Thinking about stomachs

Every now and then, something new that you learn really sticks and plays on your mind. I recently learnt what stomach stapling really is and I can’t get it out of my head. Essentially a large portion of the stomach is closed off by stapling it closed, leaving a small useable part that is about 30ml in volume. Compare this to the normal stomach which is about 500ml when empty and expands up to 1500ml when full. This means that the new 30ml stomach can only handle the equivalent of 6 teaspoons of food or drink at one time. Imagine that. Oh, and this is for life. Whilst the 30ml stomach will stretch a little over time, it means a lifetime of nibbling. And nibbling only food that such a small stomach can handle – no starch, no carbs, no fatty foods or anything that is difficult to digest normally. There’s also the chance that the small stomach just won’t be able to cope with certain foods that are not of these types which means you’d be facing months of throwing up until you learned all over again what you could eat. I just can’t imagine it. Even one cup of coffee won’t fit even if it was accepted. I guess you’d have to super-chew your food to really compact it down. I’m not even thinking about the reasons why you’d have this procedure done, my brain is too distracted by the change in your life. And I’m not even that much of a foodie – I mean I like to cook and I like to eat what I like to eat albeit not that much of it.

I don’t know why this particular new thing I’ve learnt won’t leave me.