2. Substituting Out Sugary Drinks
Gastroenterologists and primary care physicians constantly advise their patients to avoid consuming sugary drinks, such as soda, fruit juices, calorie-laden coffee drinks, sweetened tea, hot chocolate, and, of course, alcohol. Many of our patients drink three to six of these sugary drinks a day.
As a gastroenterologist, it’s important to counsel our overweight patients and obtain an accurate history about their daily and weekly consumption of excess calories.
Recommend substituting sugary drinks with water, unsweetened tea (either hot or cold), and coffee.
To prevent constipation, encourage patients to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid per day. Drinking water, tea, and coffee can also help keep patients feeling fuller for longer and avoid those tempting snacks.
3. Adopting the Right Diet
Every day, I encourage my patients to avoid eating fried fatty foods and processed meats. We also advise patients to avoid junk food filled with carbohydrates and salt.
Instead, patients should try to eat a piece of fruit or some vegetables with every single meal, which keeps patients feeling fuller for longer, prevents diverticulitis from forming, and can even help prevent colon cancer.
Making small dietary changes can dramatically reduce daily calorie consumption, which adds up over time and can help patients lose weight in a safe way.
Meal prepping for the week ahead, perhaps on a Sunday, is a very simple way to eat more nutritious foods instead of constantly getting takeout and fast food.
Many of our patients have also successfully lost weight through intermittent fasting, although I recommend working with a nutritionist on this one.
A Mediterranean diet is also a great option.
4. Getting Active
I encourage patients to take daily walks, swim, play sports, take fitness classes, do yoga or Pilates, and use weights at a gym.
Exercise burns calories, which is great for our hearts, prevents hepatic steatosis, and helps relieve stress. Exercise also stimulates peristalsis, which can help our constipated patients achieve more regular bowel movements.
There are a few other things to keep in mind in this area. Try to avoid strenuous exercise right after eating, because this will help prevent both heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
5. Reducing Stomach Volume With a Gastric Balloon
A gastric balloon procedure is a temporary obesity treatment that helps patients lose weight by reducing the volume of the stomach so that they feel full more easily. This can be accomplished endoscopically through the mouth without the need for surgery.
Basically, a deflated balloon is placed through the mouth using an endoscope and advanced into the stomach by a gastroenterologist or surgeon. The balloon is inflated with salt water and can remain in the stomach for 6 months before it is removed.
This procedure can help patients feel full and consequently eat less, thereby leading to gradual and safe weight loss.
6. Using the Accordion Procedure
An endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty procedure, sometimes called an accordion procedure, is used for patients with a body mass index ≥ 30 when diet and exercise alone have failed. An EGD tube is equipped with small stitching instruments that are used to reduce the size of the stomach.
This procedure has less complications than open or laparoscopic surgery and can be reversed.