Weight Loss

Great insights have been gathered recently into the genetic drivers underpinning obesity, but little has focused on genes related to thinness. A new study has identified one gene that seems to play a role in promoting thinness in humans and animals.

Losing unwanted pounds can be difficult, particularly if your body "thinks" you should weigh a certain minimum amount. According to a new study, however, it may be possible to trick your body's weight-maintenance system by wearing a heavy vest.

A meta-study has reviewed over 50 trials from the last 20 years testing herbal medicines for weight loss, revealing herbal supplements are largely ineffective in aiding weight loss, and one researcher on the project says they are a “waste of money.”

A new review article has examined an array of current research on intermittent fasting, from animal studies to human clinical trials, clarifying different regimes while outlining a variety of health benefits the eating strategies can confer in humans.

A new trial looks at the health and weight loss effects of only eating across a 12-hour period every two days.

Scientists from Taiwan are suggesting not all exercise is equal when it comes to those with a genetic propensity for obesity trying to lose weight. The study concluded jogging was better for weight loss than either swimming or cycling in those subjects with a genetic predisposition for obesity.

Does weight loss inherently result in the slowing down of a person’s metabolism? New research suggests we have evolved an anti-starvation mechanism that slows our metabolism and ironically is triggered by modern weight loss methods.

Researchers are reporting mixed results from the first human trial investigating the effects of fecal transplantation in obese patients. Initial reports suggest the treatment failed to induce weight loss or changes in a key satiety hormone.

​For several years now, obese people have been able to lose weight by swallowing capsules that inflate within the stomach, providing a sense of fullness. While such capsules have had to be inflated via a catheter fed down the throat, scientists have now created one that's activated magnetically.

​A study has homed in on a number of specific variants in a single gene that can help people either lose or gain weight. The research revealed that some naturally-occurring variants can offer protection against obesity, and may lead to new weight-loss drugs that mimic this genetic variation.​

​​Anxiety and fat-burning may seem technically unrelated so far as bodily functions go, but scientists have found a certain molecule that appears to connect one with the other and believe that this shared mechanism may open up new pathways for drug development.

A remarkable new implantable device developed by engineers at University of Wisconsin–Madison promises a new way to battle obesity. By gently stimulating a nerve that links the stomach to the brain, the device tricks your brain into thinking you're full.