Some are wholly without merit and others have at least a kernel of scientific backing, but rarely a day goes by when the latest weight loss cure all goes un-touted in the media. Most recently, fasting diets and capsaicin, the substance that gives chili peppers their heat, have been promoted for weight loss. While intermittent fasting-based diets might help some people to lose relatively small amounts of weight, and large amounts of capsaicin might eventually turn out to have some beneficial impact on the way the body metabolizes fat, these techniques will be only marginally useful to people who have large amounts of weight to lose. Bariatric surgery performed by skilled surgeons like our amazing medical staff of Beverly Hills Physicians remains the best and only choice.

Members of the general public often misunderstand that people who are considering weight loss surgery are not trying to lose only twenty or thirty additional pounds. Indeed, candidates for weight loss procedures are typically categorized as severely obese, which generally means they have scores of pounds to lose before they can reach a healthy weight. This is even more difficult than it sounds because, as we lose weight, hormones and other factors in the body drive the desire to eat with greater and greater ferocity.

Fortunately, our medical team has proven that such procedures as gastric sleeves and Lap Bands, which greatly reduce available portions of the stomach, also significantly reduce the appetite of patients. The result is that patients, who may have been struggling for years or even decades to control their weight, are finally able to make the lifestyle changes necessary to lose significant weight and to keep it off indefinitely. It’s hard to imagine chili peppers – or even some kind of highly concentrated supplement or drug based on capsaicin – having remotely as great an impact. Similarly, while intermittent fasting regimes may well help some individuals lose modest amounts of weight, at least over the short term, this technique is unlikely to help someone lose as much as 80 to 100 pounds or more and keep it off for the balance of their lives.

Fortunately, study after study has shown the very real impact of weight loss surgery on severe obesity. Many of the positive results have surprised even the experts when it comes to the degree of benefit. Similarly, many patients, expecting relatively modest improvements in their blood sugar levels, have been amazed and delighted to learn that their type 2 diabetes has gone into an apparently permanent remission. Improvements in blood pressure, as well as statistics reinforcing the long term benefits on lifespan and the overall quality of life, have repeatedly shown the uniquely powerful impact of weight loss surgery on the long term health and happiness of patients.