not in dieting, apparently. If
you've ever wondered how it is
that men can cut out a few
desserts and quickly drop 10
pounds, while women tortuously calorie-count their way to
incremental weight loss, a new
animal study may have the
explanation: It's in the brain. A class of hormones known as
POMC peptides, which regulate
body weight, acts differently in
female mice than in male mice,
according to a collaboration of
researchers across four continents. The difference
appears to make it harder for
female mice to lose weight. POMC peptides are produced in
the brain and play a role in
appetite, calorie burning and
physical activity, all of which
impact overall body weight.
When genetically engineered obese mice were given the
weight-reducing medication
lorcaserin, the males
experienced significant weight
loss, pushing them back into the
healthy range, whereas the female mice saw much smaller
weight losses and remained
obese. "What we have discovered is
that the part of the brain that has
a significant influence on how
we use the calories that we eat
is wired differently in males and
females," team leader Lora Heisler, of the University of
Aberdeen in Scotland, said in a
news release. In female mice, the source of
POMC peptides reduces
appetite, but it does not raise
physical activity or calorie
burning the way it does in male
mice. While humans aren't
necessarily the same as mice,
it's worth noting that two of
every three adults and one in
three children and adolescents
in the United States are overweight or obese, according
to the National Institutes of
Health. "These findings provide
evidence that males and
females are hard-wired
differently in their regulation of
energy balance," the study's
authors wrote in the journal Molecular Metabolism. "Given
the reported reduction of POMC
neuron activity in middle age in
mice, these data may have . . .
broad implications for future
sex-specific strategies in treating overweight [problems]
and obesity." For what it's worth, the study is
a Pyrrhic victory for all those
women wondering why they
outnumber men in Weight
Watchers meetings. When it
comes to dieting, it seems men really do have a head start.
| Posted: at | |
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