We all know that when we consume more than we burn, we gain weight. The key lies in the fact that we have to burn that extra fat to lose weight. Researchers have found a new method to trick the body into consuming more energy. This can be done with the help of an enzyme known "energy master switch." This is an enzyme known as Fyn kinase. This enzyme inhibits burning more fat.

Claire Bastie of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Neuroscience and her team showed that mice lacking Fyn kinase altogether burn more fatty acids and expend more energy to become leaner. They also showed other metabolic improvements, including increased insulin sensitivity. Those effects were the effect of higher levels of the master energy switch AMPK in their fat and muscle tissue.

Those findings can help in developing a new kind of weight loss drug. Now, the researchers are lobbying around the idea by showing that chemical inhibition of Fyn kinase with an experimental drug known only as SU6656 does have significant metabolic benefits for mice. Ultimately, the animals seem to be extremely fit because it lose fat and keep the lean. The researchers explained how the Fyn kinase works. It acts on another component of the energy pathway, which leads to a change in AMPK levels.

Bastie said that SU6656 itself isn’t a model drug candidate for clinical trials in humans. Because Fyn kinase and AMPK both have effect the brain as well as fat and muscle. Scientists should have to find out a new drug that doesn’t have these undesirable side effects. Bastie said, "Our next goal is to design something extremely specific to muscle and adipose."

She said she wants to figure out what are the functions of Fyn kinase and AMPK in the brain. She thinks they may play some role in appetite control. She also wants to find out what usually controls Fyn kinase levels.

It is amazing to find that dietary patterns can highly influence your body weight. Though there are a lot of studies going on in analyzing the fruit & vegetable consumption in relation to weight gain, there is not sufficient testimony to validate its effectiveness. Eating generous amounts of fruits and vegetables is a part of Mediterranean diet. Thus a research group from Spain studied the dietary pattern of the adult Mediterranean population over a 10-year period to testify if Mediterranean diet can reduce the long-term risk of gaining subsequent weight.

The research team from the Department of Public Health, Science History and Gynaecology of the “Miguel Hernández” University Elche-Alicante, Spain undertook this study. The scientists involved in this study were J Vioque, T Weinbrenner, A Castelló, L Asensio and M Garcia de la Hera.

The study involved a 10-year follow up with 206 healthy partakers in an age group of 15-80 years that participated in a nutritional survey in Valencia, Spain. These participants were surveyed for information regarding their diet, lifestyle, and bodyweight in the year 1994 and 2004. Using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), when data was obtained in 1994 and subsequently in 2004, the comparison revealed that there was an average weight gain of 3.41 kg.

Unfortunately this study was not extensive enough to include separate analyses on men and women. There are studies available that reveal how food intake influences weight in men and women differently.

The conclusion of this study showed that with a generous intake of fruit and vegetables in diets over a period of 10years, the adults of Spanish Mediterranean population could lower the risk of weight gain.

This prompts researches to promote inclusion of vast amounts of fruits and vegetables as part of dietary strategies.

In a recent publication of the journal Nutrition the results of one of the studies related to effects of eating less were published. The clinical study concludes that restriction in caloric consumption is beneficial to obese mice only. When the same restriction was applied on leaner mice the effects are negative rather than positive. Raj Sohal, a professor at the School of Pharmacy at University of Southern California, carried out the research along with Michael Forster, of the University of North Texas Health Science Center.

The popular anti-aging strategy i.e. caloric restriction was termed as pointless, frustrating and sometimes dangerous exercise for lean mice and thus for lean humans too.

"Today there are a lot of very healthy people who look like skeletons because they bought into this," said Sohal.

The study considered the caloric consumption and lifespan of twp genetically different strains of mice, C57BL/6, the ‘fat’ strain and DBA/2 the lean ‘strain’. The fat strain that genetically had the ability to double its weight during its adult lifespan did get the benefit of caloric consumption while in the lean strain group nothing like this emerged.

"Our study questions the paradigm that caloric restriction is universally beneficial," Sohal said. "Contrary to what is widely believed, caloric restriction does not extend (the) life span of all strains of mice."

Sohal and other researchers drew a simple but apparently deceptive conclusion where they noted the caloric restriction to be useful in case of only those animals where they ate more than they could burn. The metabolic rate study indicated that in obese animals this was the case always.

"Your energy expenditure and your energy intake should be in balance," Sohal said. "It’s as simple as that. And how do you know that? By gain or loss of weight.

"The whole thing is very commonsensical."

The researchers strongly caution the people with the normal weight against caloric restrictions. On the other hand they strongly recommend that it is better for the obese to cut on calories than to consume those calories and restore to aggressive exercise to burn off those calories.

No industry is currently as flourishing as the weight loss industry. Considering the overweight epidemic which is engulfing most part of the world, there is a significant level of competition in supplement market to produce effective supplements that will prove useful in losing excess weight. But not all of these supplement products are definitely beneficial, that is why a careful analysis is required before purchasing any such products. Latest in the list of supplements is EVOXIN, a product that claims to use extracts of Green Tea, Carnitine, and Acetyl L Carnitine – all natural ingredients thus unlikely to have any side effects.

Let us attempt to analyze the effectiveness of the ingredients of EVOXIN

Three main ingredients of EVOXIN are Green Tea, Carnitine, and Acetyl L Carnitine. Though these elements appear to be capable of aiding in weight loss research, there has been no medical evidence of these extracts being especially beneficial for weight loss. L Carnitine, though believed to be helpful in turning body fat to energy, there are no clinical trials to support its effectiveness as we have it in the case of Advantra-Z, that is proved medically to boost fat burning and metabolic function.

Green Tea, on the other hand, has show moderate capabilities in burning fat but its capabilities are far too less when compared with other extracts like Yerba Mate. The reason why Green Tea is used in all weight loss formulas is it’s cheaper compared to other capable extracts. Besides, Green Tea contains caffeine, which psychologically makes us think that we are burning fat even if we actually aren’t.

Green Tea, though may be helpful in burning fat a bit more than usual, it is not capable of managing two crucial aspects – cravings and hunger. Unfortunately, most of the diet supplements fail for want of controlling these two lifestyle aspects. However Hoodia, another product made from herbal extract, has shown evidence of how it benefits in controlling hunger and craving by imitating glucose in the blood stream. This is a mechanism through which brain is indicated of satiation, whether you eat or don’t.

All these thinks boil down to one fact that before choosing a supplement you should be aware of the pros and cons. Since most of the supplements are expensive, its better that you do a thorough analysis of the product before you invest in it.

Weight loss, if it is sudden, may not be a good sign at all according to researchers from Saint Louis University who were involved with the drafting of guidelines for a condition known as “cachexia”.

Excessive weight shedding is a common symptom in the people with and underlying disease, which may even lead to the death of the individual suffering from it.

John Morley, M.D working as an endocrinologist and director of the division of geriatric medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine said, “In sick people, weight loss is an important indicator of disease and potentially impending death,” and adds, “Cachexia is an extraordinary problem for people who are having other health problems, yet this is something that many physicians don’t pay attention to.”

There was an immediate need to define cachexia as it would provide physicians with initial guidelines to help in proper diagnosis and treatment of the underlying diseases. The diseases that may result in excessive weight loss are cancer, congestive heart failure, HIV, diabetes, kidney failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). December edition of the medical journal, Clinical Nutrition carried the agreed definition of cachexia by a group of researchers and the scientists.

"The definition is important because it gives physicians the guidelines to make a diagnosis and treat the condition," Morley said. "A definition of cachexia also makes it easier for scientists to conduct research and potentially develop new therapies for the problem."

The researchers always associated cachexia with an underlying disease and established that it was something different from starvation or occurrence of weight loss with aging, depression, thyroid problem, or because of body’s inability to absorb nutrients. It was rater described as a complex metabolic function that often results in anorexia, inflammation, insulin resistance and increased muscle protein breakdown.

"Cachexia should be seen as a wasting disease that requires specialized treatment from a physician who is familiar with the problem," Morley said.

According to some estimates around 50% adults that need hospitalization and between 10 to 15% of the sick patients that go for clinical checkups, do suffer from cachexia.

The adults that have cachexia tend to loose weight while suffering children do not grow normally and have a restricted growth. The problem leads to a loss of muscle mass and also of healthy fats. For the people who find it difficult to loose weight, a sudden weight loss may be indicative of a big problem as per Morley. They may have some underlying problem that may make them sicker with the time lapse.

Weight loss due to behavioral changes may bring out yet another change in obese women! It may lead to a reduction in the frequency of incontinence episodes in them. One of the latest studies carried out at University of California, San Francisco claims the reduction. The study was published in the January 29, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The subjects of the study who were participants of Program to Reduce Incontinence by Diet and Exercise (PRIDE) reported experiencing both substantial weight loss as well as reduction in their urinary incontinence episodes.

"Earlier research has shown that behavioral weight-loss programs have many benefits, including decreasing blood pressure and helping to fight off diabetes. Here we’ve shown that weight loss has measureable impact on reduced incontinence," noted the co author of the study, Frank Franklin, M.D., Ph.D., a UAB professor.

Lead author of the study, Leslee L. Subak, opined that the obese women seeking treatment for the incontinence problem must include a weight loss program as the first line of defense.  Subak said. “Our results suggest that a decrease in urinary incontinence can now be added to the extensive list of health benefits associated with weight loss.”

The strong relationship between urinary incontinence and obesity had been well established by many previous studies. According to one estimate in United States alone more that $ 20 Million is spent annually on health care costs for treatment of urinary incontinence by more than 13 million women suffering from the problem. The high figures impelled PRIDE team to find out evidence of the link between the two and positive effects of weight loss on incontinence problem.

“Improvement in urinary incontinence may be an additional way to motivate overweight women to make healthy lifestyle choices, such as weight loss and increased physical activity, impacting public health as well as an individual’s health and quality of life,” Subak said.

Biodesign Institute, Colleagues of Mayo Clinic (Arizona), and the University of Arizona collaborated with each other and came up with a nerve-racking link between microbial composition of the human gut and morbid obesity.

The research involved analyzing three varied groups: one group with individuals having an acceptable weight; the other group was those individuals who underwent bypass surgery; and the last group comprised individuals who were morbidly obese.

Dr. John DiBaise, a gastroenterologist from Mayo Clinic (Arizona), developed a greater fascination to analyze the underlying mechanisms of obesity and its conceivable alternatives to treat obesity without gastric surgery, for gastric surgery being the only long-term treatment by far available for treating morbid obesity.

To carry out his research in the right direction, Dr. DiBaise demanded the expertise of Bruce Rittmann (Ph.D, environmental engineer and a member of National Academy of Engineering) to examine microbial populations – an important consideration for cleaning up pollutants and generating renewable bioenergy. Bruce, in turn, employed Rosa Krajmalnik-Brown (Assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering) to share her expertise on microbial ecology and help them with this project. Then all the three researchers influenced seed funding from Mayo Clinic and ASU in order to combine their talent and reach at a conclusive study on this project.

DiBiase invited 9 middle-aged volunteers to participate in this study and divided them into three groups – one with normal weight; the other with bypass surgery undergone; and the last group with morbid obesity.

The hypothesis concluded by the research team is that the differing microbial populations in the gut facilitate the body in yielding greater energy, thus making people more vulnerable to developing obesity. Though these differing microbial populations are at a surface level negligible, they can however cause maximum damage over a period of time in terms of influencing body weight. This theory of these researchers is further supported when the participants were analyzed for the microbial populations – the result revealed that obese patients showed their microbial composition to be considerably altered in comparison to participants who were normal in weight and those who underwent bypass surgery.

To have a greater peep on the working of the microbial populations in the human gut and its associated links with obesity, visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119210437.htm

There has been enough evidence to indicate that obesity has a stronger association with blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) accepted a recent study for publication where researchers reveal how child obesity can alter the functions and structure of thyroid.

The relationship between obesity and thyroid has been quite controversial especially when researchers tried analyzing the correlation of obesity with deficient thyroid function. In the past there have been research analysis that confirm that thyroid disorder may lead to obesity and in this recent study, the revelation is that in some case obesity may be the cause for thyroid disorder.

According to Giorgio Radetti, who is the M.D. of the Regional Hospital of Bolzano, Italy, there is a possibility that excess fat has the capacity to influence modification of the thyroid tissue. Giorgio Radetti, who is also the lead author of this study, says “Our study shows that alterations in thyroid function and structure are common in obese children and we may have uncovered the link” and “We found an association between body mass index and thyroid hormone levels which suggests that fat excess may have a role in thyroid tissue modification."

This study examined 186 children who were obese or overweight for about 3 years. The thyroid hormones levels of these participants were measured along with thyroid antibodies. Additional a thyroid ultrasound was also performed on these subjects.

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is an autoimmune thyroid disease where the T-cells attack the cells of the thyroid and patients are diagnosed of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis if they test results confirm the presence of thyroid antibodies.  Surprisingly, out of 186 participants, 73 did not show the present of these antibodies but their ultrasound pattern was suggesting the possibility of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

While Dr. Radetti agrees that the results of ultrasound were a bit mysterious, he said, “However, the findings do suggest the existence of a low-grade inflammation state, which has been known to characterize obesity."

According to Dr. Radetti, more studies need to be carried out to analyze if thyroid abnormalities can lead to chronic thyroid disease in adulthood.

A most recent publication of the journal Nature Genetics carried a study in which authors claim to have found at least three new genetic variations that account for more than 50% cases of obesity in children. With the help of these new findings it would be possible to pinpoint the children who will have high probability to turn obese. Timely help from healthcare and medical professionals would help preventing the onslaught of obesity in such cases.

The study involved comparing Genes of obese adults with the genetic construction in obese children less than six years of age, as well as the genes of the people with normal weight. The results showed three new genes that were not identified till this date the presence of which indicated occurrence of severe obesity among individuals. The results also provide some answers to why only some of the individuals are obese and others are not despite similar diets or eating habits.

One of the genes that was located near the PTER gene showed a strong relationship with the childhood obesity. The researchers estimated the gene to be affecting one-third cases of childhood obesity and at around 20% of all obesity cases.

Second variant that was found to be affecting childhood obesity was located in NPC1 gene. The gene has been studied earlier for its role in controlling appetite. This variant accounted for around one-tenth cases of childhood obesity and about 14% of morbid obese adults.

Third variant was located around the MAF gene, which controls the production of the insulin and glucagons. The variant was found to be affecting 6% obese children and 16% morbid obese adults.

The researchers were suggesting further researches to study the impact of these new variants independent of each other. If they do act independent of each other then these variants account of around 50% of total obesity cases.

One of the researchers from the Department of Genomic Medicine at Imperial College London, Professor Philippe Froguel said "When young children become obese, their lives can be affected in a very negative way. Sadly, obese children are often unfairly stigmatised and they can suffer heart and lung problems, painful joints, diabetes and cancer as they grow up.

"Understanding the genetic basis of obesity is the first step towards helping these children. Once we identify the genes responsible, we can develop ways to screen children to find out who is most at risk of becoming obese. Hopefully we can then intervene with measures such as behavioural therapy, to make sure a child forms healthy eating habits and does not develop a weight problem," he added.

We are all familiar with the fact what happens to diet and weight loss when Halloween  and other festivals are approaching. However hard we try we can’t escape the delicious food and its aftereffects. We don’t want to be tagged as spoilsports by friends and relatives. But what will happen to carefully planned diet chart and weight loss program?

Quick weight loss expert Jayson Hunter has some suggestions for dieters and weight watchers. “The amount of candy that people consume is alarming”, Hunter was quoted as saying. “One of the main problems is the smaller ‘snack sizes’ that the candy manufacturers have made available. Eating several ‘mini’ chocolate bars is something people see as ‘ok’ for quick weight loss because of their smaller size.”

Quick weight loss expert Jayson Hunter  says that you should watch your portions of candy. Just because they seem small don’t mean that they are few in calories too. He is of the opinion that you should have just one candy in the morning and one in the night. Skip desserts from your diet.

If you don’t want your quick weight loss schedule going haywire, buy enough candy that will be exhausted in day.  These temptation pieces can play havoc with your diet.

To balance the effects of sweets and candy, exercise more. This will keep you in shape and your quick weight loss program will remain more or less unaffected.

If you were unsuccessful in keeping a tab on your diet during holidays, just forgive yourself and look forward to sticking to your weight loss program religiously in near future.

For details view source:  Four Quick Weight Loss Tip for Halloween