Weight Loss Surgery Information

If you are looking for unbiased information on bariatric surgery then you've come to the right place.

Bariatric surgical procedures can be classified as either malabsorptive, restrictive, or a combination of the two. If you are considering surgery for weight loss, it’s important to understand these terms because they will affect your health and lifestyle long after your weight loss surgery.

Restrictive vs. Malabsorptive Surgery

  • Restrictive weight loss surgery — A restrictive procedure reduces food consumption (and by extension the patient’s weight) by reducing the size of the stomach. This is achieved by dividing the stomach into a small upper pouch and a larger lower portion.
  • Malabsorptive weight loss surgery — A malabsorptive procedure alters your digestion process by limiting the absorption of calories. As a result, it can also lead to the incomplete absorption of certain vitamins and minerals from your food.
  • Combination surgery — Certain types of weight loss surgery (such as the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) are both restrictive and malabsorptive. The Roux-en-Y segments the stomach while also reshaping the intestines, thus it combines both concepts into one surgery.

Here’s what you should take away from this. Malabsorptive and restrictive surgeries both have their advantages and disadvantages. Thus, they will affect your long-term health in different ways. So when researching the subject of weight loss surgery, you must consider these two concepts and the effects associated with them.


When considering surgery for weight loss, it’s crucial that you “think ahead” in terms of long-term affects and lifestyle changes.

Many people perceive surgery as a “quick-fix” approach for easy weight loss. But if you talk to someone who has undergone surgery for weight loss in the past, they will probably tell you this is not the case.

Surgery for weight loss (like any other form of surgery) is a life-changing event that requires serious consideration. After all, you are physically altering your stomach’s capacity for food and, in some cases, your digestive process overall. These are serious alterations that will follow you for life.

So before deciding whether or not surgery for weight loss is a good option for you, be sure to learn about the long-term affects of the particular type of surgery you are considering (banding, gastric bypass, etc.).

These days, there are many web forums and blogs online that are managed and/or frequented by people who have undergone surgery for weight loss in the past. This is a great source for obtaining real-life input from those who have “been there and done that.” By gathering information from previous patients of bariatric surgery, you will be able to make a more informed decision about your own surgery.