Calculate portions with everyday objects

One of the biggest mistakes we make when mealtime comes is overeating.

You have probably heard that the ideal portion is "half a cup of rice" or "150 grams of meat," but realistically, it is often impossible to measure or weigh all the food we eat, mostly because it can be impractical when being away from home or a controlled-food environment.

Using objects as reference helps us to have a visual idea of the amount of food we should be eating. let’s remember that the “usual” portions you see on the internet are not the same portions as you should be eating. Following Dr. Esquerra and Dr Wilhelmy's instructions can be easily achieved if you follow this simple technique:

Protein (3 ounces of meat, fish and poultry ) = Full deck of playing cards.

Vegetables (1 cup of salad greens) =  1 Tennis ball.

Fruit (1/2 cup of fresh fruit) = 1⁄2 of a baseball.

Medium piece of fruit = a baseball.

Grains (1/2 cup of cooked rice, pasta or potato) = 1 hockey puck.

Dairy and cheese (1-1/2 ounce cheese) = 2 wine corks.

Peanut butter (2 Tbsp.) = 1 golf ball.

Fats (1 teaspoon butter or spread) = 1 bottle cap

Remember that being aware of what you eat is a very important part of your weight loss journey. You’ll know what to order if you go out and keep track of your ideal portions.

Mexicali Bariatric Center is lead by Dr. Antonio Esquerra and Dr. Rodolfo Wilhelmy and together they have performed more than 7,500 bariatric surgeries with the best long term results in Mexico.

Enhancements in brain activity as a result of weight loss surgery

Cognitive function and obesity

Obesity may cause changes in brain activity and, apparently, some scientific studies claim that weight-loss surgery can improve the brain's activity, as well as cognitive function.

According to a publication of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, weight loss surgery can improve cognitive function and brain activity involved in planning, strategizing and organizing. These results are very interesting, since obesity is a disease that increases the risk of other diseases such as Alzheimer's by 35%.

Obesity alters a special part of the brain called the posterior cingulate gyrus, a part of the brain linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Bariatric surgery reverses this altered activity, and thus reduces the chance of developing  not only Alzheimer’s , but also some forms of dementia.

After surgery, patients showed similar brain functions as those of normal weight patients. After bariatric surgery, the brain was better able to connect  past and present experiences, which are used to plan and organize cognitive processes.

Bariatric surgery has been a solution to obesity for years now, but in recent times the various positive results that this treatment produces  are being scientifically observed. Many organs benefit from this treatment; such as the pancreas, heart, liver, lungs, and  it is now known that the brain also takes benefits from the weight loss.

There are different types of surgeries for weight loss and the surgeons at Mexicali Bariatric Center can recommend what is best for you, depending  on your degree of obesity and  medical history.  

The expert team at Mexicali Bariatric Center can help you determine which surgery is best suited for your particular situation, with over 7,500 successful surgeries Dr. Esquerra and Dr. Wilhelmy are the most experienced bariatric surgeons in Mexico.

10 tips on how to accelerate metabolism and achieve weight loss

Our Bariatric Nutritionist here at Mexicali Bariatric Center, Dr. Edgar Campos is always looking for our patient’s well being, and today he’s sharing some tips on how to accelerate your metabolism and achieve significant weight loss.

Every time we eat or drink we should thank our metabolism for the ability to convert these substances into energy. Age, gender, height and weight influence our metabolism. However, we can make it better. The faster your metabolism, the more calories you will be able to burn. Surely you know more than a lucky person who eats what he or she wants without gaining weight. That is probably because of genetic reasons, but there are some ways we can help ourselves burn calories faster and feel better with some changes in your daily lives.

1. Sleep

It is simple, try to sleep between six and eight hours. The relationship between sleep and metabolism is becoming clearer. We not only feel hungrier when we go short on sleep and need to eat more caloric meals but  going without sleep  slows metabolism considerably.

2. Drink green tea

Green tea is not only a great source for antioxidants, it is also a great accelerator of metabolism, calorie-free drink and you can consume it on a daily basis.

3. Increase the intensity of your workout

The body gets used to the exercise, and metabolism as well. It is important to include high intensity intervals in our workouts, this causes a jump in metabolism and forces it to keep burning calories even long after completing the training. This is what is called After-burn Effect.

4. Do not skip breakfast

It is time to reconsider whether it is worth sleeping 20 minutes less  to have  more time for breakfast. From the metabolic point of view you should bet on having a bit more time for breakfast. Studies show that taking time for breakfast boosts your metabolism.

5. Do weight exercises

Bodybuilding exercises and weightlifting are not only useful for athletes or professionals. When you convert fat into muscle, you also force your metabolism to burn more calories. You can find some small weight routines online or look for exercise apps that are very convenient and keep track of your progress.

6. Drink water

Drinking sufficient amounts of water is a simple way to speed up digestion and burn calories. Some will need more than the recommended eight glasses, and some less. But you have to  drink enough water.

7. Take a tour around the world and try new spices

If your body reacts positively to spices, you can try some that can help you speed up your metabolism. For example cayenne pepper is useful to speed up metabolism. Its pungent flavor is due to the presence of a chemical compound called capsaicin involved in metabolic processes and also has antioxidants and anticancer properties.

8. Do  45 minutes 'cardio' exercises three times a week

By exercising 45 minutes with cardiovascular routines you can maintain a high metabolic rate for almost twelve hours.

9. Eat consciously

Some foods are natural metabolism boosters. For example, tuna and grapefruit. Consciously choose what you put on the table and think about the positive impact you'll have to metabolize your body.

10. Drink a cup of coffee in the morning

If you can drink coffee, It is not just a quick way to get your act together, a cup of coffee gets absorbed very quickly into the bloodstream, which accelerates the heartbeat and generates metabolic peaks up to three hours after that morning boost.

How to weigh yourself correctly

The scale is a tool to help assess your weight loss progress, but you should not obsess with it. Besides indicating your weight, a number does not necessarily reflect being healthy or unhealthy but nevertheless it is a good indicator of progress through your weight loss journey. The surgeons at Mexicali Bariatric Center have some recommendations to weigh yourself the right way.

Choose the right scale

It's important to always be weighed on the same scale, so it is advisable to purchase or get one that is well calibrated. Keep in mind that before purchasing a scale you may be able to give it a test run and find out if it is right for you, here is a quick way to know if it is calibrated:

1. The scale should read the same number every time the same weight is applied
2. Lean back and forward while on it and find out if the number changes, if it does, it needs calibration.
3. The scale should start on zero before weight is applied.

If your scale doesn't pass those simple tests, problems other than calibration may be affecting its accuracy.

Tips to weigh yourself correctly

- The best time of the day to be weighed is in the morning after urinating so that the body has not retained liquids.

- Wear only underwear and be barefooted.

- Remove rings, pendants, glasses and everything that can modify the weight.

- The most recommended day to step on a scale is on Monday because you may see part of the results from the weekend behavior, this can encourage you to take care of yourself the rest of the week. If you notice that there are weight variations during the week, remember what you ate and see how that affects your weight increase or decrease.

Attitude is key

Attitude is very important when you weigh yourself, because you need to know how to face the result the scale will provide. A weight gain can always be fixed. Weighing yourself should never be something that demotivates you or your weight loss journey, if you don't like the results, do not torment yourself, on the contrary, the result should be an instrument to promote the necessary changes, which can be achieved with determination.

Staples used for Gastric Sleeve, Gastric Bypass and DS Surgery - Dr Campos Mexicali Bariatric Center.

Doctor Edgar Campos from Mexicali Bariatric Center in Mexico answers questions about the stapling process in bariatric surgery enabling patients to be informed about the complete process of gastric surgery.

One of the most frequently asked questions that we get is regarding staples, a very important element in weight loss surgery. The first thing you need to know is that they are disposable devices. That means that we do not reuse nor sterilize any used staples. They are disposable and we use new staples for each patient. That is because like in regular office staples, when the staple is fired out, it closes upon application. The huge difference between office staples and surgical staples is that these are made out of titanium, which is less reactive on the body.

Another question we are asked is, are the staples going to stay in my body forever?

The strength of the stomach during surgery debilitates due to the scar tissue. The staples are meant to hold everything in place until the stomach creates scarring tissue around the staple line and protects and seals it but, because they are very small there will be scar tissue growing around the staple line and we can’t remove them after the surgery. That means that the staples will stay in your body. You need not to worry because they don’t set off any metal detectors or make you beep at the airport you have very small  non-reactive titanium staples.

The staple cartridge can be of 60 staples or the smaller cartridge of 45. The number refers to the length of the disposable staple cartridge. Each cartridge comes with 3 lines of staples on each side, that means that there are 3 rows of staples  which gives the patient more protection and reduces the possibility of leakage. The staple cartridge  has  a blade in the middle, which will cut, and then 3 more rows of staples are applied to  secure the tissue that will be removed, which needs to be stapled as well.

What kind of staples are used in Mexicali Bariatric Center?

The staples we use here in Mexicali Bariatric Center that are used in gastric sleeve, bypass and duodenal switch surgeries are different types of staple cartridges because we have different kinds of tissue; for example, we have a black cartridge from the Johnson & Johnson family which is the Ethicon brand.The black cartridge is a thicker cartridge for thicker tissue, like the lower part of the stomach which has more girth than the rest of the stomach. These cartridges  can staple around 4.4mm of tissue, although it sounds a like a small amount of tissue, we staple 2 sides of the stomach which creates a sandwich of the tissue in the middle and then we’ll staple that.

There is something very important that we need to do during stapling which is locating the tissue that we’re stapling and then pull a little  and squeeze it so the tissue stays together without moving or flowing around. The second thing we need to consider is weight, that’s quite important because if we just close the stapler and fire it up, there is not enough time to move the water and blood inside the tissue to the sides and when we staple that water will increase the size of the tissue. What we do is hold that part and wait for about a minute so it drains and reduces its size and then we fire it up and remove the stapler. We have videos showing how we do this and how the surgery is being done.

The second kind of staple or cartridge that we use is the green one that has a thickness of 4.1 mm and normally is the one that we use for the antrum which is the lower part of the stomach. On a gastric sleeve surgery here in Mexico we normally begin with a black cartridge and then we continue with the green and then follow with the blue one which  is the 3.5mm staple and the one with less thickness than the others and the most commonly used for the rest of the stomach. Finally, we use the white staple that has a 2.5mm girth and it normally used for the intestines or anastomosis.

It is quite important that we use the correct staple for each type of tissue because if we do not we increase the risk of leakage or bleeding,  if we use a very thick cartridge on a thin tissue,  for example, we can have bleeding and can lead to a complication.

It is very important as well to use brand name staples. We only use Ethicon cartridges  which are FDA approved. Ethicon is a Johnson and Johnson brand. We are very strict with the standards and quality of the materials we use during  all surgeries.

How can a patient know what kind of staples the surgeon is using?

The patient can ask the surgeon to show him or her the brand that is being used. Whether  it is Johnson & Johnson or any other brand, it comes with a serial number and a code that can be scanned, that gives reassurance that the surgeon is using a brand named staple.

During revision surgeries  here at Mexicali Bariatric Center we have seen patients that have only 2 or 3 parts of the stomach stapled, this is because the amount and type of staples that the surgeon uses elevates or diminishes the cost of the surgery, so in order to lower  the cost of the surgery, the surgeon minimizes the use of staples and puts the patient at risk and reduces their chances of having good long term results.

Should patients be aware of counterfeit staples?

What we advise, is to ask your surgeon what type of staples he or she will be using. Be aware that any counterfeit staples could be a problem. We have known of doctors who in order to make profit they risk the patient's well being by purchasing counterfeit Chinese staples that are not 100% titanium, causing negative reactions to the tissue and could lead to serious complications, So, we strongly suggest to ask your doctor what kind of products are being used on your surgery.

The importance of Protein after Weight Loss Surgery

 The importance of Protein after Weight Loss Surgery

Today I would like to talk to you about protein and why Dr. Campos, bariatric doctor here at Mexicali Bariatric Center insists so much on protein for weight loss surgery patients. I'm not talking immediately post-op, of course, it’s important to consume protein when you're healing because it will help heal your tissues and recover faster.

I've broken down how does protein intake actually determines your long term weight loss success.

1.- It’s actually harder for your body to digest and metabolize protein, so just by choosing protein versus any other food you will burn more calories.

2.- Protein will actually make you feel full for a longer time, when we have patients that call us and say: We're getting hungry in between meals or I eat and I'm starting to get hungry, we immediately want to check how much protein are they getting. Carbs will make you hungrier sooner, so you want to focus on your protein, you are less hungry, you eat less so you lose weight faster, protein will help you do that.

3.- And the third reason is that protein will actually help you build muscle. Why is muscle important in your weight loss? First, you want to lose your fat instead of your muscle, let’s say you jump on the scale and you've lost 10 pounds; fat is 3 times larger than muscle, meaning muscle can be 3 times more compact than fat, so you'll want to lose the fat and keep the muscle, How do you do that? You eat more your protein. That’s very important.

Another reason why building  muscle is so important is that muscle will actually help you burn calories and you don't have to do anything. Just by sitting there, if you have more muscle mass you'll burn more calories. Muscle will burn 22% more calories than any other tissue in your body. 

Who doesn't want that?

This is why men lose weight faster than women, because men typically have more muscle mass and this is also the reason why older patients lose weight a little bit slower, we lose muscle mass as we get older. There are numbers out there that indicate that a person loses ½  a pound  of muscle mass in certain years and then 1 to 2 pounds a year on further years. So, let’s say that you're a woman and you are over 60, you will be losing weight more slowly if you don't have enough muscle mass. You should build more muscle by consuming more protein, focus on really getting in the daily protein requirements, specially if you are in that category.

How much protein? that’s a very good question.

It varies a lot, there are protein calculators out there, but on average at Mexicali Bariatric Center we ask our gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and DS patients to supplement 60 to 70 grams of protein a day, this is additional to what they're eating, we are targeting that somebody should be getting around 90 to 100 grams of protein a day, but is very difficult to get that with the small amounts that you are eating after weight loss surgery, so this is why supplementation is important. Drinking protein shakes, powders, liquids will help you reach your protein target, and it’s even safe to get up until 120 grams, it depends, check with your doctor or go on the online protein calculator, it depends on your weight, your age, gender and other variables, but you will get the target number there.

One last thing, in order for it to be healthy for you to be getting this much protein, water needs to go hand in hand with the protein, this is very important. Don't forget that. I hope this helps!

I will write to you soon.

For more information on weight loss surgery please visit mexicalibariatric.com or call us toll free at 1-888-344-3916.

Bariatric Surgery: are there any risks?

Bariatric Surgery: are there any risks? 

Bariatric surgery is not without risks. Preoperative studies allow us to assess and take appropriate action to reduce risks to the minimum.

Preoperative assessment of the patient, plus the training of the team of professionals involved in the procedure and the use of appropriate elements such as having the proper facilities to operate in , transform the risk of weight loss surgery in much less than the problems related to obesity itself.

On one side are the risks of any surgical procedure performed under general anesthesia, which is mainly based on who will be undertaking surgery: an obese, sick patient. This patient is considered at risk for any surgical procedure if the necessary precautions are not taken. However, being a scheduled bariatric surgery procedure, the patient reaches the operating room very prepared having followed a pretreatment and in the hands of epxerts specializing in obese patients, thus minimizing risks.

There is a second category of risks that have to do with weight loss surgery itself, but these are the lowest in the area of "major digestive system surgery." As this is a surgery that is done quite often nowadays, experts have gained much experience and that reduces complications. The potential risks are bleeding, leaks in your gastrointestinal system, lung or breathing problems, plus other long-term risks and complications of weight loss surgery such as bowel obstruction, dumping syndrome, ulcers, stomach perforation and vomiting.

It is important to note that the risks of weight loss surgery are fewer than those of obesity itself. As we know from well-designed population studies, the risks of mortality from obesity and related diseases are way larger than those from surgery. However, bariatric surgery risks can be dramatically reduced by making the right choices. 

For every surgical procedure it is of vital importance to choose the right surgeon and the best hospital. Mexicali Bariatric Center in Mexicali, Mexico, has the best bariatric program in the country. Besides, board certified surgeons Dr. Gilberto Ungson and Dr. Rodolfo Wilhelmy, colleagues and friends of the late Dr. Alberto Aceves, are two of the leading authorities in Latin America in weight loss surgery.

Only board certified physicians should perform an operation. Mexicali Bariatric Center is a world renown institution. Dr. Ungson, who trained Dr. Aceves on the duodenal switch surgery, and Dr. Wilhelmy, with 18 years of experience in laparoscopic bariatric surgery in Mexico, are widely respected in the international medical community, furthermore Almater Hospital has the best facilities in the region, with standards up to par with hospitals in the US and Canada.

For more information on weight loss surgery please visit mexicalibariatric.com or call us toll free at 1-888-344-3916.