14 DAY TRIAL // They say alcohol doesn't help if you want to get slimmer, even if the beer belly seems to be a myth; beer makes you fat rather by increasing your appetite than by the calories it contains.
Now, another negative link between alcohol and physical shape has been found by researchers: people who undergo gastric bypass surgery get drunk quicker and it takes longer for them to expel the alcohol out of their bodies.
The research made at Stanford University pointed out that the procedure - an increasingly employed tool in the fight against obesity - enhances the effects of alcohol. "The research was inspired by US talk show host Oprah Winfrey," said John Morton, assistant professor of surgery at Stanford, who has performed more than 1,000 gastric bypass surgeries.
While taking part in that show in 2006, he noticed the audience's overwhelming concern about the alcohol's effects linked to this procedure. "I've heard the anecdotes of a patient who will drink one glass of wine and get a DUI (drunk driving arrest), but I wanted to know if there is really a difference before and after surgery," Morton said.
To assess these reported effects, the team tested 19 post-operative gastric bypass patients and 17 people who had not had the surgery. They received five ounces (150 g) each of red wine, which was consumed in less than 15 minutes. Following the wine consumption, each subject had his/her breath-alcohol level measured every five minutes until it reached zero. At their peak, the gastric bypass patients presented a breath-alcohol concentration of 0.08 % compared to the control group's maximum breath-alcohol level of 0.05 %.
In the US, it is illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of over 0.08 %.
The bypass patients also reached the zero breath-alcohol level much more slowly, in about 108 minutes, while the control group in 72 minutes.
A gastric bypass divides the stomach into a small upper pouch and a much larger, lower "remnant" pouch, accompanied by the re-arrangement of the small intestines to permit both pouches to stay connected to the intestines. The operation leads to a marked reduction in the functional volume of the stomach, accompanied by an altered physiological and psychological response to food.
Weight loss is typically dramatic, and co-morbidities are markedly reduced. But it appears that, in the process, the way the alcohol is metabolized gets changed. Only in the US, approximately 150,000 gastric bypass surgeries are performed annually, as a lifesaving procedure for morbidly obese people, with extra 100 pounds (45 kg) or more.