The battle to lose weight
Losing weight – and not putting it back on – is about much more than willpower. Nina Notman reports on the drugs trying to penetrate the complex metabolic web of hunger and satiety.
In the modern world, it is easier than ever to eat more calories than we burn off. The obesity epidemic shows no signs of abating. In 2016, it was reported that 26% of UK adults had obesity – that is, their body mass index was 30 or above. In the US, the figure was almost 40%. Despite our expanding waistlines, the prevailing societal assumption is that regaining control of our weight requires nothing more than a bit of willpower. But this is not a view supported by science. Decades of fundamental biological research into why so many of us struggle to both lose weight and then keep it off has revealed that our bodies are rigged up to rally against weight loss. A complicated web of hormones and other biochemical factors is now known to control our body’s hunger, satiety and food reward systems.