Bradley Lutz

Good afternoon/evening, My name is Brad and I am a Microbiology research student at our state university. We are in opening talks for a "new" research direction, and I mentioned gastric bypass to the group of fellow researchers. (Back Story), My mother, her identical twin sister, and another sister (also my aunt) ALL had gastric bypass surgery on the same day at the same hospital, in 2002. The results were amazing and I'm convinced that the surgery prolonged my mother's life by decades. So this topic is both interesting as well as near and dear to me. Our research is mostly focused on how dietary changes affect the microbial life living in our stomachs and intestines. Within the last year, research as been pointing strongly toward overall body health being at the whim of our microbiome. Some of the research has been nothing short of miraculous. What we are trying to further understand is how an artificial sweetener (aspartame, saccharin, etc) rich diet post surgery may or may not lead to desired weight loss within an estimated time frame. Also, if a probiotic rich diet post surgery leads to more or less desirable weight loss within a defined time frame. Not to necessarily taint the waters with expected conclusions, but here is where we are LEANING. To date, research has been done regarding the affect of artificial sweeteners on the gut microbes. What the cursory research is showing us is that the artificial sweeteners favor a particular species of microbe living in your stomach. Since the species is favored, it is no longer held in check and their numbers begin to grow exponentially with the altered environment. These microbes are more capable of extracting greater nutrients (calories) from our eaten food. More absorbed calories COULD mean more weight gain or a slower weight loss. The most interesting part is how they are changing this behavior. Researchers are delivering high dose antibiotics to the test subjects to kill off all (most, anyway) of the microbes in the body, both good and bad. They then inoculate the test subjects with known "good" bacteria which establish a foothold in the gut and proliferate. This action, coupled with a change in diet away from the microbe altering foods, has shown some promising results. What we are trying to determine is, post gastric surgery, if there is a correlation with antibiotics given in recovery followed by the altered diet required by the surgery. My family well remembers the dietary changes we all undertook, but the idea of Probiotics wasn't even in an infancy phase. It was just too new. So, the crux of this entire post, is about post surgical dietary guidelines and if they include probiotic use. Have probiotics or prebiotics been making their way into gastric management in the 15 years since my family delved into the procedure? To those whom perhaps used probiotics, did you notice a weight loss change at a different rate than expected? Also, my mother had several other symptoms associated with her initial weight. Diabetes and hypertension were the two most prevalent. Within a short period of her surgery, before much weight loss, those symptoms had subsided. While we are not aware of any current links between hypertension and microbes, we cannot rule it out. I would be curious if people on this forum had similar results. I welcome any comments and feedback, Thanks, Brad

Howdy, I hadn't considered the idea of diarrhea management post surgery to include probiotics. In speaking with my aunts, they were all under the impression that more probiotics lead to worsening diarrhea, Though, they are nearly two decades post surgery and antibiotics, so they may not necessarily relate. With the awesome treatment of C-diff by using fecal transplant, I could see a time where post surgical care includes doses of poo filled capsules to keep everything smooth. Not such a pleasant thought Thanks for the post, Brad

Good evening, I notice a recurring theme of folks eating a bunch of yogurt. This is something we would have to include in any research we may undertake. If this is something we end up delving into, my first step would be to contact nutritionists and pick their brain. Fortunately we are close to Colorado and the plethora of specialists which could help us. All of the folks involved in my mother's surgery have since retired, so I have fallen out of the "local" bypass scene. Though these ideas are in their infancy, hopefully in 10 years time they can really help folks undertaking this path. Thanks, Brad

Thanks for the reply. I see your profile listed as Idaho. Howdy from across the border (Wyoming). I believe the data is too early to say whether probiotics are of any help, so I would expect some health professionals to be waiting for more concrete data to come forth before making recommendations. Prior to returning into the world of academia I spent nearly 14 years as a paramedic. Though there were some excellent advances made in medicine during my time, there were at least just as many which ended up being useless. Due diligence requires wading through the pile and coming up with a gem. Enjoy Idaho, Brad

Thanks for the info. I have been reading through several online forums regarding different weight loss surgeries, and I too find the common story about ancillary health problems rectifying at a rate which seems earlier than you would expect. I believe the probiotics are a good move after a heavy antibiotic dose. Though antibiotics can vary in how they work, they generally attack the ability of the bacteria to make peptidoglycan, OR they target a 30s receptor on the ribosomes. Since bacteria are a 70s organism, and we humans are an 80s, the antibiotic can attack the infection and leave the host (us) unharmed. Of course, yeast are not a 70s bacteria (they are 80s), so the antibiotics don't bother them. Without competition from other microbes, the yeast can have a party and multiply to dangerous levels fairly quickly. Not that that is particularly relevant ( or that you asked), it is still interesting. Thanks again, Brad

That is quite good to know (the pushing of a yogurt rich diet). Depending upon the brand and such, they can have an extremely varied microbe content. I suppose an interesting test would be to break down post surgical success based upon which yogurt brands (and in turn, which microbes) lead to the most desirable outcome. That experiment would be much further down the line however LOL. Speaking with my mother, she remembers being pushed into an extremely high protein diet post bypass, and told to avoid fruits and vegetables. I had forgotten that fact. Thanks for the insight, Brad