Over 40% of all Americans have obesity, a disease that increases a person’s risk of experiencing other diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

Obesity can be a result of many factors, including genetics, lack of access to certain foods, and dietary and physical activity habits. Some data highlights that psychological factors like having depression can increase a person’s risk of developing obesity, as does taking certain medications as well.

Regardless of the cause of developing obesity, many healthcare providers are focused on ways to help people who are managing this disease attain a healthy weight to help support their overall health and wellness, one of which is developing effective weight loss aids backed by clinical trials, like Plenity.

Why weight loss can be difficult, and how prescription weight management aids may help

There is no single most effective method to promote weight loss. From following certain diets to exercising, there are various ways that people can support their weight goals. No matter what method a person adopts to promote a healthy weight, two factors must be met—you must consume fewer calories than you burn and you must focus on good quality food.

Unfortunately, most people who have obesity and attempt to lose weight are simply not successful. One of the most common reasons why dieting fails is because hunger levels naturally increase when you eat fewer calories. For many, this makes it hard to keep up with calorie restriction, with many reverting back to their baseline calorie intake.

Therefore, finding a way to help people feel more satisfied while limiting their caloric intake could be a viable solution for attaining desired weight loss.

And that is where Plenity, a new weight loss solution, can come into play.

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Plenity is an FDA-cleared weight management aid

Despite the evidence highlighting how having obesity is linked to a slew of negative health outcomes, only 2% of patients who are overweight or obese receive anti-obesity drug therapy.

“Access to treatment options for people with obesity is so low,” explains Nina Crowley, PhD, RDN, LD, Registered Dietitian and Health Psychologist in Charleston, SC. She emphasizes that having an option that is easy to take, lower in cost, and low risk may be “less intimidating to patients and more attractive for providers to prescribe” when making steps to manage obesity.

To address this gap in treatment options, an FDA-cleared aid for weight management called Plenity was created, and it is currently available via prescription.

“Plenity is taken as three capsules with 16 ounces (2 glasses) of water 20 minutes before lunch and dinner,” Crowley explained. It absorbs the water it’s taken with and mixes with the food eaten. “As you continue to use it, you feel fuller throughout the day. Being that it is not absorbed in the bloodstream, it is a safe way for people to achieve greater satiety at mealtimes,” she added.

“The particles can hold up to 100 times their weight in water and that’s what makes you feel full after consuming the pills,” says Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, founder of NutritionStarringYOU.com and author of The Everything Easy Pre-Diabetes Cookbook.

Unlike with many weight loss supplements, the outcomes associated with using Plenity are not theoretical. According to a clinical trial published in Obesity, “59% of Plenity responders lost on average 10% of their body weight (22 pounds) in six months,” Crowley reported.

Finally, Crowley adds that the practice of taking Plenity is “paired with virtual support and a group where others taking Plenity can support each other.”

Adults with excess weight who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25–40 kg/m², are eligible for Plenity, so, for those who are in what Crowley calls the “‘treatment gap’ between the weight at which diet/exercise would be effective to help get to a ‘normal weight,'” Plenity may be a nice addition to other interventions (like diet and exercise) that are already implemented.

RELATED: Supplements That You Should Avoid, Say Physicians

Correction: A previous version of this story, titled “The #1 Best Supplement for Weight Loss, Says Study,” referred to Plenity as a weight loss supplement. As Plenity clarified, Plenity is not a supplement; it is a prescription weight management aid that is an FDA-cleared medical device. We have updated the article to reflect this clarification.

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Stress. It’s real, it’s everywhere, and it’s a growing problem. As far back as 2007, a third of Americans were living with extreme stress and the numbers have only gone up from there. The coronavirus pandemic has added fuel to the fire, sending stress levels through the roof.

If you’re amongst the legions of individuals struggling under the mental burden of stress, take heart! You’re not alone. Nor are you without options.

Let’s break down some of the biggest factors that contribute to stress, what its side effects are, and steps that you can take to address that stress.

Reasons for Stress

One of the most important factors to understand when navigating the pressures and strains of life is that stress is normal. However, if the stress in your life is chronic, it can be a problem. It can come from things like:

• Long work hours
• Financial strains
• Educational pressures
• Relationship concerns
• Parenting activities

These various sources of stress can begin to develop a bevy of undesired side effects, such as:

• A struggle to sleep, excessive fatigue, and even full-blown insomnia;
• Headaches, stomach aches, and muscle tension;
• Loss of appetite and weight gain or loss;
• Irritability, anxiety, and depression.

The list goes on and on. The point is, there are many ways that stress can impact you on both a mental and a physical level. When chronic or excessive stress creeps into the picture, it’s a serious issue that should be addressed as soon as possible.

How To Approach Stress Holistically

If you really want to address the stress, you must create a holistic stress management strategy. This should consider several crucial areas, which are outlined below.

Start With Self Care

Self-care is an essential part of combatting stress. However, this isn’t the misrepresented iteration of self-care that consists of splurging on back rubs and binging junk food while watching Netflix. It refers to giving yourself the actual things that you need. This starts with three basic areas:

• Food: From a healthy diet to regularly taking supplements, you need to fuel your body well consistently.
• Sleep: Both the quality and quantity of sleep (ideally at least seven hours a night for a full-grown adult) are a must in combatting stress.
• Exercise: Anything from walking the dog to running a marathon can release endorphins and reduce stress.

These aren’t frills. They’re life’s essentials. Do your best to make sure that you and your loved ones are meeting their basic self-care needs as you combat the stress in your home.

Get Creative With Your Stress Response

The Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius put it best when he said “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

In other words, no matter how bad your circumstances may be, you can still control how you react to the ongoing stress. This doesn’t have to stop with basic self-care. It can also manifest in a variety of creative anti-stress activities, such as:

• Scheduling in unplugging times to detox from things like social media and blue light.
• Getting a pet (that you can responsibly handle without difficulty) as a source of emotional support.
• Visiting a massage or physical therapist to help with things like tension headaches.
• In more extreme cases, considering something like cosmetic surgery to treat recurring migraines.

It’s okay to get creative with your stress relief measures. Find the activities that will work best for you and yours.

Consider Your Environment

Self-care and creative activities are great. But the environment that you destress in (not to mention the one that you operate in daily) is also critically important.

You can set up a stress-free atmosphere in many ways. Start by decluttering your spaces to avoid mess-induced stress. You may also want to consider creating screen-free zones for you and your loved ones to regularly relax in.

Once you have a good environment established, also do your best to avoid bringing home stress. The strains of work, school, and extracurricular life are easy to drag back home with you. Make an effort to resist this tendency.

Establish Support

There are many ways that you can structure anti-stress support into your life. For instance, you can make simple routines relaxing, like going for a walk each morning or reading a book before bed.

You can also create a network that can provide various levels of stress support. This can include:

• Social support such as relaxing activities that you can do with friends and families.
• A confidant that you can talk to when you’re overwhelmed.
• A professional counselor or therapist who can aid you in your fight to beat stress.

Consciously building stress support into your life is a helpful way to guard against breakdowns and overwhelm in the future.

Holistically Beating Stress

Stress is part of life. However, that doesn’t mean it has to control you. On the contrary, there are many ways that you can turn the tables and put stress in its place.

Self-care, creative activities, a stable environment, and a good support system are all key. If you can approach your stress relief holistically, you can set yourself up for a genuine, complete, and sustainable healing as you continue to navigate the stresses and strains of everyday life.

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