Is survival possible if a man has no stomach?

Yes a man can survive without his stomach, claims a gastroenterologist at New York Weill Cornell Center.

“The stomach is a reservoir that allows us to eat the quantity of food we want, emulsify it and pass it gradually into the intestine”, explained Dr. Paul Basuk.

And the doctor's claim is not baseless as many people have survived and adjusted to total or partial surgical removal of the stomach because of diseases like stomach cancer.

“Without a stomach, a person cannot consume the quantity of food one was able to before and usually must have more frequent and smaller meals.”

There is an initial uncomfortable transition period after the loss of the stomach, Dr. Basuk said. It may take months, but the person can adjust to the loss. The operation to remove a stomach is called a gastrectomy.

It can be either partial or total. Doctors often place an external feeding tube directly into the small intestine, a procedure called a jejunostomy, to provide consistent nutrition during recovery and acclimatization.

If a person without a stomach eats too much, it is very quickly apparent because of an uncomfortable feeling of being very full.

Other possible problems include diarrhea, a condition called dumping syndrome in which nutrients are moved too rapidly of bowel contents.