Researchers have proven the effectiveness of a new slimming program that targets internal signals of hunger and the ability to resist food.
- A program that targets the instinctive desire to eat has been shown to be effective for weight loss
- In the United States, approximately 74% of adults live with overweight or obesity
Not dieting but practicing using natural cues to know when to eat rather than focusing on calories, building tolerance to cravings and curbing cravings for appetizing foods out of gluttony…that’s what the weight loss program is all about. “Regulation of Signals” weight test by a team of researchers led by experts from the University of California San Diego and whose results are published in an issue of the JAMA Network Open.
Food signals
This program has been shown to be effective for people who find it hard to resist hunger or who never feel full. Indeed, people who are very sensitive to food have lost more weight and, above all, have been more successful in not gaining back the lost pounds.
“There are individuals who are very reactive to food cues. That is, they can’t resist food and/or can’t stop thinking about food. Behavioral weight loss techniques are not sufficient for these people, so we designed an alternative approach to address this clinical need.said first author Kerri N. Boutelle, PhD, a UC San Diego professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Sciences and the medical school’s Department of Pediatrics.
271 adults
The clinical trial consisted of monitoring over a period of 12 months, 271 adults aged 18 to 65 who participated in 26 group treatments. They were asked to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity per week.
The researchers compared their program to another behavioral weight loss program, a control group, and a cohort that combined “Signal Regulation” and the behavioral program.
Weight loss was comparable after 24 months among people participating in both their program and the behavioral weight loss program.
However, participants in the “Signal Regulation” group stabilized and maintained their weight, while participants in the other groups regained weight at mid-treatment, when clinical visits were reduced to a monthly frequency.
Personalized medicine
“Our results suggest that the appetite mechanisms targeted by this program may be particularly important for weight loss in people who have difficulty resisting food and could be used in a personalized medicine approach.“, said Mr. Boutelle.
This is because appetizing foods – usually foods that contain high amounts of sugar or fat, plus salt and flavorings – stimulate the reward system in the brain and can be particularly difficult to resist.
Overweight and obesity are risk factors for heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers, all of which are among the leading causes of preventable death.
