Research
Energy balance
Bariatric surgery significantly improves lipid profiles, particularly by reducing triglycerides and increasing HDL cholesterol, with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass showing greater effects on triglycerides than restrictive procedures.
Bariatric surgery often leads to significant improvements in cholesterol levels, especially triglycerides and HDL ('good' cholesterol). This improvement is often greater with gastric bypass than with restrictive procedures like gastric banding. Many patients can stop taking lipid-lowering medications after surgery.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Weight loss surgery results in significant improvements in circulating lipid concentrations and dyslipidemia... Triglyceride levels are consistently reduced both immediately and after long-term follow-up. Greater impacts are seen after RYGB, with reductions of up to 50% to 60%, in contrast to gastric procedures, in which triglyceride levels are reduced by only 16% to 25%... Most studies have also shown a significant increase in HDL cholesterol (13% to 47%) after weight loss surgery.
Why this rating
Based on multiple studies and meta-analyses.
Source
Bariatric Surgery and Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Paul Poirier et al. · Circulation · 2011
DOI 10.1161/cir.0b013e3182149099
narrative_reviewCited 334×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Bariatric surgery (specifically Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy) significantly reduces excess body weight (average 50-70% excess weight loss) and durably improves or resolves severe obesity-related comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, leading to prolonged survival compared to non-surgical management.Good
- Bariatric surgery, particularly malabsorptive and hybrid procedures like Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, can completely reverse established type 2 diabetes mellitus in a large percentage of patients, often within days of surgery, independent of significant weight loss, likely due to hormonal changes.Good
Related findings · Energy balance
- Achieving a total body weight loss of 10-15% (or >10-15 kg) through Total Diet Replacement (TDR) induces remission of Type 2 Diabetes in individuals with short-duration disease.Strong
- Bariatric surgery is superior to medical management alone for inducing significant long-term weight loss, remission of type 2 diabetes, and reduction in mortality for patients with BMI ≥ 40 or ≥ 35 with comorbidities.Strong
- Achieving type 2 diabetes remission requires significant weight loss (≥15 kg) via major caloric restriction, independent of macronutrient composition.Strong
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