Towards personalised molecular feedback for weight loss

Abstract

Background Numerous diets, apps and websites help guide and monitor dietary behaviour with the goal of losing weight, yet dieting success is highly dependent on personal preferences and circumstances. To enable a more quantitative approach to dieting, we developed an integrated platform that allows tracking of life-style information alongside molecular biofeedback measurements (lactate and insulin). Methods To facilitate weight loss, participants (≥18 years) omitted one main meal from the usual three-meal routine. Daily caloric intake was restricted to ~1200KCal with one optional snack ≤250KCal. A mobile health platform ( personalhealth.warwick.ac.uk ) was developed and used to maintain diaries of food intake, weight, urine collection and volume. A survey was conducted to understand participants’ willingness to collect samples, motivation for taking part in the study and reasons for dropout. Results Meal skipping resulted in weight loss after a 24 h period in contrast to 3-meal control days regardless of the meal that was skipped, breakfast, lunch or dinner ( p < 0.001). Common reasons for engagement were interest in losing weight and personal metabolic profile. Total insulin and lactate values varied significantly between healthy and obese individuals at p = 0.01 and 0.05 respectively. Conclusion In a proof of concept study with a meal-skipping diet, we show that insulin and lactate values in urine correlate with weight loss, making these molecules potential candidates for quantitative feedback on food intake behaviour to people dieting. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40608-019-0237-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE): A Marker for Personalized Feedback on Dieting

“…This study demonstrated that ACE levels correlate with BMI and weight loss as early as after 1 day of dieting, and thus ACE could be a potential early "biofeedback" marker for weight loss and diet efficiency.Recording of eating patterns through questionnaires with or without computer assistance has been recognized as an effective step in managing obesity [12][13][14]. However, regardless of interface, reporting of too low or too high caloric/energy intake as compared to true intake is a well-documented problem [11,15,16]. This unconscious bias is associated with under-realization and in some scenarios even over-estimation of foods eaten [11,17].…”

“…However, regardless of interface, reporting of too low or too high caloric/energy intake as compared to true intake is a well-documented problem [11,15,16]. This unconscious bias is associated with under-realization and in some scenarios even over-estimation of foods eaten [11,17]. Even if food tracking was entirely accurate, it might not provide sufficient motivation for people to lose weight [11,18].…”

“…This unconscious bias is associated with under-realization and in some scenarios even over-estimation of foods eaten [11,17]. Even if food tracking was entirely accurate, it might not provide sufficient motivation for people to lose weight [11,18]. Thus, an approach to weight loss is needed that is more directly linked to the desired outcome, weight loss, itself [11,19].…”

“…Even if food tracking was entirely accurate, it might not provide sufficient motivation for people to lose weight [11,18]. Thus, an approach to weight loss is needed that is more directly linked to the desired outcome, weight loss, itself [11,19]. A quantitative and science-based biomarker of weight loss is needed to provide immediate/short-term biological feedback loop during dieting.Urinary metabolic markers for cardiovascular disease, blood pressure and adiposity have been identified [20,21].…”

“…In addition, animal models have shown that increased adipose specific angiotensin (AGT) expression and secretion is involved in adipose tissue development [29,30].The requirements for dieting feedback are more immediate than general adiposity markers, or the long-term ACE weight loss marker. We have previously established that skipping at least one meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) results in weight loss regardless of which meal was skipped [11]. Despite meticulously keeping records of food intake, individuals still found losing weight challenging [31][32][33][34][35].…”