Weight Control at WeightControl.com

WeightControl: CalPoly Study Examines Factors Distinguishing Weight-Maintainers from Weight-Regainers

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Suzanne Phelan, PhD
Professor of Kinesiology & Public Health
Director, Center for Health Research
California Polytechnic State University

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Understanding the factors that promote long-term weight control is need to inform health interventions. We know that self-monitoring, physical activity, and cognitive restraint are associated with success in long-term weight control. The other behavioral, psychological, and environmental factors remain unclear, and very few studies have examined the factors related to long-term successful weight control in commercial weight management programs, which reach 10-15% of the US population.

Study Finds Almonds Can Be Included in Weight Control Program, with Potential Cardiac Benefits

The amount of weight loss achieved was the same for those who are almonds or an energy matched diet without nuts but those who ate almonds had additional benefits to cardiovascular disease risk factors.

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Prof. Alison M. Coates PhD
Allied Health & Human Performance
Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA)
University of South Australia
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Studies have indicated an inverse association between nut consumption and BMI, suggesting that nut consumption may have a protective effect against accumulation of adiposity. However, despite these findings, there has been a common perception that nut consumption will lead to increased body weight or impair weight loss when a person is trying to lose weight.

Nuts are a core food according to the Australian dietary guidelines and a rich source of good fats, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.
Therefore, this study aimed to contribute to the growing research surrounding nuts, specifically to evaluate whether the inclusion of 15% of dietary energy from almonds compared with carbohydrate-rich snacks in an otherwise nut-free diet would improve weight loss during 3 months of dietary energy restriction (~30% reduction) and limit weight regain during 6 months of weight maintenance.

UCI Irvine Study Finds Millions May Benefit from Reduced Cardiac Events With New Weight Control Drugs

While the drug is costly to obtain by some patients, the cost savings associated with fewer doctor and hospital visits due to obesity and obesity-related diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases (especially heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure) could be substantial.

WeightControl.com Interview with:

Nathan D. Wong, PhD, FACC, FAHA
Professor and Director
Heart Disease Prevention Program
Division of Cardiology, UC Irvine and
and UC Irvine and Radiology and Public Health at UC Irvine

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg given as an injection once weekly) has been shown in the previously reported STEP 1 trial to result in on average a 15% body weight loss in patients with overweight or obesity. It also beneficially improves other cardiovascular risk factors including blood pressure and cholesterol levels. We applied the eligibility and findings of the STEP 1 trial to the US population-representative National Health and Nutrition Examination survey and estimated that 93 million US adults with overweight or obesity would be potentially eligible for the drug based on the STEP 1 eligibility criteria.

UCLA Study Finds Neighborhood Disadvantage Shapes Brain and Body Mass

We hope our study brings a greater appreciation for how neighborhoods shape us and impact our health.

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Arpana Gupta, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Co-Director: Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center at UCLA
Director: Neuroimaging Core
G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience
Ingestive Behavior and Obesity Program
UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases
David Geffen School of Medicine
UCLA Los Angeles, CA

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Neighborhood characteristics, such as crowding, number of households in poverty, and rate of unemployment, have an effect on health, including brain health, beyond one’s individual income/education level.

Our study adds to this evidence by showing an effect of neighborhood disadvantage on an important brain feature, cortical microsctructure, which impacts brain communication and information processing.

Further, we found that some of the effect, particularly in brain areas involved in emotion, reward, and cognitive functions, was related to increased body mass index in poorer quality neighborhoods.

Penn Researchers Identify Brain Circuits That Increase Risk for Obesity

These findings underscore that some individual’s brains can be fundamentally different in regions that increase the risk for obesity.

WeightControl.com Interview with:

Casey H. Halpern, MD
Division Head, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
University of Pennsylvania

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: The dorsolateral hippocampus (dlHPC) is located in the region of the brain that processes memory, and the lateral hypothalamus (LH) is in the region of the brain that is responsible for keeping the body in a stable state, called homeostasis. Previous research has found an association with loss of function in the human hippocampus in individuals with obesity and related disordered eating, like BED. However, outside of imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the role of the hippocampus has been difficult to study in humans with obesity and related eating disorders.

Even Small Reductions in Weight Can Reduce Obesity-Related Chronic Diseases

Given the health benefits of clinically meaningful weight reduction at any level of excess weight, 5% or greater weight loss can be a reasonable target for obesity management efforts.

WeightControl.com Interview with:

Dr. Lyudmyla Kompaniyets, PhD
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Overweight and obesity affect more than 70% of US adults and are risk factors for other chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many cancers. This is one of the only papers to assess the probability of a 5% weight loss or reducing BMI to healthy weight among US adults with overweight and obesity.

This study focused on the probability of weight loss in a healthcare seeking population with overweight or obesity regardless of any individual’s intention to lose weight.

Heart Benefits of Wegovy (semaglutide) Extend Beyond Weight Loss

This trial found that among the participants taking Wegovy the incidence of MACE was 20% lower than those with usual care.

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Shauna Levy MD, MS, FACS. FASMBS, DABOM
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Division of Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery
Director of Bariatric Surgery
American Board of Obesity Medicine, Diplomate
Instagram @tulane_bariatric_center
Tulaneweightloss.com

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: The SELECT trial evaluated over 17,000 patients with a history of overweight or obesity and cardiovascular disease. They randomized patients to usual care versus Wegovy (semaglutide), which is an anti-obesity medication. It is important to note that none of the participants had diabetes.

They evaluated the incidence of Major Adverse Cardiaovascular Events (MACE) for up to 5 years for all participants.

Intermittent Fasting Without Counting Calories for Weight Loss

We found that participants who engaged in time-restricted eating ate 425 fewer calories per day than the control group and lost about 10 more pounds than the control group after one year

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Krista Varady, PhD
Professor, Kinesiology and Nutrition
University of Illinois, Chicago

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Obesity is a major health issue. Many traditional weight loss diets involve counting calories, which can be cumbersome and difficult to do well. Time-restricted eating, without calorie counting, has become a popular weight loss strategy because it is simple to do. Whether it’s effective in producing weight loss, especially beyond the short term, is unclear.

Are Commercially-Available Wearables Effective for Weight Control?

WeightControl.com Interview with:
DJ McDonough, M.S.
Doctoral Dissertation Fellow
Ph.D. Candidate/Research Assistant
Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory
University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: This study used network meta-analysis to perform a pooled analysis on 31 randomized controlled trials examining what are the most effective intervention strategies for using commercially-available wearable fitness trackers (e.g., Fitbit, Apple Watch) or research-grade fitness trackers (e.g., pedometers, accelerometers) to promote weight loss and/or BMI reduction in those with overweight/obesity, including those with weight-associated chronic illnesses.

Forever Chemicals During Pregnancy May Raise Risk of Childhood Obesity: Steps to Limit Exposure to PFAS

WeightControl.com Interview with:
Yun (Jamie) Liu
Department of Epidemiology
Brown University School of Public Health
Providence, Rhode Island,

WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in the U.S., and can continue into adulthood, increasing the risks of developing cardiometabolic diseases, musculoskeletal disorders, and cancers. While a lack of physical activity and an unhealthy diet do not fully explain the genesis and trends of the obesity epidemic, some research suggests that fetal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), may predispose children to a higher risk of obesity. Studies on this topic have been quite limited.