Category Archives: Lose Weight Fast

A recent study out of the Cleveland Clinic found that obesity robs us of more years of our lives than any other preventable health issue. That means that of all the top lifestyle-related killers that are in our power to modify or treat including smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol obesity shortens life the most.

That is bad news for the 13 million adults aged 65 and older who are obese, which is more than a third of that age group. While a few extra pounds on older adults are not a health issue and may even be beneficial, too much excess weight can contribute to a variety of health problems, including inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, joint problems and even cognitive impairment.

Additionally, obese older adults are admitted to the hospital and emergency room more than their non-obese counterparts.

The good news is that while obesity can lead to lost or unhealthy years, you have the power to get those years back. Even losing as little as 3 percent of your total body weight can make a difference if you maintain it.

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Over the past 30 years, we have seen hundreds of people revive their life and their health through learning or recommitting to making good choices regarding their weight, says Patricia Jurek, manager of the Henry Ford Center for Weight Management at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital near Detroit.

Who is considered obese?

Usually, people who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more are considered obese and those with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are overweight. Your BMI is an estimate of your body fat based on height and weight.

However, there are other factors to consider in addition to, or instead of, your BMI.

Defining obesity can be tricky for older adults. With age, older adults tend to lose muscle mass, which weighs more than fat. So, while your weight or BMI may not change, your body fat stores may increase as well as your risk for obesity-related diseases. On the other hand, older adults often lose inches in their height and may be classified as obese because their BMI has increased but their weight has stayed the same.

Patients at the Henry Ford Center for Health Management take the REEVUE breathing test. The test assesses your resting metabolic rate and creates a daily calorie goal to lose or maintain weight. Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, the Henry Ford Womens Heart Center and the Henry Ford Center for Athletic Medicine also offer Bod Pod analysis, which provides a medically accurate fat/muscle evaluation when you enter a small chamber for testing.

Why are many older adults obese?

Some adults have always had weight issues. Others find the number on the scale climbs as their metabolism and energy levels slow and their eating habits change or perhaps, unwisely, dont.

Lifestyle changes may be a factor as well. For example, if youre a widow or widower, you may not cook or visit the grocery store as frequently as in the past. Low energy levels and even a fear of falling may prevent some older adults from shopping regularly for fresh produce and healthy food.

Instead, they may stock up on unhealthy processed foods that have a longer shelf life or resort to fast-food options. Additionally, medications for other health issues, such as heart disease and high blood pressure, may cause weight gain.

Many people of all ages are getting away from cooking at home, which can lead to increased calorie intake, says Jurek. Create your own convenient meals and snacks. Keep a bowl of fruit out. Cook on the weekend and create freezer meals for the week. Look for ways to avoid processed or high-calorie, take-out food.

How to lose weight safely

Losing weight for older adults can be slightly more complicated that your basic eat less, exercise more formula. Seniors need to work with a doctor to determine a safe and effective weight loss plan. Additionally, a physician can review medications to see if any may cause weight gain. Some general guidelines to help older people lose weight effectively and safely include:

Cardiovascular exercise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week. If you havent exercised before or in a while, its important to start slowly. Its not necessary to strap on running shoes or grab a tennis racquet; walking or even gardening can be beneficial.

The best way to increase your energy is to increase your movement, says Jurek. It doesnt have to be a 5k. Go for a 10-minute walk.

Strength training. Its important to make sure that any weight-loss program includes strength training (at least twice a week, recommends the CDC) to prevent muscle loss. Again, no need to bench press dozens of pounds. Simple exercise bands or even lifting household items such as soup cans will have an effect.

Protein. Its essential for preserving and building muscles, and some research suggests that older adults need more protein than their younger counterparts. Try eating a serving of protein at every meal, including yogurt, eggs, nuts or beans.

Whole Foods. People often mistakenly believe carbohydrates are the enemy to healthy diets. But carbohydrates eaten as whole foods are a necessary part of a healthy diet, says Jurek. People need to eat more whole foods in their natural state, whether its fresh, frozen or canned with lower sodium amounts, she advises. That provides food with higher water and fiber content and less calories per bite.

The issue with carbohydrates is processed carbohydrates; its the difference between having a potato and potato chips, or an apple or an apple muffin, says Jurek.

Hydration. Its important to stay hydrated for health reasons and also because thirst is sometimes confused with hunger. Drinking water all day long can help you feel fuller and prevent dehydration. You can jazz up your water by adding lemon, lime or another type of fruit for a boost of flavor.

Portion control. A simple way to remember how much of each type of food you need per meal, or what constitutes a portion, is to use the U.S Department of Agriculture My Plate visual. Fill half your lunch or dinner plate with fruits and vegetables, a quarter with whole grains such as quinoa or brown rice and the other quarter with a lean protein. If you buy packaged goods, read the label so you understand the portion sizes.

Only 1 in 25 people eat enough vegetables to meet the daily recommended amount, and in the past 12 years, the obesity rate has increased 23.2 percent, says Jurek. When we really look at the impact, we need to look at our lifestyle, increase our activity and make healthy food choices.

READ MORE: Check out NextAvenue.org.

Debra Kaszubski, Vitality Special Writer, contributed to this report.

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Your obesity may be killing you - The Daily Tribune

As Lorraine slipped into position, with her legs dangling over the side of the plane, she felt a rush of adrenaline.

She may have been thousands of feet above the earth, but there were no nerves just pure excitement as she leapt out of the aircraft towards the ground.

Given her cool calmness, you might assume that adrenaline junkie Lorraine had done this before but nothing could be further from the truth. Though the mum-of-two had long dreamed of making the exhilarating leap, there had always been a problem at 20 stone, she was too heavy to jump safely.

Lorraine had been overweight since her sons Ben, 28, and Lee, 25, were born.

"I had tried and failed to lose weight so many times I just accepted I would be fat forever," she says.

Depressed about the oversized clothes she had to squeeze into, Lorraine suffered low self-esteem and rarely went out.

Her only interest was cooking, so she usually loaded her shopping trolley with double cream and cheese to whip up tasty treats for her family, finding comfort in cooking up giant portions of pie and buttery mash.

Her evenings were spent glued to the box, and, because she never went out, she felt she deserved a treat or two, thinking nothing of tucking into two or three Creme Eggs in front of the evenings television before going to bed.

Lorraine dreamed of a more adventurous life. Her son Ben was a skydiving instructor, and she loved hearing his tales of wind running over his face as the ground raced towards him.

But she got out of breath just walking up the stairs, and knew there was no way her body would cope with such an enormous challenge.

"Id always known I was too fat to even think about a jump, but that hadnt stopped me wishing I could," she says. "Watching Ben jump filled me with longing and I couldnt stop thinking about how amazing it must feel."

It was only in 2015, when she began to feel unwell, that she decided to see her GP for blood tests. When the doctor gently broke the news that she was on the verge of diabetes, Lorraine was horrified.

"He sat me down and explained that I was just one point away from being diabetic," she recalls. "It was no surprise, really, given my size and the fact diabetes ran in my family."

But the grim news was enough to spur Lorraine into attempting to tackle her weight again. So in May 2015, at a dress size 24, she decided to join Weight Watchers.

"Walking into the first class was terrifying, but my mum Margot came with me and was supportive," says Lorraine. "I wanted to do it for her too."

Lorraine stopped cooking high-fat meals and switched to low-fat stir-fries and salads instead, even changing her route to work so she didnt have to walk past her favourite shop Greggs the baker. Looking at the rows of warm, comforting pastries was just too tempting.

Within weeks the pounds had started to melt away and Lorraine had lost a stone. It was the boost she needed to keep going.

"If I thought about all the weight I had to lose it was overwhelming, so I set mini targets instead," she says.

Four months later, shed lost a whopping 4 stone. As the compliments from friends and family flooded in, Lorraine became more determined to keep going.

"I went shopping with Mum to celebrate and to be able to pick up clothes in normal shops was so exciting as I usually had to find the plus-size section," she says. "I picked up a pair of navy slim-fit jeans in a size 12 and when they slipped on easily I could have cried. I hadnt been a size 12 for 30 years. I was 50 and in better shape than I had been in my 30s that felt amazing."

Lorraine admits it wasnt all plain sailing: there were days when the cravings took over, and she just had to have pizza or fish and chips. But she always got back on track straight away, not allowing herself to sink into a negative spiral of overindulgence and guilty feelings.

Feeling and looking like a new woman, Lorraine decided it was time to do the thing shed dreamed of for so long the skydive.

"Mum had always said how much she would love to do it too, but with her age and my weight issues I had thought wed missed the boat," she says.

But when Lorraine told her mum she planned to make the jump, she was thrilled when Margot vowed to jump with her.

"I was so, so happy. It was something we had always wanted to do together but I guess we had both accepted it might never happen now here we were," she says.

The pair told Ben their idea and he agreed to jump with them three generations jumping from the plane at once. They decided to make the jump to mark Margots 75th birthday in September last year.

"As the day approached, rather than feeling nervous, we were both so excited we couldnt wait!" says Lorraine. "When the day came, it was amazing. Ive never had a buzz like it, it felt great to be sat there with my legs dangling over the edge. Jumping was the most incredible experience and to share it with my mother and son was fantastic. Weve never had so much fun."

Watching the tiny, patchwork fields below and the bright blue skies stretching endlessly around her, it was so beautiful and startling that Lorraine had to remind herself to breathe. As the parachute opened and she glided effortlessly to the ground, she knew she was hooked.

With their feet back on firm ground, the pair began planning their next adventure.Missing the adrenaline buzz they got from the skydive, the pair are planning a wing walk on a soaring plane and have also crossed off another ambition, to go up in a hot air balloon.

"I wasted too much of my life letting my weight and low confidence hold me back, but not any more," Lorraine says. "Since losing weight Ive gone from being a couch potato to adrenaline junkie and I couldnt be happier."

Now she has her sights set on swimming with sharks something Margot draws the line at. But theres no stopping Lorraine.

"I proved that after years of obesity, life really does start at 50 or 75, in Mums case!"

Breakfast: Frosties

Snack: Chocolate biscuits

Lunch: White bread sandwich and chocolate

Dinner: Homemade chicken pie with buttery mash or creamy carbonara followed by cheesecake or choc ice

Snack: Creme Eggs

Breakfast: Porridge made with yogurt

Lunch: Tuna wrap

Dinner: Homemade lasagne with courgette instead of pasta sheets or chips made in an air fryer with salad and chicken, followed by fruit for pudding

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Meet the woman who lost an incredible 7 stone so she could fulfil her dream to skydive with her pensioner mum - Mirror.co.uk

Concerned about how sedentary their students are becoming, schools are unlocking their athletic equipment cupboards and facilities during recess and after school, to encourage young people to pick up a ball or a racquet and play for fun.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) told The Straits Times the move is to inculcate the good habits of an active lifestyle, which has many benefits such as reducing obesity.

It comes from a recommendation made by NurtureSG, a task force set up to encourage young people to adopt healthier habits, to give students greater opportunities for play.

MOE said: "Facilities in most primary and secondary schools are available to students to encourage unstructured play with their peers during recess and after- school hours."

Schools such as Fernvale Primary and Greendale Secondary are already letting students use equipment and facilities, previously available only during physical education (PE) classes or co- curricular activities (CCAs).

Students welcomed the go-ahead to take a break and de-stress after hours sitting in the classroom. A few quipped that they would also get to lose weight.

At Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Primary), pupils can borrow equipment such as frisbees, badminton racquets, skipping ropes and roller racers - a scooter that is propelled forward by swinging the handlebars from side to side. Parent helpers and school staff are on hand to supervise and ensure the children are using the equipment safely.

Primary 3 pupil Nicole Soh, nine, who likes going around on the roller racers with her friends, said: "Instead of sitting in the canteen and doing nothing, I can go outdoors to play, bond with my friends and try out different sports."

Mrs Emily Han, the teacher in charge of the school's recess free play, said it gives pupils the space to run around and unwind between lessons, adding: "We want them to have fun and experience the sheer joy of playing."

At Fernvale Primary, pupils can use equipment such as basketballs as well as badminton nets, racquets and shuttlecocks.

Mr Willy Ong, head of the school's PE, CCA and aesthetics department, said unstructured play creates opportunities for pupils to make friends and pick up social skills. They also learn to be responsible, handling the equipment with care and returning it after use.

Primary 5 pupil Lance Liu, 11, spends no more than five minutes of his precious 30-minute recess time to eat, so he has the rest of it for a game of badminton with his friends.

"It helps us de-stress and we can focus better in class," he said.

Getting children to be more active has benefits, as obesity rates among schoolchildren have risen in recent years, from 10 per cent in 2000 to 12 per cent in 2014.

A recent Health Promotion Board study found that if a child is overweight at age seven, he has a 70 per cent chance of growing up into an overweight or obese adult.

All mainstream schools also now offer healthier food under the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme, launched in 2011 to foster better eating habits in the young.

Jalan Besar GRC MP Denise Phua, who heads the Government Parliamentary Committee for Education, said children are more likely to make exercise a lifelong habit if they can be active regularly, and not only during PE classes.

National University of Singapore lecturer Kelvin Seah said parents need not be concerned that their children are exerting themselves instead of resting during recess.

He said: "Since regular physical activity provides both physiological and mental health benefits, it will have a positive impact on the children's development."

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Schools helping students get active during free time by offering fitness equipment, facilities - The Straits Times

The Weightmonitor app provides calorie counts along with paid nutritionist advice. Chris Whiteoak for The National

Dev Khosla is a healthy weight now, but back in college he was obese.For a while, he had no interest in losing weight. But when he saw his new friends get into fitness, he decided to try.I told my mum, who is a well established nutritionist, that I wanted to start losing weight and we started a phone and Skype diet plan, which worked really well for me, says Mr Khosla, from New Delhi in India.So I thought I could create a programme, professionalise it and customise it and offer it at compelling prices, I am sure we could benefit other people.And he did. He developed Weightmonitor, an app which offers nutritional advice and helps you track calories. The app was a success in India, and soon people were also signing up in the UAE.As you already know, there are a lot of Indians in the UAE so we were seeing a lot of organic demand from one friend to the other friend, like a friend reference, he says. People are losing weight. People have been using the scoring programme which we launched, which is basically the main selling point of the programme. What it does is once you have a target to reach every day it keeps you motivated to achieve a higher score, independent of your food habits. That has been a great validator for us.Mr Khosla moved to the UAE just over a year ago to launch Weightmonitor UAE, which has two elements a free calorie-counting service and paid nutritionist advice. For Dh499 per quarter, users receive access to a personal nutritionist who puts together a personalised diet plan.However, when the app was launched in Dubai based on the same paid for model as in India, the company did not see a lot of success initially.We had to change it to a model where people come in and feel the product, see the product, without having to pay for it immediately. You can lose weight by using the free [calorie-counting] service and go on to use it for the rest of your life or pay for the premium element [which also gives you access to a nutritionist].The app now has 1,500 users and Mr Khosla is on the verge of raising a Series A round of funding.We have been able to demonstrate a proof of concept to a suitable investor, says Mr Khosla. We have already been talking to a few venture capital funds, so we are in the process of engagement on that side.They may not need much persuasion.Anything that has a proof of concept, anything that is scalable and anything which has a barrier to entry is something that excites a VC, he says.VentureSouq, an angel investing platform, says there has been increased interest from investors in health and fitness tech start-ups as the size of financings and valuations in both the Middle East and the US have increased significantly over the last five or six years.This is not surprising given that people generally are starting to take better care of themselves through healthier eating and exercise, and technology is starting to increasingly intersect into peoples lives including health and wellness, says Suneel Gokhale, a partner at VentureSouq.The global mobile health, or mHealth market, which includes the fitness tracking sector, is expected to reach US$102.43 billion by 2022, according to Zion Market Research. Weightmonitor UAE is a very good example of this fast developing start-up space and is an ideal fit for the emerging UAE entrepreneurial ecosystem, says Ramesh Jagannathan, the managing director of the innovation and entrepreneurship platform StartAD.

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Calorie tracking app aims to whet investors' appetites - The National

Intermittent fasting has recently become more popular within the fitness community. Athletes are using a variety of different fasting methods to cut body fat and lose weight. But what exactly is fasting, and what are the pros and cons to this weight loss method?

The definition of fasting is the abstinence of food and drink (except water) for any length of time after the complete absorption of a meal. Food is usually absorbed within three to five hours after eating, and that is when the body begins metabolic changes. Prolonged fasting is a fast that lasts anywhere between eight and 72 hours.

Fasting can have a lot of benefitsif it is done safely. According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, tests using fasting have shown positive effects such as stress resistance, increased insulin sensitivity, reduced morbidity, and an increased life span. Fasting gives the body a chance to rest and cleanse. Energy that is normally directed at the digestive system can be used elsewhere throughout the body to repair and detox other systems. Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve cholesterol and reduce inflammation. Fasting can also improve mental clarity, focus, and increase energy levels. After your body uses up all the available energy from the food you have recently eaten, it will begin to use the fat stores within your body. That is when you will start to see weight loss, and possibly fat loss depending on the length of the fast and how often you fast.

Although there are many positives to fasting, there are also negatives. The body needs more than carbohydrates to run efficiently; it also needs protein, vitamins, and minerals. Those are not stored in fat, unlike carbs, so your body does not have access to them and cannot perform a variety of jobs throughout the body. Even though increases in energy levels are in the positives, fasting can also make your body feel lethargic and tired due to a drop in blood sugar levels. Also, without food, stomach acids are more likely to burn through the lining in your stomach.

There are people who should not attempt fasting: pregnant and breastfeeding women (this is a time to nourish your body and your baby), children and young teenagers who are growing and active, those with adrenal fatigue, or low thyroid function. Also, if you have had eating disorders in the past, fasting may cause those issues to resurface. Lastly, if you are on medication it is important to consult with a doctor before fasting. Fasting on certain medications may cause complications. Extended or prolonged fasting can lead to thinning hair, electrolyte imbalances, downy hair, cardiac arrhythmia, renal failure, and even starvation leading to death.

I wouldnt recommend fasting for longer than 48 hours at a time, and make sure to drink plenty of water during your fast to maintain hydration. Drinking lots of water will also help to lessen the feeling of hunger you will experience during your fast. Every person is different. For some, fasting will be a walk in the park, but for others it may not be so easy. Listen to your body; if you dont feel well it is OK to break the fast.

I have done 24-hour fasts before, and I dont mind them. They can be tough at different points in the day, and exercising can be a little bit more draining, but I do experience a lot of the benefits. Weigh the pros and cons, and give fasting a try if you it is safe for you to do so. If you dont like it, hopefully you wont ever have to do it again. If you do like it then you can begin to make it apart of your routine.

Stephenie Sutherland is a Fort St. John student studying nutrition and food sciences. She can found at the gym, hiking local trails, and serving up a hot cuppa joe at Whole Wheat and Honey. Have a question? Email her at stephenie.sutherland13@gmail.com.

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SUTHERLAND: Not so fast! Get the skinny on fasting to lose weight - Alaska Highway News

While getting in shape doesnt take place overnight there is a quick way to slim down.

For those wanting to look and feel good in a short space of time this summer, Chris Wharton, Co-owner and Director at Better Body Group, has revealed how.

He said: The people you see looking ripped on their holidays get that way by carefully structuring their training plans, being mindful of what they eat and, most importantly, for fat loss, create a consistent calorie deficit.

That being said, the quickest way to get in shape is by including big,compound strength exercises, that recruit lots of muscle mass and subsequently raise the number of calories you burn throughout the day post workout.

Chris has three exercises for those looking to get in shape on a tight schedule.

Push press

The push press is a relatively easy exercise to learn, but packs a lot of bang for its buck. Not only does it target the arms, shoulders and trunk, but also the whole of the lower body. Its also a great exercise for adding practical strength for everyday life.

How to do it:

Perform the push press with either a barbell or pair of dumbbells. Start with the weights rested on shoulders (dumbbells) or collar (barbell)

Note - unless you are experienced in compound lifts like this, be sure to start light and perfect the technique before adding weight.

Deadlift

The deadlift should be included in pretty much every plan that aims to improve physique. The move targets many muscle groups in one single movement - the quads, calves, hamstrings, gluten, trunk, arms and upper and lower back. Its also great for improving posture and total body strength.

How to do it:

Note - this is a tricky move to perform correctly. Be sure to start light and ask for help if you need it. There is no quicker way to injure your lower back than by doing a dodgy deadlift.

Spiderman press up

Any press up variation is a valuable addition to your training regime. As another great compound exercise, the Spiderman press up not only targets your chest, shoulders and arms but also adds an extra challenge to your abs and obliques.

How to do it:

Note - for beginners, its essential to master the standard press up first, as the Spiderman press up is far more challenging on hip and core stability.

While these three gym exercises are great to add to your summer training plan, Chris urges people to remember no single exercise alone will help you shape up for summer.

He said: Be consistent and focus on creating a calorie deficit in combination with plenty of activity.

Chris Wharton is the Co-owner and Director of the Better Body Group, a chain of gyms in the South East that specialises in body transformation, injury rehabilitation and improving fitness performance, all delivered by graduate-level personal trainers. Find out more on the website http://www.betterbodygroup.co.uk/

Another tip to lose weight is not eating at THIS time of day.

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Weight loss: THESE three moves will help you shed pounds fast - Express.co.uk

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Resist regaining weight. Once you stop using shakes for weight loss, there is a risk that you will regain the weight you lost. It is more important than ever that you are careful about what you eat when you cease replacing meals with shakes. Continue to calculate how many calories you need daily and stick to that number. Try not to go back to eating just as you were before using the shakes, as this will lead to weight gain.

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How to Safely Use Weight Loss Shakes - wikiHow

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5 Important Hydration Tips to Stay Safe in the Heat KDRV Summer has just begun, and already places across the country have seen temperatures in the mid- to high-90s and low 100s. Don't let these hot temperatures hold you back from enjoying all your favorite outdoor summer activities. Here's how you can ...

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5 Important Hydration Tips to Stay Safe in the Heat - KDRV

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gelesis, Inc., a biotechnology company developing a novel category of therapies to safely induce weight loss, improve glycemic control, and treat other chronic diseases related to the gastrointestinal (GI) pathway, is pleased to report today that the last patient has completed treatment in the pivotal GLOW (Gelesis Loss Of Weight) Study. The GLOW study was designed to assess the long-term efficacy and safety of lead product candidate Gelesis100 over a six-month period across a broad patient population. The company has also enrolled its first European patient in the ongoing LIGHT-UP study with its second product candidate, Gelesis200, for weight loss and glycemic control. The study will enroll individuals who are overweight or have obesity and also have prediabetes or metformin-treated type 2 diabetes at more than 30 sites across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Were pleased to have reached these two milestones for Gelesis as we continue to progress our platform technology and expand our pipeline, said Hassan Heshmati MD, Chief Medical Officer of Gelesis. Were also continuing to establish a body of data around our platform technology, as we explore additional GI-related conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Further investigation of the Gelesis mechanism has led to an international collaboration with leading obesity and nutrition experts and new insights about how people with prediabetes respond to different types of diets, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. We are learning a remarkable amount about the potential positive impact on local inflammation and glycemic parameters through our unique hydrogel system that is at the forefront of mechanobiology, added Elaine Chiquette, Pharm.D., EVP Head of Science, Gelesis. This emerging field at the interface of biology and engineering focuses on how cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli and is helping us to unlock insights into the gut-brain-inflammation axis.

About Gelesis100 and Gelesis200Gelesis100 is a pivotal-stage product candidate for weight loss and glycemic control, which has demonstrated statistically significant weight loss, reduced hunger, increased satiety and strong safety in previous clinical studies. Gelesis200 is a second product candidate that has been engineered for rapid hydration with significantly higher elasticity to enhance glycemic control and weight loss for patients who have pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. A proof-of-concept clinical study with Gelesis200 (LIGHT-UP) has been initiated for weight loss and glycemic control in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. The results from this study are expected mid-2018.

Both Gelesis100 and Gelesis200 are orally administered capsules containing small hydrogel particles made by cross-linking two naturally occurring food ingredients to generate novel compositions that are expected to be safe and well tolerated. Gelesis product candidates are designed to employ multiple mechanisms of action that leverage mechanotransduction along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to induce weight loss and improve glycemic control. The hydrogel particles swell and shrink in different parts of the GI system, mix homogeneously with food, travel through the GI tract, and once in the large intestines release most of the water, which is reabsorbed by the body. The small hydrogel particles are then safely eliminated by the body in the same manner as food.

To our knowledge, Gelesis novel hydrogels are the only super absorbents made from materials which are considered Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and commonly used in foods. Gelesis also received positive confirmation from the FDA that GLOW is a nonsignificant risk (NSR) device study. Gelesis holds 11 families of patents, several of which have already been allowed or issued in major markets. Most recently, Gelesis received a Notice of Allowance from Japan Patent Office (JPO) on Patent No. 2014-514632 covering composition of matter for Gelesis100.

About GelesisGelesis is developing a novel hydrogel platform to treat obesity and other chronic diseases related to the gastrointestinal (GI) pathway. Gelesis proprietary approach acts mechanically in the GI system to potentially alter the course of chronic diseases safely and effectively. Gelesis is currently evaluating its lead product candidate, Gelesis100, in a pivotal trial for weight loss, which is expected to read out in Q3 2017. Additionally, Gelesis recently initiated a proof-of-concept study for its second candidate, Gelesis200, which is optimized for weight loss and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes. New hydrogel compositions based on the Gelesis platform are also being explored in preclinical and pilot studies in other GI-related conditions such as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The Gelesis executive and advisory team includes some of the worlds leading experts in obesity research and clinical development, innovators in material science, and entrepreneurs. Gelesis was co-founded byPureTech Health (PRTC.L), an advanced, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company (www.puretechhealth.com).

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Gelesis Announces Last Patient Out in the Pivotal Gelesis100 Weight-Loss Study - Business Wire (press release)

Old 'grapefruit diet' gaining new popularity

Amanda Jaeger , KTHV 10:33 PM. CDT July 11, 2017

Grapefruit Diet, Credit: KTHV

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Many fad diets come and go but some seem to stick around through the decades. One of those diets is the grapefruit diet.

It has been around since the 1930s and claimed grapefruits are a type of super food that burn fat and make you lose weight fast. But is there any truth to it?

THV11 spoke with David Rath, a nutritionist for over 20 years. He has seen the grapefruit diet grow and fall in popularity.

Amanda Jaeger & David Rath, Credit: KTHV

The premise behind it is that grapefruit has a substance in it that causes you to lose weight, he said.

People claim grapefruit is so filling, you can only eat so many per day, which means consuming a lot fewer calories. Other variations of the diet call for people to eat at least half a grapefruit or 4 ounces of 100 percent grapefruit juice before each meal to make them less hungry and lose fat. Others claim grapefruits have super enzymes to burn fat.

Rath said most of those claims arent true, but grapefruits do have great qualities for people to consider. Theyre high in Vitamin C, an antioxidant that helps reduce the risk for disease. Theyre low in calories. If you eat the whole fruit, including the pulp, it can help lower your cholesterol.

The catch is those amazing qualities arent only evident in grapefruits. Most fruits and vegetables have some of those qualities.

Credit: KTHV

Fruits and vegetables are about 90 percent water and have a lot of fiber that fills you up without getting you many calories, said Rath.

He added people should absolutely include grapefruits into their diet, as well as other fruits and vegetables and foods from the five major food groups. He said the age-old truth make sure to eat those fruits and veggies really does win. It is the key to making you feel fuller while consuming fewer calories and giving you great nutrients.

But there are dangers with the grapefruit diet models that tout eating grapefruits on overload while skimping out on other healthy foods. Its also dangerous to use any of the grapefruit diet models that recommend eating a low number of calories each day.

It can actually be harmful to your weight loss goals and cause you to go into starvation mode from consuming too few calories, said Rath. Very low-calorie diets make the body think it is starving, which lowers your metabolism, and makes it hard for you to lose weight.

Too many grapefruits and too few calories will also not provide you the nutrition your body needs. Even if your weight drops temporarily, its not going to last and it could cause more damage than you would think.

That type of diet is not sustainable because people aren't going to eat like that for the rest of their life, he said.

Credit: KTHV

Rath added the best way to stay healthy is to make good meal choices from the five food groups while staying within your recommended calorie level. Its important to incorporate physical activity because that's another way to burn calories and maintain good fitness levels.

It's also important to check with your doctor and nutritionist before trying any new diets because they can interact with medication.

Grapefruits, for example, can interact with certain medications and cause serious health issues.

For more information on healthy eating and living just click here.For more information from David Rath, you can visit his website here.

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Age-old grapefruit diet, healthy or hazardous? - THV 11