Let's say what we're going to say at the end. A glass of wine you drink after bariatric surgery actually has the effect of drinking 3 glasses.
Some of us like alcohol and consume it from time to time in our social life, while some of us do not like alcohol at all and have not used it in our lives. Alcohol is first and foremost a calorie load. The calorie equivalent of a double raki or whiskey is around 250 calories. For this reason, we are already warning our patients to consume as little alcohol as possible after sleeve gastrectomy surgery.
Losing weight after sleeve gastrectomy surgery provides a serious motivation increase for everyone. We can all more or less guess this already. This increase in motivation also provides an increase in self-confidence. For this reason, the social activities and interactions of especially young individuals increase after surgery. In this case, some individuals may or may have to be more involved with alcohol in their environment. They can get drunk right away with a glass of wine they drink. Because a glass of wine they drink has the effect of drinking 3 glasses. Individuals who are social drinkers should be warned about this before the surgery, because if they drink alcohol after the surgery, they may be hospitalized. So what is the reason for this?
Since gastric volume decreases after sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass, the rate and amount of alcohol consumed increases. The reason for this effect is actually due to this situation. The alcohol taken is quickly absorbed by the intestines and mixes with the blood. This is what people like at first. They can reach the head they reached by drinking 3-4 double raki before the surgery in a glass. However, this situation carries a danger. As the absorption rate and amount of alcohol increases, the liver's capacity to metabolize alcohol also increases. With the effect of social and environmental factors, the amount consumed may increase gradually in line with the relationship established with alcohol. This situation has two risks; one is the risk of regaining weight, and the other is the risk of alcoholism. This risk is actually higher after gastric bypass surgeries and there are many studies on it. However, there is such a risk after sleeve gastrectomy, although it is not as high as in gastric bypass.
We have written an article on this subject and this article has been published in a distinguished international journal. I leave the link here for those who want to read it.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32525729/
The following results emerged from our study. There is no increase in risk after surgery for those who have never used alcohol before the surgery. Especially in individuals who were social drinkers before the sleeve gastrectomy surgery, alcohol consumption may increase after the surgery due to the reasons explained above. It is extremely important that these individuals be informed about such a situation in the postoperative follow-up and that they should be careful.
