Healthy_Food_Guide_UK_-_January_2020

Thankstoa newgenerationofsupercomputers,new

dietpillsareunderdevelopment.ProfessorAndrea

Townsend-Nicholsonexplainshowa simpletablet

might actually help reduce our growing waistlines

I

T’STHATTIMEOFYEARwhenour

thoughtsturntoconcernsaboutthe

impactofourrecentculinaryexcesses.

Achievingandmaintaininga healthy

weightis,ofcourse,a hottopicof

conversationatanytimeofyear– levels

ofobesityarerisingworldwide– but

Januaryis themonthwhenpeopleare

mostlikelytofocustheirattentionon

individualweight-lossgoals.According

toa recentYouGovsurvey,48%ofthe

peoplemakingnewyear’sresolutions

in 2017 saidtheywantedtoloseweight.

Inthatsameyear,over64%ofadults

intheUKwereclassifiedasbeing

overweightorobese,accordingto

the Nuffield Trust’s QualityWatch.

BMIorwaistmeasurement?

BodyMassIndex(BMI)is oftenused

asanindexofhealthyweight(over 25

is overweightanda BMIover 30 is

obese),butrecentstudieshaveshown

thatwaistmeasurementis a better

predictorofserioushealthriskssuch

ascardiovasculardisease,highblood

pressure,diabetesandcancer.Cancer

ResearchUKhashighlightedthefact

thatextrafatcanleadtocancer.Being

overweightorobeseis thesecond

biggestcauseofcancer,andkeeping

toa healthyweightreducestheriskof

13 differenttypesofcancer.Excessive

visceralfatis alsoa significanthealth

risk,eveninthosewithnormalBMI

and a healthy waist circumference.

Anothertoolforweightloss

A recentstudypublishedintheBMJ

revealedthatatleast2.6millionpeople

intheUKareeligibleforgastricbypass,

orbariatricsurgery,andabout60,000

people per year join this pool of eligible

Is theThin Pill a

waistline winner?

individualsastheepidemicofsevere

obesityworsens.Weight-losssurgery

is a clinicalandcost-effectivemeansof

treatingsevereobesityforthosewho

haveunsuccessfullytriedallother

non-surgicalweight-lossinterventions,

butwhatif wecouldhavethebenefits

ofgastricbandingwithoutthesurgery?

Entera brandnewapproach to weight

control: the Thin Pill.

Howit works

Duringa meal,yourstomachmuscles

relaxandthevolumeofyourstomach

increasestoaccommodateyourmeal.

Thisrelaxationis controlledbya protein

calledP2Y 11. TheThinPillis a drugthat

blocksP2Y 11 , makingit possibleto

controltheextenttowhichthestomach

muscles are able to relax. This, in turn, ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCK/GETTY

IMAGES

controlshowmuchfoodthestomachis

abletohold.TheThinPillis a chemical

gastricband– a drugthat,likebariatric

surgery,restrictstheabilityofthe

stomachtoexpand,enablingus

to feel full after eating fewer calories.

Isit availablenow?

Unfortunatelyforthoseofusreflecting

onrecentfestivemeals,theThinPillis

underdevelopmentatUCLandnotyet

onthemarket,butshouldbereadyfor

testinginthenext fiveto 10 years.

Althoughtheproteinit affectswas

identifieda decadeago,it’sonlyrecently

thatwehavedevelopedthetechnology

tobeabletodeterminetheatomic

structureofP2Y 11. This,togetherwith

increasinglypowerfulsupercomputers,

nowenablesustodesigntheThinPill

byfindingthechemicalstructurethat

providesthemolecularkeytolockdown

theP2Y 11 proteinandreducethe

expansionofourstomachs.Using

supercomputerstodeveloptheThinPill

promisestobemuchfasterandmuch

lessexpensivethanthetraditionalcost

(approximately£1billion)ofsuccessfully

developinga newmedicinefordoctors

toprescribetotheirpatients.

Findinga sustainableapproachto

maintaininga healthyweightis something

ournewyear’sresolutionssuggestwould

bemostwelcome.WhiletheThinPillasa

conceptmaynotbetoeveryone’staste,it

giveseachofusa newoptionthatwewill

shortlybeabletoconsiderwhentrying

tofindthemosteffectivewaytoachieve

our personal weight-loss goals.

lAndreaTownsend-Nicholsonis a

professorofbiochemistry & molecular

biology at UCL.

❛

WhiletheThinPill

maynotbetoeveryone’s

taste, it gives us a new option

❜

98 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDEJANUARY 2020

TALKING POINT