Weight loss surgery linked to appetite, taste change

Gone through a weight-loss surgery recently? Expect changes in appetite and taste of food as a research says after gastric bypass surgery, patients frequently report sensory changes.

"These sensory changes are not all negative and could lead to more weight loss among patients," said Lisa Graham from Leicester Royal Infirmary in Britain.

According to Graham, their day-to-day experience with patients who have undergone gastric bypass surgery suggested these changes but surprisingly, little has yet been written about it in scientific literature.

During the study, 42 percent of respondents said their sense of smell changed. Seventy-three percent of patients noted change in the way food tasted and especially in their sweet and sour palate.

Interestingly, patients who experienced food aversions enjoyed significantly more post-operative weight loss and reduction in their body mass index (BMI) compared to their counterparts without such dislikes.

Graham believes the sensory changes are due to a combination of gut hormone and central nervous system effects.

"The results indicate that subjective changes in appetite, taste and smell are very common after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass," Graham noted in the study published in Springer's journal Obesity Surgery.