Human PYY and Obesity -- Now Keep on Chewing Gum to Lose Weight Effectively

Diet and exercise may be the most common prescription for losing weight, but a team of US scientists believes they're close to delivering a gum that can help users fight the battle of the bulge one chew at a time.

Now Keep on Chewing Gum to Lose Weight Effectively

The key to the gum’s formulation is a hormone called human PYY that regulates appetite and energy and is released into the bloodstream when people eat or exercise, say researchers out of Syracuse University in an announcement made November 21.

Studies have shown that obese people have lower concentrations of PYY in their bloodstream compared to their non-obese counterparts. When given PYY intravenously, however, the hormone acted as an appetite suppressant in obese and non-obese volunteers as both groups consumed less calories.

The hard part? Delivering the hormone so that it can travel through the digestive system unharmed and allow it to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Lead researcher Robert Doyle believes the answer lies in vitamin B12. It would be the second time Doyle developed the vitamin to act as a carrier for a hormone. Several years ago, he created an oral delivery system for insulin that was masked under vitamin B12. Early tests accomplished the same task for PYY. Results of the study were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry earlier this month.

"Phase one of this study was to show that we could deliver a clinically relevant amount of PYY into the bloodstream," Doyle said in a statement. "We did that, and we are very excited by the results."

Like nicotine-laced gums which are used to help people stop smoking, PYY-laced gums and oral pills would be a natural way to help people lose weight, Doyle said.

About four hours after chewing the gum, the PYY supplement would begin to kick in and decrease appetites as users approach their next meal.

Meanwhile, a story published last week on WebMD.com also highlighted the benefits of chewing gum sweetened with xylitol, also known as birch sugar.

While some dentists recommend chewing the gum to prevent cavities, scientists have also found that xylitol-sweetened gum could help prevent painful middle ear infections common in children because of its bacteria-fighting properties.

Roller-Shaper: Get Trimmed Without Heavy Workout in the Gyms (Must See Video)

A lot of people are continuously looking for a way to lose weight without having to really exercise or workout, and the Roll-Shaper may be another option that gets the plump to the gym more effectively than a treadmill does.

Roller-Shaper: Get Trimmed Without Heavy Workout in the Gyms

Roller-Shaper, the rotating body massager is large enough to press your back, thighs, butt and belly and it comes with instructions for several “workouts” that involve holding different positions against the mechanical roller. 

Although the weight loss claim may be a little contentious, the manufacturers emphasize that the Roll-Shaper has great results for lymphatic drainage and ultimately for overall health. The image of a room full of Roll-Shapers rather than cross-trainers may remain surprising for some, but so long as users see some physiological result, this may be worth a try. 

Just watch out the Roller-Shaper machine in action here in the video clip.

Few Easy Meditation Steps Before Eating Meals Lead You to Loss of Excess Weight - - New Study at Carnegie Mellon University

A cutback in caloric intake is the primary requirement of weight loss, which is possible to be realized by merely practicing some meditation before eating meals, a new study suggests which was led by Dr. Carey Morewedge from Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University.

The study demonstrates people be inclined to eat less of a food if they imagined the eating process frequently before they actually ate the food. And the study found the more food a person "ate" in his imagination, the less food subsequently he would eat.

In the study, according to what Dr. Morewedge told NPR Science Friday radio program, study participants were told to imagine the process of eating M&M, including moving the candies into a bowl, and then asked to eat the real food. Those who imagined eating 30 M&M ate much less real M&M than those who imagined eating only 3 M&M.

Dr. Morewedge further added that simply imagining moving the food did not help.

He said you also need to imagine eating what you are going to eat to reduce the consumption of the food. The study showed when participants imagined they were eating M&M, and then when they were assigned to eat cheese cubes, no matter how many M&M they ate in their imagination, they ate the same amount of cheese.

What works behind this trick is a process called habituation, according to Dr. Morewedge. According to this theory, people are less responsive to what they got habituated to. In the study case, after the participants imagined they ate lots of cheese cubes, they felt less urged to eat the food and they ate less of the food as a result.

But Dr. Morewedge told NPR that this imagination method does not work for other habits like smoking, which involves a more complex mechanism and imagining smoking could actually boost a smoker's craving for smokes and the smoker could actually smoke more.

Dr. Morewedge used cheese and M&M for the study. It is unknown whether this method would help people cut their consumption of a real meal which consists of multiple foods. Should the diners, like people going to have some Chinese buffet, imagine all the foods they are going to eat to reduce the consumption of the variety of real foods? Or would this method work at all in this case?

The study was published in a recent issue of Science, a prestigious scientific journal.

In China, two idioms describe two pitiful situations in which people don't have water to drink to quench their thirst and don't have food to eat to satisfy their hunger. In these situation as the idioms suggest, people may "look at prune to quench your thirst" and "draw a cake to satisfy your hunger".

Follow The Diet Plan That Don't Stop You Eating - - Holiday Season May Hurt Your Weight Loss Plans

Researchers discovered the ideal food consumption promoting weight maintenance involves eating lean meats, low-fat dairy, and beans. Also, consuming less foods with a high glycemic index (GI), usually simple carbohydrates, like white bread or refined starches. Following this diet plan allows individuals to eat until satisfied, without gaining additional weight.

The study found adults who lost a significant amount of their body weight (at least 8 percent) were able to maintain and continue weight loss based on desired goal when following this diet.

Research was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM.

Foods with a high glycemic index are digested quickly and essentially spikes blood sugar levels upon consumption. Foods with a lower GI are digested slowly, allowing blood glucose to enter the bloodstream more regularly.

For this study, 938 overweight adults from 772 families completed a weight loss program for eight weeks. Calorie intake was limited to 800 kcals/day and the average weight loss was 24 lbs.

After the eight week weight loss period, adults were randomly assigned a new maintenance diet for the following six months.

Data showed the worst diet for maintaining weight loss to be a low-protein and high glycemic index diet. The best diet for maintaining weight loss was high protein and low glycemic index.

This study shows increasing protein while reducing consumption of foods with a high glycemic index will typically result in successful weight loss and weight maintenance following significant weight loss.

Weight Loss in a Natural Way - - Five Easy Tips to Lose Belly Fat Faster and Easier

Five Easy Tips to Lose Belly Fat Faster and Easier:


Weight loss is not only about losing pounds but it is also about burning fat. Actually burning fat is sometimes more important than losing weight because fat is a major cause for many other health problems (diabetes, high cholesterol etc). When you manage to burn fat you will certainly look and feel much better since fat burning is not an easy process and the satisfaction you will gain is great. Below you can read the most important tips on how to lose belly fat in a fast and yet healthy manner.

1. Small meals Vs 3 main meals

Whenever you want to lose calories or fat fast it is recommended to eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day instead of the classic 3 main meals. This is because by eating small meals every couple of hours you force your body spend more energy to digest the food and thus losing calories. As a result your metabolism is also increased and the whole process becomes easier. In addition frequent meals stabilize the insulin levels which in turn enable faster muscle growth.

2. Regular exercise

When it comes to losing belly fat you should understand that exercise plays a prominent role. It is not exactly the same case as with weight loss. When you want to lose weight you can achieve good results through your diet alone but when it comes to losing belly fat a balanced diet can mainly help you stop the fat problem from becoming worse. The only solid way to actually start losing belly fat (and fat in general) is through exercise. Regular exercise sessions (30 minutes) at least 5 times per week can actually produce good results. If you want not to get bored easily find a form of exercise that you like and enjoy doing. There is no reason to perform difficult exercises that will eventually make you de-motivated. It is better to start slow and gradually than fast and quit.

3. Learn how to drink water

The importance of water in losing weight is very well known. What many people do not understand is how to utilize water to lose weight and fat. When we say drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day we do not mean to drink this amount at once or in a very short amount of time. If you do that the only thing you will achieve is to make regular visits to the toilet. Instead you should try and spread this throughout the day. You can start with one glass of water in the morning, as soon as you wake up. Then one glass after 2-3 hours, one more glass with your launch and the rest 4 glasses before, during and after your dinner. By following this pattern you will keep your stomach busy all the time and hunger away. If you want you can even create reminders in your mobile to alert you when its time for your glass of water.

4. Soft drinks, juices, caffeine is not water

One more point to note about water is the following. Many people believe that by drinking fresh juices, soft drinks and coffee, they drink water. This is far from truth. Some of the drinks described above, like coffee, create the opposite effects than water. In particular caffeine products are diuretic and they help the excretion of water from the body. Too much consumption of these drinks can cause dehydration.

5. Sleep, rest and confidence

Trying to lose belly fat can sometimes make you tired, both mentally and physically. You have to overcome a lot of obstacles and deny a lot of temptations to get the results you want in the time frame you want. For this reason you need to work on 3 areas that may not be directly related to weight loss but they can indirectly help you to meet your goals. These have to do with rest, sleep and confidence. It is important that you rest enough hours per day, sleep at least 8 hours and never give up your optimism. There is no need to say more about this other that you have to consider these factors are part of your weight loss efforts.

Magnetic Weight Loss Toe Rings - - Based on the Ancient Chinese Art of Toe Watching

Attach these Magnetic Weight Loss Toe Rings to your big toes and watch amazed as the weight drops off. Apparently. Based on the ancient Chinese art of Toe Watching or something. $1.67 a pair.

  Lose weight without exercise 

# Based on ancient Chinese medicine, these rings stimulate the acupressure points on your big toe (and, for extra benefit, the second toe), thus curbing your appetite in a safe and natural way 

# Made from soft & non-allergenic silicone materials 

# Two powerful magnets on each ring provides a magnetic field of 1100 gauss to stimulate acupoints in your feet

'Organic' Label on Snacks - - A Source of Enticing for Overeating??

Organic labels on snacks appear to make people think that they have a lot less calories than they actually do, a study suggests.

The study showed that people, who ate cookies labelled as 'organic', believed that their snack contained 40 percent fewer calories than the same cookies that had no label, says Jenny Wan-Chen Lee, graduate student at Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

'An organic label gives a food a 'health halo,' said co-author Brian Wansink, Cornell University professor and author of the book, 'Marketing Nutrition'.

'It's the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that's labelled as healthy or low fat. They underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more,' said Wansink.

The study even identified two personality types most likely to make these low estimates -- people who claim to 'usually buy organic foods,' and those who typically read labels for nutritional information.

"Go organic, live healthy, live green"

What if you don't want to overeat an organic food?

'Take your best guess at its calorie count. Then double it. You'll end up being more accurate, and you'll probably eat a lot less,' explained Wansink, according to Cornell University release.

These findings were presented at this week's Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, California.