Weight Loss Surgery May Affect Fat-Related Genes

by admin on April 17, 2013, no comments

THURSDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) — Weight-loss surgery changes the levels of genes involved in burning and storing fat, a new study says.

The findings may help lead to the development of new drugs that mimic this weight-loss-associated control of gene regulation, said the authors of the study published online April 11 in the journal Cell Reports.

“We provide evidence that in severely obese people, the levels of specific genes that control how fat is burned and stored in the body are changed to reflect poor metabolic health,” senior author Juleen Zierath, a professor with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a journal news release.

“After [weight-loss] surgery, the levels of these genes are restored to a healthy state, which mirrors weight loss and coincides with overall improvement in metabolism,” Zierath explained.

Weight-loss surgery — also called bariatric surgery — can help obese people lose large amounts of weight in a short time. The surgery also leads to early remission of type 2 diabetes in many patients.

Article source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/weight-loss-surgery/news/20130411/weight-loss-surgery-may-affect-fat-related-genes

3 Mental Roadblocks That Sabotage Weight Loss

by admin on April 16, 2013, no comments

It’s not just about putting in time at the gym and eliminating certain foods; your mental state has a huge influence on whether you hit your weight-loss goals. Old thought patterns might seem unbreakable, but moving forward may be easier than you think. These negative thoughts could be what’s holding you back from success.

You always put yourself down: If the negative talk is on a constant loop in your mind, then know that it’s not helping anyone. Feeling bad or shameful about food choices does not make for a healthy lifestyle; it actually hinders your ability to succeed. Health psychologist and Stanford lecturer Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., explains, “If you focus on self-criticism, you’ll be like a laser on it.” Instead of focusing on putting yourself down, draw attention toward what you want to fix and accomplish. Above all else, treat yourself with kindness.

You can’t picture the new you: For women who have struggled with their weight for years, the idea of a lighter and healthier you might be difficult to fathom. Feeling confident about your ability to succeed is a start, but a more concrete project can be a huge help too. You might not be able to find the words right now, but creating a tangible reminder, like a healthy vision board covered in inspirational images, will help you start to recognize what your dreams look like.

Article source: http://www.fitsugar.com/Negative-Thoughts-Stop-Weight-Loss-29247997?fullsite=0

Does Nicotine Aid Weight Loss?

by admin on April 15, 2013, no comments

I get a lot of health-related questions about chemicals. An interesting one is whether nicotine aids in weight loss. Now, we’re not talking about smoking, which involved a complex set of chemicals and physiological processes, but pure nicotine, which is available over the counter, primarily in products intended to help people quit smoking. If you search for information about the effects of nicotine, you’ll find all sorts of research on smoking, but relatively little on the health effects of this one specific chemical.

An MSDS (such as the Sigma Aldich MSDS for nicotine) indicates nicotine is a naturally-occurring isomer that is an acetylcholine receptor agonist. It is a stimulant that causes the release of epinephrine (adrenaline). This increases heart rate, blood pressure and respiration and also produces higher blood glucose levels. Also, one of the side effects of nicotine, especially at higher doses, is appetite suppression and nausea. So basically, you have a drug that raises your metabolic rate while suppressing your appetite. It activates the brain’s pleasure and reward center, so some users may use nicotine to feel good instead of, for example, eating donuts. These are well-documented biological effects of nicotine, but they don’t give a firm answer regarding whether or not it helps with weight loss. There are some studies indicate smokers may lose weight. Limited studies have been conducted relating weight and nicotine use, in part because of the perception that nicotine is addictive. It’s interesting to note that while tobacco use is addictive, pure nicotine actually is not. It is the MAOI in tobacco that leads to the addiction, so persons taking nicotine who are not exposed to monoamine oxidase inhibitors do not necessarily suffer addiction and withdrawal from the substance. However, users do develop a physiological tolerance to nicotine, so it might be expected that, as with other stimulants, weight loss from nicotine use would be most successful over a short term, losing effectiveness with chronic use. Here are some references that explore whether or not nicotine aids weight loss:

Article source: http://chemistry.about.com/b/2013/04/14/does-nicotine-aid-weight-loss.htm

Snooki’s Drastic Weight Loss: She’s Using Laxatives And Starving Herself

by admin on April 10, 2013, no comments

Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi has been bragging about her 42-pound weight loss following the birth of her son, but those close to the MTV star tell Star magazine that she’s just plain starving herself!

“All she eats is lettuce and egg whites,” says a source.

Snooki gave birth to her son Lorenzo LaValle in August 2012, and she recently said that she dropped the first 20 pounds just by breastfeeding.

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Competitive Cash-for-Weight-Loss Plans Work Best?

by admin on April 8, 2013, no comments

Paying people to lose weight works, but some sort of competition or group effort may make it work even better, a new study reports.

The research showed how two company-sponsored weight-loss programs produced different results depending on how the rewards were structured.

The study, published April 1 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, demonstrates that when it comes to designing programs to help employees lose weight, details about how incentives are offered and how much cash is up for grabs can make a big difference in short-term outcomes.

The sustainability of weight loss accomplished in such efforts remains unclear, however.

In one group of five participants, the prize of meeting an individual weight-loss goal was $100, no more or less. In another, also with five members, the prize was $100, but with a chance at more if other members didn’t succeed. The latter group had nearly three times the weight loss as the former.

Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren, the lead author of the study and an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, became interested in how to motivate people to lose weight from his work as a practicing primary-care physician. “I realized that behavior change is really hard,” he said. With more than 80 percent of large employers thinking of offering some form of financial incentives to help people modify risk factors, he said it was important to see what really works.

“A lot of innovation is going on without a lot of evidence,” Kullgren said. “The trains have left the station, so we’re trying to be sure [programs] help people get where they need to be.”

His research follows on the heels of a study, presented last month at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in San Francisco, that showed those who got $20 a month for shedding four pounds — or had to pay $20 for not losing the weight — were more likely to reach weight-loss goals.

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