Eating well is one of the pillars to losing weight, but it can be difficult if you need to be on the run all the time and cannot keep track of your food. There are many different weight loss options out on the market that will help you digest food better, or still get a good set of nutrients from a shake without you having to eat food. But there are also some gadgets out on the market that promise to help you lose weight by taking the food out of your stomach. One of these is the Aspire Assist Stomach Pump. Is this safe? What exactly does a stomach pump do?
Overview
As indicated by its name, the Aspire Assist Stomach Pump pulls out food from the stomach before you can digest it. The machine pulls out food from the stomach through the abdomen, which prevents it from being digested, and which prevents the body from stacking up on calories.
The machine has been extensively criticized on the Internet for its encouragement of bulimia, or overeating and then purging the body.
How It Works
The Aspire Assist Stomach pump works via a skin port, which is a plastic tube implanted into the abdomen. When a person is finished eating, he or she is advised to wait for 20 minutes. After this waiting time, the person can then connect the plastic tube to the stomach pump. The stomach pump will then suck out a third of the food eaten, preventing the body from absorbing it. This then keeps the body from absorbing fats and calories, which should therefore lead to weight loss. The manufacturers caution people not to eat dense foods, such as meats, cauliflower, or broccoli, since these can clog the skin port. However, people can still eat fatty foods like ice cream and cake.
Manufacturer
Aspire Bariatrics is the company behind the stomach pump. It provides services such as minimally invasive procedures to assist in weight loss, aspiration therapy, and lifestyle counseling. Aspire Bariatrics has expanded through North America and Europe, and is based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It was founded by three medical physicians.
News & Opinions
The Aspire Assist Stomach Pump has been criticized and lambasted by experts and amateur fitness enthusiasts alike. Many believe that the stomach pump simply encourages overeating, which can lead to psychological problems later on. Many also talk about how the stomach pump masks problems, not just psychologically, but in the food that you eat as well. The pump encourages unhealthy eating, because there is insurance that it will be
removed anyway.
The manufacturers claim that the pump is ideal for morbidly obese people who have lost all their options for losing weight. The manufacturers post reviews from their trials, where people said that they were able to lose a lot of
weight no matter what they ate.
Risks
Because there is an opening between one’s stomach and the world, there is a great risk for infection. Every time the tube is opened and the stomach pump is used, there is a great danger of introducing foreign particles and infectious agents directly into the abdominal cavity.
There are also psychological risks. People might be led into believing that they can simply eat whatever they want without worrying about the long-term effects on their bodies. Overeating, and then pumping out the food, can mask deeper food-related psychological problems, such as emotional overeating.
