It’s a strange side effect of gastric bypass surgery, which reduces your stomach to the size of a walnut.
There have been reports of a patient drinking just one glass of wine and being cited for “driving under the influence.”
Even more frightening is the possibility of “addiction transfer,” where a binge eating addiction transfers into an alcohol addiction.
But is any of this really true?
The Oprah Effect
Dr. John Morton, assistant professor of surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, conducted a study to find out.
It seems he was motivated by an October 2006 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show called “Suddenly Skinny.” On that show, Oprah discussed how gastric bypass patients feel like they absorb alcohol faster because of their smaller stomachs.
Dr. Morton has performed over 1,000 gastric bypass surgeries. When many of his patients expressed concern after the Oprah show, Dr. Morton decided to formally measure the effects of alcohol on post-operative patients.
His research team gave 19 post-op gastric bypass patients and 17 control patients 5 ounces each of red wine. They were to drink the wine within 15 minutes.
Here Are The Surprising Results
By measuring the breath-alcohol levels of their patients, the researchers found that:
- The gastric bypass patients reached a higher breath-alcohol peak, .08% — and reached it faster — than the control patients at .05%.
- The breath-alcohol level of the bypass patients took about 108 minutes to return to zero. The control patients only took about 72 minutes.
That means the gastric bypass patients got drunker faster and took longer to become sober.
To make matters worse, the alcohol may cause their stomachs to empty more quickly. Then the patients may start eating again too soon and gain weight.
Gastric bypass patients should never drive after drinking. Because they really do have a different alcohol metabolism after surgery.
And now there’s a medical study to prove it.
