1 food that is proven to help lose weight

You might be thinking about what food this could be. Is this a fruit, a herbal tea, or is this a food that is available in your ordinary grocery?  I’m sure you will be surprised as I reveal this food. Actually, this is not a common organic fruit or vegetable, but a processed food. Yes! You read that right. A processed food which we all know—prunes.

Experts still do not advice eating processed food if you are trying to lose weight but the evidence and research show that prunes helped a lot in improving weight loss by emulating the feeling of of being full.

University of Liverpool had conducted a research with a sample of 100 overweight and obese low fiber consumers. The research lasted for a 12 week period.

They divided the participants in two groups. The first group will eat prunes (140g per day for women and 171g for men) while the second group will eat a food from a diet made by a professional nutritionist but will not include prunes.

The result of the research was surprising. The researchers found out that the group who ate prunes as part of their diet lost 2kg in weight and shed 2.5cm off their waist line while the group that was given advice on a healthy diet did only lose 1.5kg in weight and 1.7cm off their waist.

The research also shows that the prune eatering group has experienced greater weight loss during the last four weeks of the 12 week period research. In addition to that, the prune group also said that they experienced the feeling of being full which helped them lose weight faster.

The head of the Liverpool research team  said that, “These are the first data to demonstrate both weight loss and no negative side effects when consuming prunes as part of a weight management diet. Indeed in the long term they may be beneficial to dieters by tackling hunger and satisfying appetite; a major change when you are trying to maintain weight loss.”

Although processed food is known to be bad for our health, maybe it’s worth trying to include prunes to your weight loss diet.

New Prescription Drug combines an Antidepressant and Addiction Medication

What do you get when you combine an antidepressant with an addiction medication? Now, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not a Breaking Bad recipe—what you actually get is a safe, effective and Federal DrugAdministration (FDA) approved drug for losing weight.

Said drug is the combination of bupropion and naltrexone, an antidepressant and smoking cessation drug, and an alcohol and opiate dependence management drug respectively. Both drugs, aside from the basic medical purpose they serve, also have the side effect of weight loss. Bupropion, more specifically, does the opposite of what like drugs do (induce weight gain) and actually ably reduce a user’s weight by an average of 3kilograms in the span of 6 months to 1 year according to a 2013 study (Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD et al.).

The new medication that combines the two drugs has been tested with a 105% average difference in weight loss results versus regular commercial weight loss drugs. The 10-15 lb average weight loss that was projected by the latter was overwhelmed by prior’s 20-25 lb. average weight reduction count of a sample group who took the medication for a 56 week period.

Before said capsule can be release though, it shall first undergo more test as there has been observed side effects (albeit not a matter of immediate health risk) to ensure that the new drug is completely safe. As with the hindsight that Viagra has given, the FDA is thoroughly testing the drug for potential long term cardiovascular complications or side effects. The thesis is that the target of said drug will be an obese population thus the need to see if intake will react to obesity related complications such as heart disease, depression, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and erectile dysfunction to name a few.

Today, the best option for long term weight loss is still bariatric surgery as it not only promotes long term if not permanent weight loss, it also reduces or eliminates chronic conditions and may also increase life span according to The Loyola  Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Clinic Director Bipan Chand, MD, FACS, FASMBS, FASGE.

With the world starting to have a greater population than obese individuals versus hungry ones, a drug such as the one described above is a good solution since bariatric surgery tends to be expensive but the world has to weight for the new found innovation.