How to tackle emotional eating

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Many people treat themselves with their favourite chocolate bars, or ice cream after returning home from a hard day at work, completely ignoring the fact that they are on a diet. The long-term success of their efforts is therefore sabotaged by their own hand, and very few weight-loss programs address this problem.

A new study shows that the key issue is providing people who usually eat to calm their emotions with other means of calming themselves, and getting a grip on how they feel, other than food.

Given that most of those who are on a diet don”t even know they have this problem, coping with emotions is done automatically when the need arises, through indulging in foods that are forbidden during diet.

Researchers at the Temple University Center for Obesity Research are currently trying to find the answers to these problems. They believe that progress in this area could allow for more people to succeed in losing unwanted weight.

The new treatment incorporates skills that directly address the emotional eating, and essentially adds those skills to a state-of-the art behavioural weight loss treatment.

“The problem that we”re trying to address is that the success rates for long-term weight loss are not as good as we would like them to be,” said Edie Goldbacher, a postdoctoral fellow at CORE.

“Emotional eating may be one reason why people don”t do as well in behavioral weight loss groups, because these groups don”t address emotional eating or any of its contributing factors,” Goldbacher added. (ANI)

How some people maintain weight loss, others don’t

Washington, Sep 16 (ANI): Ever wondered how some people successfully maintain a significant weight loss, while others tend to regain the weight? Well, researchers at The Miriam Hospital attribute such tendencies to a difference in brain activity patterns.

The researchers showed that when individuals who had kept the weight off for several years were shown pictures of food, they were more likely to engage the areas of the brain associated with behavioural control and visual attention, as compared to obese and normal weight participants.

The findings of the study suggest that successful weight loss maintainers may learn to respond differently to food cues.

“Our findings shed some light on the biological factors that may contribute to weight loss maintenance. They also provide an intriguing complement to previous behavioral studies that suggest people who have maintained a long-term weight loss monitor their food intake closely and exhibit restraint in their food choices,” said lead author Dr. Jeanne McCaffery.

Long-term weight loss maintenance continues to be a major problem in obesity treatment.

Participants in behavioural weight loss programs lose an average of 8 to 10 percent of their weight during the first six months of treatment, and will maintain approximately two-thirds of their weight loss after one year.

However, despite intensive efforts, weight regain appears to continue for the next several years, with most patients returning to their baseline weight after five years.

The researchers used functional magnetic resource imaging (fMRI) to study the brain activity of three groups- 18 individuals of normal weight, 16 obese individuals (defined as a body mass index of at least 30), and 17 participants who have lost at least 30 lbs and have successfully maintained that weight loss for a minimum of three years.

When the participants were shown pictures of food items after a four-hour fast, it was found that those in the successful weight loss maintenance group responded differently to these pictures compared to the other groups.

Specifically, researchers observed strong signals in the left superior frontal region and right middle temporal region of the brain – a pattern consistent with greater inhibitory control in response to food images and greater visual attention to food cues.

“It is possible that these brain responses may lead to preventive or corrective behaviors – particularly greater regulation of eating – that promote long-term weight control. However, future research is needed to determine whether these responses are inherent within an individual or if they can be changed,” said McCaffery.

The study has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (ANI)

Power Plate exercise may help fight the flab

Washington, May 12 (ANI): Using Power Plate – a vibrating exercise machine, and consuming a healthy diet may help people lose weight and trim harmful belly fat, according to a new study.

In the study, researchers at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, found that overweight or obese people who regularly undertook Power Plate exercise were more successful at long-term weight loss and shedding visceral or belly fat than those who combined dieting with a more conventional fitness routine and those who simply dieted.

The study was carried out over a six-month period, after which subjects returned to their daily lives and reported back for retesting at 12 months.

In terms of weight loss, the Power Plate group lost 11 percent of their body weight and maintained a 10.5 percent loss.

The diet and conventional fitness group lost 7 percent and maintained a 6.9 percent loss.

The diet only group lost 6 percent, and maintained less than 5 percent loss

Even more promising was the reduction of visceral fat. The Power Plate group lost 47.8 sq. cm. (18.8 in.), and maintained a loss of 47.7 sq. cm (18.7 in.) he diet and conventional fitness group lost only 17.6 sq. cm. (6.93 in.), and maintained only a 1.6 sq. cm (.63 in) loss.

The diet only group lost 24.3 sq. cm. (9.57 in.) and maintained only 7.5 sq. cm. (2.95 in.) loss.

The new research has been presented at the 17th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). (ANI)