Many forms of behavioral weight loss programs can be effective means to solve or prevent obesity, but not all are suitable for lifestyle interventions involving calorie counting and increased physical activity Now, researchers behind a new study have developed an alternative method that retrains the minds of people who respond strongly to food cues to resist cravings, and has proved that it may be more effective than current long-term weight loss strategies
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The experimental weight loss intervention, designed by scientists at the University of California, San Diego, is designed for people who have experienced strong internal hunger cues and find it difficult to resist food. This is called behavioral susceptibility theory and is based on the concept that the combination of genetic appetite characteristics and the current food environment puts some people at a higher risk of obesity.
Kerri n. boutelle, lead author of the study, said: "some people are very sensitive to food cues. That is, they can't resist food and / or stop thinking about food. Behavioral weight loss skills are not enough for these people, so we designed an alternative approach to address this clinical need."
Boutelle and colleagues used behavioral susceptibility theory as the basis for a new weight loss method. The team calls its intervention "regulation of cues". It uses psychological education to teach subjects about the situations, thoughts, emotions and environment that lead to overeating. In addition, it also uses experiential learning to develop psychological coping skills, so as to reduce sensitivity and tolerance desire for food cues.
This included having subjects monitor their hunger before and after meals or how these hunger levels changed due to their emotions. The program also exposed subjects to highly desirable foods when they were full as a form of cue exposure therapy, and used coping skills to resist cravings and monitor their effects.
271 overweight adults in the study received 26 group treatments over a 12-month period and were asked to complete at least 150 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise per week. Then, the subjects were randomly assigned to a "cue regulated" lifestyle intervention, a behavioral weight loss program with strict diet and calorie restriction, and a combination of the two, or to a control group receiving nutrition education, social support and mindfulness training.
After 24 months of observation, it was found that the weight loss of "cue regulation" participants was similar to that of behavioral weight loss participants. But scientists found that the latter group was more likely to regain weight later, while "cue regulation" participants were able to stabilize their weight and maintain weight loss.
"Our results suggest that the appetite mechanism targeted by 'cue regulation' may be particularly key to weight loss for people who are difficult to resist food and can be used in personalized medical methods," boutelle said
Although it is only a pilot study, the results suggest that "cue regulation" intervention may be a feasible weight loss method for adults who are prone to overeating, the scientists said. For those who have difficulty controlling their weight through other interventions, the technology can therefore provide an effective alternative.
"If behavioral weight loss doesn't work for them, if they find it difficult to resist diet, or if they never feel full, people who need weight loss help can seek clue adjustment plans," boutelle said