsorption (hence why eating a high fat meal can make you dump), and this is why we need to take vitamin supplements post-op. Many vitamins are fat soluble, meaning fat is needed to be absorbed through the small intestine for vitamins to also be absorbed. Another interesting snippet of information I read in a journal article the other day, is that carbohydrate absorption is least affected by our bypasses...hence the nedd to try to keep to low GI carbs as we still continue to absorb calories from carb-dense rich foods easily.
 
Back
Top