Thursday, July 5, 2007

Obesity, Obesity; what some people think up?

It's simple, right? To lose weight, stop eating. Yeah, right. Now an Italian professor has come up with a gel you eat that fills you up WITHOUT eating.
Professor Luigi Ambrosio, lead researcher on the study at Italy's National Research Council, realised when they developed the hydrogel it may have a similar effect to gastric banding - a surgical procedure that reduces the size of the stomach.

The tiny pill is powdery when dry but when swallowed with a glass of water turns to a jelly-like ball in the stomach.

It is made from an organic compound called cellulose and can be flushed out by the body.

The pill, which has yet to be named, is being tested in a further 90 overweight volunteers who will be monitored to see how much weight they lose and if there are any adverse effects.

"One of our researchers tried the pill - he took it at about 11am and was still full at six in the evening.

"It's like eating a bowl of spaghetti."


2 comments:

maxim said...

Hey there Ian, sounds very much like what psylium powder does; maybe even helps with the colon sweeping in a similar way?
Try a psylium based colon cleanse and see the excess weight drop away!!

Anonymous said...

Sounds bizarre and about as unnatural as the banding. Whether it's less dangerous only time will tell as those that put themselves forward as lab rats share their experiences. I think that things like this just encourage the magic pill belief.. so today we eat (recklessly gorge perhaps?) and be merry and tomorrow and so on and in time.. we swallow the pill and return to our former selves. The bitter pill in this tale is that it sets up a very passive society reliant on external substances not their own internal heart and soul and committment to make changes and sustain changes.. Of course I am aware that this is a multi layered problem that begins by walking (or not) through golden arches and .. it's also mind, body, emotions, hormones, upbringing, self worth.. well I could go on but I won't. And yes I do know that not all obesity is the result of gluttony and lack of self control do not want to offend or sound trite however most people that are suffering this global disease could try putting a little less rubbish in their mouths and a little more goodness and try sticking to that. The body will, in fact is designed to, balance itself if given the opportunity to do so.