Would getting a limb amputated make you fat?

[Puritan]

Legend has it that someone who loses one limb will gain strength in the other (probably from using it more). But would losing a limb also make you gain weight? Your mouth would be the same, your stomach would be the same, the amount of food you usually eat would be the same, but you'd have substantially less body that you would need to fuel. Would these extra calories then go to your gut?

Side question: would you get drunk quicker as well (from having less body mass)?

 

[Mitty]

This should be a Jayson thread.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Would eating your own amputated limb make you fat?

 

[RJDiogenes]

It's also possible, I suppose, that you would have more energy, since your body would have one less limb to support. I imagine, though, that your metabolism adapts and it doesn't make much difference.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

No, to all the above (except strength gain). Depending on which limb and site of the amputation, you could even lose weight. In my case, my right arm is off just below the shoulder and those muscles still intact in that stump have atrophied. So the loss of that weight (missing limb + reduced mass of original) offset the muscular enlargement in the remaining arm.

In fact some doctors add 10 lbs to my weight to compensate for the missing arm in my BMI index.

 

[Plecostomus]

Wife gained 50lbs gradually after having her leg whacked. This was caused by her being less active during the PT/post op adjustment phase.

Now however, she's "up and running" and "kicking ass" so to speak and the weight is coming off.

 

[RoJoHen]

I imagine it would really depend on a lot of things. Without the limb, your body should theoretically require fewer calories to operate, but that would also mean that you'd need to start eating less to compensate. And of course, I bet a lot of amputees would go through a period of depression and extreme stress at first, which could make them eat a lot more or stop eating altogether depending on how they've learned to cope.

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

Legend has it that someone who loses one limb will gain strength in the other (probably from using it more). But would losing a limb also make you gain weight? Your mouth would be the same, your stomach would be the same, the amount of food you usually eat would be the same, but you'd have substantially less body that you would need to fuel. Would these extra calories then go to your gut?

Side question: would you get drunk quicker as well (from having less body mass)?

If you've lost a leg, it's obviously because you're less mobile. Also the resulting depression from the loss of a limb could potentially make one less active.

 

[cultcross]

Usually those who lose legs through trauma suffer severe muscle wasting from loss of appetite and being bed ridden, so end up weighing far less. You see it a lot in soldiers who are wounded - sometimes they can't sit up without help until they've rebuilt their muscle.
Plus once they've recovered, moving around in a wheelchair isn't bad for the old calorie loss either

 

[Jayson]

No but if you ate nothing but amputated limbs you might end up getting fat.

Jason

 

[Major Chord]

No but if you ate nothing but amputated limbs you might end up getting fat.

Jason

Okay then...

I just asked my dad, who is a Nurse and he basically agreed with what has eben said here. You'd need to adjust your food intake, if your activity level decreased, or vice verse, if you were to become more active (get a prosthetic, find a new interest in running...), you'd need to increase your food intake/quality.