Initially, surgeons assumed the obvious: These procedures work because they reduce stomach volume and digestive efficiency, so the recipient simply can’t fit much food into his stomach and also ends up flushing calories down the toilet instead of absorbing them. But when researchers took a closer look, the story turned out to be much more interesting. People who undergo these procedures still have the digestive capacity to eat enough calories to sustain obesity, and they absorb calories nearly as well as they did before surgery. Yet they simply lose their desire to eat rich foods. While before
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