Doublechin Gum

"We hit on the idea of a chewing gum because obese people like chewing."

So says lead researcher, Professor Steve Bloom, on why he and his team thought of chewing gum as a delivery method for a drug based on a natural gut hormone that mimics the body's "feeling full" response. From BBC News:

The hormone in question is called pancreatic polypeptide (PP), which the body produces after every meal to ensure eating does not run out of control.

There is evidence that some people have more of the hormone than others, and becoming overweight reduces the levels produced.

A vicious circle then results, causing appetite to increase, an inability to resist the temptation of food, and further increases in weight. Early tests have shown moderate doses of the hormone, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), can reduce the amount of food eaten by healthy volunteers by 15% to 20%.

An inability to resist the temptation of food? Even when I'm eating totally to plan, I still get cravings for junk food or processed carbs. Hell, ice cream talks to me on a daily basis. And I would consider myself somebody with normal levels of PP.

(Cue Beavis & Butthead: Heh heh heh heh. Normal levels of pee pee.)

Given all that, I still managed to lose seven percentage points of body fat over the course of 2006 by eating smart and exercising. Yet I still had, and periodically gave into, my cravings. I bring all this up to say I seriously doubt that any kind of PP derived treatment will help somebody lose weight effectively. Cravings occur whether one is hungry or not.

And after all, obese people like to chew. The tricky part is being smart about what, and when, they chew. Hopefully it's good food and not Doublechin gum.