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I recently read about the AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System. According to the manufacturer’s website, the AspireAssist reduces the calories consumed in a meal by surgically connecting a tube from the inside of the stomach to a port on the outside of the abdomen. The “Skin-Port” has a valve that can be opened or closed to control the flow of stomach contents. Can you guess where this is going? After the AspireAssist patient eats, they go to the restroom where they connect a small handheld device to the tube and empty a portion of the stomach contents into the toilet. The device drains about 30% of the food from the stomach before the calories are absorbed into the body. Finally, the medical/pharmaceutical industry has come up with a revolutionary way to help us lose weight!! Oh, wait. This was already discovered several decades ago. Only it didn’t require a surgical procedure or handheld device. In fact, it didn’t require any tools at all. That "weight loss technique" is called “bulimia” and is an eating disorder that results in numerous serious medical and emotional consequences for the approximately 4% of females in the United States who will struggle with this disease in their lifetime. Nearly 4% of those struggling with bulimia will die from the disease.
This is not the first time that I have heard the medical community sanctioning weight loss techniques for people who are overweight that would otherwise be considered eating disordered behaviors. Pills, liquid diets, calorie restriction- these are all common prescriptions and recommendations for weight loss. However, many of these weight loss methods have serious health risks. It seems counterintuitive to think about how many people are willing to put their health at risk in order to lose weight when one of the main reasons that people state for wanting to lose weight is to improve their health. Huh? Of course, there are other reasons that people want to lose weight; mainly to improve their appearance. Unfortunately, many people who don’t like the way that they look at a higher weight also don’t like the way that they look when they lose weight. But that is a subject for another post.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again. People can be healthy and confident at a whole range of shapes and sizes. How we eat (attuned mindful eating vs. disordered eating) and how we move have far more influence on our health than the numbers on the scale.
To learn more about mindful eating and Dr. Conason's practice, please visit her website at www.drconason.com
