Dr. Katz on WLS

You probably recognize the name Dr. David Katz, Oprah's diet doctor and author of The Way to Eat: A Six-Step Plan to Lifelong Weight Control. He is also an expert advisor for Men's Health Magazine. In the May 2005 issue on shelves now he responded to the question "What's Next in weight-loss surgery?" Here's what he had to say:

Gastric bypass is the chief option for the foreseeable future. It is increasingly done as a minimally invasive laparoscopic operation and may soon become an outpatient procedure. We'll probably see it combined with drug or hormone therapy in the near future. But it's better to prevent obesity in the first place - going under the knife is a last resort.

I'm a fan of Dr. Katz and refer to The Way to Eat often as a sound and healthy approach to living healthy and well after gastric bypass. He's the first medical professional (outside of the bariatric community) who has not made me feel inferior because I was obese - he explains the reason so many of us are/were obese and then lays a plan to sensibly control our weight.

An editorial review on Amazon:

From Publishers Weekly
Katz, a professor at Yale University School of Medicine and director of Yale's nutrition center, offers a comprehensive overview of food and diets. The book begins with a guide to nutritional basics and what people need to eat vs. what they may want to eat. Katz debunks common myths and offers specific suggestions such as how to eat less salt, what percentage of different foods should be consumed daily, how to limit foods, etc. The book contends that people can train themselves to eat certain foods and not eat other foods by eliminating less healthy choices. For example, by knowing something contains both excessive fat and salt, people can plan for a healthier substitute. Much of the book offers prescriptive steps designed to help people make these smarter food choices. The advice, while not completely original, is still worthwhile. For example, in a section on the right way to snack, Katz says, "For snacking to be beneficial, the snacks themselves must be well chosen, and used in substitution for, rather than in addition to, other items in the diet.... Good snacking should have a certain rhythm, with certain types of snacks eaten at certain times of day." While not offering a specific diet plan, the book provides practical tips, along with persuasive reasons, for changing eating habits. This title is a solid addition to the nutrition and diet shelves.
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