In a recent trial conducted at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, scientists have found that Adipotide – a new drug designed to attack excess body fat – has helped obese monkeys lose weight, according to a study published in the Science Translational Medicine Journal. Although questions still exist regarding the drug’s effectiveness on human beings, tests involving humans could begin shortly, and its unique fat-attack properties present a potential breakthrough in the battle against obesity.

The new drug was designed to target and kill the blood supply that keeps fat cells alive, and it helped the overweight monkeys lose an average of 11% of their total body weight. This differs from previous weight-loss drugs in that it does not increase metabolism or control hunger.

“Without the blood supply, the fat withers away and is re-metabolized by the liver,” said study author Dr. Wadih Arap. “It is incredibly exciting, a dream coming true in slow motion.”

The drug was actually tested for the first time in 2004, when it was shown to be effective in bringing about substantial weight loss in mice. For the most recent study, researchers chose monkeys from the colony that were naturally less active and liked to eat more, and did not use animals that were made genetically obese or forced to gain weight in any way. This makes them similar to many of the humans that could eventually benefit from the new drug.

“Within a few weeks of administering the drug it became clear to use that the efficacy we had seen in rodents was being transplanted to monkeys,” said Kristin Barnhart, a lead researcher on the team. “They were getting their waistlines back so we were starting to see the effect. It was such an important milestone for the drug.”

The drug was also found to lower the Body Mass Index of the monkeys, but interestingly animals that were given the drug but were not obese did not lose weight. Researchers are hopeful that the effectiveness of the drug on monkeys – which are closely related to humans – bodes well for its effectiveness and safety when used to help people lose weight.

MRIs were used as part of the study to confirm that the monkeys lost the same “white” body fat most overweight humans need to shed, which also happens to be linked to heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, once the monkeys stopped taking the drug and returned to their previous habits, the weight returned, which is a common problem among all types of weight-loss methods that do not involve serious lifestyle changes.

“The hope is that in patients, we say this treatment gave you a leg up and helped you lose the weight, now you have to diet and exercise and change your lifestyle,” Arap stated.

Side effects among the monkeys were found to be mild and reversible, including slight changes in the kidneys. But keep in mind that even if Adipotide is eventually proven to be successful in humans, it could be years before the FDA makes it available for mass consumption.

Sources: Diet and Nutrition at MSNBC, ABC News Health

A recent study by the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California, shows increasing evidence that women who gain weight after their first pregnancy are at an increased risk for developing pregnancy-related diabetes, which is also known as gestational diabetes, during their second pregnancy. The study also found that if the women lost the baby weight after having their first child, the risk for developing gestational diabetes during their second pregnancy was significantly lowered.

The study revealed that women who gain between 12 and 17 pounds after giving birth are two times as likely to develop diabetes during their second pregnancy, and women who gain 18 pounds or more are at least three times as likely to develop the disease.

“A lot of people have shown that lifestyle intervention to help people lose weight can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes,” shared lead author on the study Samantha Ehrlich. “We acknowledge that this is not an easy thing to do. It is quite common for women to gain weight during pregnancy.”

Gestational diabetes currently affects around four percent of all pregnant women according to Ehrlich, who evaluated the medical records of 22,000 women that span a ten-year time period. The study monitored body mass index (BMI) and used a ratio of height to weight to accurately monitor problematic weight gain. Less than 10 percent of women who participated in the study lost weight between pregnancies, and most cited the typical stresses of new motherhood as their main reason for not shedding the pounds.

The women all used the Kaiser Permanente facilities for two pregnancies, and roughly 46 out of every 1,000 women were found to develop gestational diabetes during their first pregnancy, while 52 out of every 1,000 were found to develop it during their second. Also of note, 18 out of every 1,000 women were affected with the disease during both their first and second pregnancies.

Since having a baby is definitely stressful, it can bring with it a variety of changes to eating and sleeping patterns, as well as exercise habits and the balance of work to family life. Interestingly, the study revealed that women who opted to breast feed for at least six months following the birth of a child were more likely to shed excess pounds. In addition, walking and keeping snaking to a minimum were the secrets to success for new moms who were able to maintain a healthy weight during and between pregnancies.

To help combat this problem, Ehrlich is currently working out the details of a weight loss program that is geared towards assisting women with infants who want to lose weight. The program incorporates telephone coaching as well as exercise and diet help.

“We believe that something that is based on the telephone or a website would be easier for new moms to do than having to go somewhere for classes,” she shared.

Regardless, the study findings demonstrate just how important it is for women to maintain a healthy weight during and after pregnancy. Gestational diabetes often goes away after the baby is born, but it can lead to birth complications and other health-related issues for the mother.

Sources: CNN Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

By now we’ve all heard that eating right plus exercising will lead to weight loss, but the specific reasons why and how this happens often remain elusive, even within the medical community. Thanks to a new study published by Nature and conducted by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in conjunction with Harvard Medical School, however, it has become clearer than ever exactly what happens on a cellular level to help you lose weight.

In short, exercise turns your white fat – which is bad – into brown fat, which is good. Brown fat, which is actually brown in color, acts like a furnace to burn white fat cells in order to fuel itself and is activated by exercise or excessive exposure to the cold.

“We have proof that this tissue burns calories – yes, indeed it does,” said Dr. André Carpentier, a lead author on the study and an endocrinologist at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. “But what happens over the long term is unknown.”

For example, some are concerned that brown fat could also cause people to feel hungrier and therefore eat more to make up for the calories it burns, which could lead to weight gain over time. Until recently, brown fat was thought to exist mainly in rodents and babies, who cannot shiver and use it as an alternate method for generating heat. However, three independent groups have now found brown fat to also exist in adults, with scans showing it to be present in small quantities in the upper back, the side of the neck and the dip between the shoulder and collarbone.

Compared to brown fat, white fat is mainly used by the body to store a large amount of calories in a relatively small amount of space, and was used at one time in human evolution to prevent starvation during times of lean food supply. Today, however, most of us have no problem finding enough to eat, which has led to many of us fighting the battle of the bulge on a daily basis. On the other hand, it is important to retain a small amount of white fat, which is actually necessary to live.

The new study shows that exercise causes muscles to release a hormone known as irisin, which causes the body to grow more brown fat, which can help you lose weight. Exercise also causes your muscles to work harder than normal, which helps you burn calories for hours after you stop working out.

According to Dr. Bruce Spiegelman, a lead researcher on the study and a professor of cell biology and medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, humans – much like mice – create brown fat from white fat when they exercise due to the presence of irisin in their blood.

“What I would guess is that this is likely to be the explanation for some of the effects of exercise,” said Dr. Spiegelman. “The calories burned during exercise exceed the number actually used to do the work of exercising. That may be an effect of some white fat cells turning brown.”

Sources: SELF Magazine, New York Times

The first-ever scientific study of its kind was conducted recently on the popular PX90 weight loss and fitness program by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) with the help of the University of Wisconsin’s La Crosse program. The study was led by John Porcari, Ph.D. and Joel Woldy, M.S., who are both researchers with the University’s Exercise and Health Program and aimed to determine the true energy cost and exercise intensity of the PX90 program.

The concept of “muscle confusion” is at the heart of the PX90 program, which was created by trainer Tony Horton. In more scientific terms, this is known as “daily undulating periodization,” which is a fancy way of saying that you are changing up workouts so often that the body does not have time to adapt and become used to the exercise. Since this means the body is always operating at sub-optimal efficiency, it will burn more fat and build muscle more quickly. Although very popular among participants, until now PX90 had never been studied scientifically, leaving only anecdotal evidence regarding its effectiveness.

PX90 has sold more than 3 million copies by November of last year, with numbers undoubtedly reaching well beyond that as we approach 2012. Stars like Sheryl Crow, Billy Idol and Bruce Springsteen have backed the program, which bills itself as “The Ultimate 90-Day Home Fitness Bootcamp.”

For the study, researchers recruited 16 athletes, choosing healthy subjects between the ages of 19 and 26 who exercise regularly and had previous experience with either PX90 or a comparable circuit-style weight training and aerobic program. First, they established a baseline of fitness by performing tests to determine the maximum heart rate and VO2max for all subjects. Next, the participants were asked to complete up to three practice sessions of each of the PX90 workouts the study examined, which included Cardio X, Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Legs & Back and Plyometrics.

After the subjects had become familiar with the workouts, testing began. Participants were asked to participate to the best of their abilities through all phases of the testing process, while researchers monitored their heart rates, perceived exertion (RPE) and the predicted VO2 that was exerted during the session.

“The basis of muscle confusion is to keep the body from becoming too efficient at performing individual and sets of exercises,” said Alice Burron, MS Exercise Physiology, ACE National Spokesperson and ACE Personal Trainer. “This type of inefficiency burns more calories because the muscles haven’t yet adapted to the new workload. Overall, more calories are burned, and as a percentage, then, more calories are burned from fat. That is if a proper caloric intake is maintained in tandem with the workout.”

The study results are clear, with male subjects burning between 441 and 699 kcals per workout and female subjects burning between 302 and 544 kcals per workout. These results prove that PX90 is an effective weight loss and fitness tool that researchers believe “meets or exceeds established fitness industry standards for losing weight and improving cardiorespiratory fitness.”

Sources: American Council On Exercise, SELF Magazine

Overweight and obese dieters who participated in a new global study lost more than two times as much weight by following the Weight Watchers program, as compared to others who only received weight-loss counseling from medical professionals. Published initially in The Lancet, the study was the first of its kind and resulted from a unique partnership between primary care physicians and the Weight Watchers community.

772 participants were asked to join the 12-month study by primary care physicians across the UK, Germany and Australia. Close to half of the participants were randomly selected to receive a free year long membership to Weight Watchers, which included access to weekly meetings, while the other half were asked to attend monthly meetings with a medical professional to discuss weight loss strategies.

Researchers included Dr. Susan Webb, who is the head of diet and population health at the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research Lab in Cambridge, as well as Professor Hans Hauner at The Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universitat Munchen, and Professor Ian Caterson at the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders in Sydney.

The results of the study carry clear implications for dieters around the world, as participants who took part in the Weight Watchers program lost more than twice as much weight as those who only received counseling from traditional medical professionals. Also of note, members of the Weight Watchers group were more than three times as likely to lose at least 10% of their total starting weight and 61% of this group lost at least 5% of their total body weight during the course of the year. By comparison, only 32% of those in the standard care group lost at least 5% of their total starting weight.

Since losing between 5 and 10% of your total body weight has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease, while simultaneously increasing your overall level of health, the study has shed new light on the effectiveness of programs such as Weight Watchers, giving new hope to people around the world who are struggling with their weight. Participants in the Weight Watchers control group also exhibited a greater reduction of waist size and overall body fat.

Obesity is a serious problem in all parts of the developed world, with the US expected to have at least 65 million additional obese adults by 2030 and the UK projected to have at least 11 million by this time. In addition to highlighting the overall effectiveness of Weight Watchers, the study also shows the benefits of physician intervention and referrals to the program, indicating that this method could be implemented as a way to help those who are struggling with excess weight.

“Trials like this are vital to identify effective interventions to tackle obesity and provide the evidence to inform policy decisions,” said Dr. Susan Jebb. “The similar weight losses achieved in Australia, Germany and the UK implies that this commercial program, in partnership with primary care providers, is a robust intervention which is likely to be generalizable to other economically developed countries with a Western lifestyle.”

Sources: CBS MarketWatch, CNN Health

We all know that the one of the worst things about drinking regular soda is the sugar, so sugar free diet soda seems like a logical alternative right? Maybe not. Over the past few years there have been quite a few studies that imply that that diet soda is actually bad for us over the long run.

There have been a variety of claims over the years (some proven and some nonsense) as to why diet soda is so bad for us, but let’s take a look at a few so that you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to pick up that can of Diet Coke or find something else to drink.

Increased Weight Gain

No, that’s not a typo! Diet soda can actually make you GAIN weight if you drink it for a long period of time.

According to a study performed by the University of Texas Health Science Center drinking diet soda more frequently has been correlated to a larger waist line. That study also determined that the sweetener aspartame increased blood sugar (glucose) levels in mice, implying that the same could be possible in humans.

There has been some opposition to these findings, citing the small sample sizes used and the fact that parts of the test were done with mice and not humans, but there have been similar studies done in the past that show similar results so at the very least it’s worth taking in to consideration if you’re dieting.

Increased Risk of Heart Attack

According to an American Stroke Association study of people who drank diet soda at least once a day they had an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other “vascular diseases”. The study followed around 2,500 New Yorkers for close to a decade and found that over 60% of them had a higher risk of vascular events.

As a resident New Yorker I would add that this state is one of the most stressful places to live in the world so I’m not at all surprised that they had an increased likelihood of stroke or heart attack. I’m taking these results with a grain of salt, but then again I’m not a scientist so what do I know?

Increased Risk of PreTerm Birth

There was also a study of Danish doctors published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that saw an increase in preterm birth rates for those women who drank diet soda, but there was no increase in those that drank regular, sugared soda. Despite the study Dr. Thorhallur I. Halldorsson who led the study said that “one observational study is not enough to justify strong statements” and there is a need for additional studies in this area.

Aspartame Side Effects

One of the most controversial ingredients in diet soda is the sweetener aspartame which was originally approved by the FDA in 1974. There have been literally hundreds of suspected side effects from aspartame since then, ranging anywhere from migraine headaches to brain cancer.

Despite the large number of claims about aspartame, the majority of claims have been disallowed by the FDA due to flaws in the testing of the sweetener. Despite the FDA rulings however many states and countries have proposed bills to eliminate the use of aspartame, and some stores in the UK have stopped using it all together. Many sodas have also switched to alternative sweeteners like Splenda which have a less controversial track record.

Personally the sheer number of claims about the sweetener it’s enough to make me think where there is smoke there is fire with this stuff. There may or may not be anything wrong with aspartame, but the fact that it’s a chemical made in a lab somewhere, combined with all of the claims about all of the bad things it can do to me, is enough to make me just avoid it entirely.

So Is Diet Soda Bad For You?

So far there is no evidence to prove that diet soda is 100% bad for you, but there is certainly a lot of controversy about it. Quite frankly anything that involves the possibility of getting brain cancer (whether proven or not) makes me think twice about drinking it, and the fact that it might spike insulin and make me fatter on top of it? I think I’ll just grab a glass of water instead!

So I’m reading this article about Ways To Combat Mindless Eating on WebMD and one of the tips they recommend is to use smaller plates and bowls with every meal.

The psychologists interviewed say that we eat until we are full, so if we have a bigger plate, bowl, box or whatever, we will continue to eat until it’s gone. Maybe it’s some kind of reaction to our parents always telling us to clean our plates?

My first thought was this was nonsense. I mean do you really not know that half a box of cereal is half a box of cereal, no matter how big the plate size is? So I started to put myself to the test and you know what? They were right!

We have three different sets of bowls in the house and just for the sake of testing I grabbed the biggest one and when I portioned out the recommended serving size for my morning honey nut cheerios (unhealthy but I like them anyway!) it seemed like I was getting totally shafted… as if a waiter just came out with a tiny steak on a huge plate.

So what did I have the urge to do? Pour more in the bowl of course!

Since I was doing a “test run” I resisted the urge to fill up the bowl but there were plenty of times I just filled it right up out of instinct.

The next day I did a test run using a smaller bowl and the recommended portion size fit perfectly and I had no urge to fill it up (after all if I filled it up anymore it would have all spilled over the side). I also didn’t feel any more or less hungry after eating the recommended portion size.

Now it has me thinking about all those times when I go out to eat and I have a huge plate of pasta in front of me and I eat the whole thing (or most of it) when I should really be taking some home. If they gave me half the portion on an equally sized plate I would probably be just as happy, and I would leave feeling like less of a pig for eating it all…haha.

What do you think? Does a bigger plate make you want to eat more? I think there might be something to this one.

Far too often we weight to the last minute to lose weight. We have a wedding to go to, maybe a class reunion, or a vacation coming up and then we do everything we can to drop a bunch of weight as quickly as possible. Unfortunately unlike college you can’t pull an all-nighter and “cram” for weight loss… you put the weight on slowly and that’s how it comes off. Trying to lose 10 pounds or more is difficult, after all Medifast (which might be the most effective weight loss product going) only helps you to lose 2-5 pounds a week then 10+ is going to be difficult.

There are a few things you can do to lose weight quickly though, but the amount of weight you lose depends on how much your starting weight is, your age, your gender and a number of factors, but if you work hard and eat right there is a lot you can do to hit your weight loss goals.

So how do you lose 10 pounds fast exactly? Well I’m going to outline a few methods that I will call the “easy way” and the “hard way”. Why would I bother outlining the hard way when I know most people will just choose the easy way? Well to be quite frank the easy way costs money so I know not everyone is willing to spend money, so instead you have to bust your butt and hope for the best! Anyway enough build up… here goes!

The Easy Way To Lose Weight

There are a number of specialized diets out there that will help you lose weight extremely quickly. The one that seems to stand above all others is Medifast, a pre-packaged diet that has been shown to help people lose 10 pounds or more in a week’s time. Originally Medifast was only available through a prescription but now you can buy Medifast online just like you could most other fad diets.

For some people pre-packaged meals are a great thing because you don’t have to think about what you can and can’t eat throughout the week… you just eat what is given to you. You basically choose 5 of their pre-packaged meals and then mix in one meal of healthy regular food each day.

The Hard Way To Lose Weight

If you’re looking to lose 10 pounds without the help from any nutritional supplements you have your work cut out for you, but it’s not impossible either. The first thing you need to do is exercise and do lots of it. I would highly recommend either running or using a low impact machine like an elliptical machine that will help you burn calories faster than simply going on walks. I can’t recommend a specific amount of exercise because everyone is different but I don’t think I can go wrong by telling you to do as much as you can within reason. Don’t jog til you drop and have a heart attack but you should know what the line is between working hard and overdoing it. If you don’t, get a personal trainer or ask your doctor before doing anything.

The next thing you need to do is fix your diet. Most of you probably assume that I’m going to tell you to starve yourself and quite frankly that is the worst thing you can do. When you don’t eat much your body goes in to starvation mode and packs on everything you eat as fat for storage later… it’s a survival mechanism. What you need to do is eat lean healthy foods, in good sized portions. Don’t stuff yourself, don’t eat high sodium junk food and don’t guzzle down beer and soda because that defeats the purpose. Lots of veggies, lean meats and plenty of water will help.

The one issue with the “hard way” is that everyone responds different. Some people will lose a bunch of weight the first week and the next couple we may only lose a pound, some of us don’t lose anything at first but then the number on the scale drops big time two weeks later… everyone is different so you need to know how your body will respond. If you’re in a hurry to lose weight in a week then first of all shame on you for putting it off for so long, but know it can be done… good luck!

A lot of us are overweight, and we are always looking for easy weight loss methods, but how can we lose weight quickly and still be healthy? We all want the secret to lose pounds with no effort in just a few days. If someone told you that you could make millions of dollars in minutes with no effort would you believe them? No, you wouldn’t, but we are always looking for instant weight loss solutions with little to no effort.

How much weight you can lose in a given time period depends on a lot of factors such as your body type, age, gender and how much weight you have to lose. A 22 year old male who weighs over 300 pounds is going to lose weight faster than a 43 year old woman who weighs 185 pounds, it’s just the natural way the body works.

If you follow a good weight loss plan, watch what you eat and exercise regularly you will lose weight faster during the first few weeks of the diet and then you will slow down. If I had to put an actual number to it the average person will lose 2-3 pounds a week, depending on the factors I listed above, but most especially how much you have to lose. The more you weigh the more weight there is to drop, just like on that Biggest Loser show on TV.

There are a lot of fad diets out there that promote rapid weight loss and boast claims of losing 10-20 pounds in a matter of weeks but diets and methods like that can cause dehydration, cause you to lose muscle, and some could do serious damage to your body. Getting rid of the water and muscle will reduce your number you see on the scale but you will gain it back and you’ll be in worse shape than ever without as much muscle tone. Sounds very appealing right?

As for the weight loss supplements, I highly… I repeat HIGHLY recommend avoiding diet pills, supplements, magical herbal elixirs found only in the jungles of South America and just discovered by a team of scientists… you know what I’m talking about. Honestly, if there was a magic weight loss pill that made us all lose weight don’t you think it would be all over every newspaper, newscast and website and we would all be taking it? Most of these pills are just caffeine based and make your heart beat really fast and suppress your appetite. They will make you irritable when you crash and when your appetite returns you will eat twice as much because your body knows it is starving. Magic weight loss pills don’t work like they say they do!

If you really want a healthy weight loss solution there is only one way to do it… hard work! Join a gym, get a healthy cook book, plan your meals and stick to it. If you need help hire a trainer, join a weight loss support group or get a friend to diet with you. The weight will come off a lot sooner than you think it will and your long term health will be in much better shape!

There are many weight loss medical treatments you can choose. One most popular choice is gastric bypass surgery. what’s it? How is it done? What are the risks? And how can it help you lose your weight? Our series on diet reviews takes a brief look at gastric bypass surgery.

In simple term, gastric bypass surgery is one of the bariatric surgeries. It, as other bariatric surgeries, limits the amount of food you can eat and digest by changing the anatomy of your digestive system.

Gastric bypass surgery is popular in the United States. Surgeons and patients love it because it is safer and has fewer complications. As long as you sustain a healthy lifestyle after having this surgery, you can lose your weight constantly in a long time period.

There are several ways to do a gastric bypass surgery. The most often chosen is Roux-en-Y (RNY).

In RNY gastric bypass the surgeon basically creates a small pouch at the top end of your stomach, and then adds a bypass around the segment of your stomach and small intestine. Your stomach is stapled, sealing the small pouch on the top from the rest of your stomach. It is only about the size of a walnut and can hold an ounce of food. Then, the small intestine is cut and sewn directly onto the pouch.

This new connection alters the food direction. Food enters the second section of your small intestine, limiting your body to absorb calories. Though the lower part of your stomach never gets the food, it stays healthy and continues to secrete digestive juices to mix with the food in your small intestine.

There may also be common symptoms due to your body reaction to rapid weight loss, such as body aches, exhaustion, dry skin, hair thinning, hair loss and mood changes. These symptoms may occur for three months after surgery.

The Advantages of Gastric Bypass Surgery

Gastric bypass surgery is favored because:

• It helps you lose weight fast. If you are very overweight and can’t lose pounds with a healthy diet and exercise alone, this may be an option.
• It treats other medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease or sleep apnea.
• It is a clinically proven to be safe, and many surgeons have done it for years.

The Risks Of Gastric Bypass Surgery

However, there are some risks that you should be aware of before deciding to undergo the gastric bypass surgery:

• Pouch stretching
• Your stomach may get bigger; it may be caused by the pouch stretching back to its normal size (before surgery).
• Band erosion
• The band closing off part of the stomach may disintegrate.
• Breakdown of staple lines
• The band and staples may fall apart, causing a reversed procedure.
• Stomach leakage
• Should the stomach leakage occurs, its content may be flowing into the abdomen. It is hazardous because the acid can eat away other organs.
• Nutritional deficiencies

In all, gastric bypass surgery isnt perfect, and should only be explored as a last ditch option for weight loss. It isnt a miracle cure for people who want to instantly lose weight, it should be an option for the morbidly obese who’s health is at risk.