Vanity Insanity

"This has got to be madness!"

said I, after I read the news article on a very much controversial procedure for losing weight. It involves stitching a small piece of plastic mesh onto a human  tongue so as to feel pain while ingesting solid foods. (Causes pain, did I mention that?) This is done to force a low-calorie liquid diet for weight-loss purposes.

Perhaps, I should not be quick to judge since I always tell myself to understand something before forming an opinion. So let's see what this is all about.

The patch sewn directly in the centre of the tongue is meant to cause discomfort so that people are able to change their eating habits. The person with the patch is on a 750 calories a day diet, which is less than half the recommended calories for a sedentary adult female as recommended on the health canada website (1900 Calories/day) and 1/3 of the recommended calories for a sedentary male adult (2500 Calories/day). Four or five stitches stiches are made in the direct centre of the tongue and it is removed later on. The idea is to teach people to eat differently so that when the sutures are removed, the individual is able to make healthier choices. It is for this reason, that the 10-minute surgery is accompanied with weekly psychological consultations and a diet and exercise plan for a hefty price of $3000.

Having thought about the procedure in my most rational mind possible, I still think it is unreasonable for a person to have to stitch their tongue to be able to learn healthy eating habits. Putting a person on a restricted diet of liquids only with 750 Calories/ day is unhealthy and would definitely have implications on the persons' entire body if they are not receiving any of the essential nutrients for a prolonged period of time. The liquid meals prescribed to the adult, in such a case, become absolutely essential as it is their sole source of food after the surgery. Whats worse is if someone forgets to take a prescribed liquid drink or decides to "speed" their weight loss procedure by reducing their intake- this would seriously jeopardize their health and put them at risk for malnutrition depending on their nutrient history and requirements (this does not sound healthy to me). Furthermore, the idea of having to hurt someone to "encourage" healthy eating habits is contradictory in its nature.We all know that eating disorders associated with malnutrition have come into the forefront along with distorted media images of "beauty" that is in reality unhealthy and unattainable. With the rise in obesity trends, it is important to promote healthy eating and living, however, "losing weight" does not equal being healthy.

news article: "Some find controversial new weight-loss technique hard to swallow"