Why is it that gastric bypass surgery on average allows people to lose one third of their body weight while those people who undergo lap band surgery have a harder time losing weight?

The answer probably lies with the more than 50 signalling chemicals that inhabit different regions of the gut, one which functions in promoting hunger and several others which function in promoting satiety (fullness).

Ghrelin, which promotes hunger, is produced in the lower portion of the stomach while the chemicals that promote fullness – GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), cholecystokinin, oxyntomodulin and PYY – are found in the small intestine.

Gastric by-pass surgery reduces the stomach to a small pouch about the size of a walnut. The lower part of the stomach where ghrelin is produced is bypassed and the small stomach pouch is reconnected further down the small intestine – where the hormones that promote fullness are located.

Although not fully understood, this may explain why people who have gastric bypass surgery are just not as hungry as their counterparts who have the lap-band procedure done and therefore lose more weight – and more importantly – keep it off.

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