Little wonder that Semitic stomachs are always bursting at the seams
from extra portions of grandma’s chicken soup or lokshen pudding.
But now, thanks to a discovery by a Jewish scientist, fighting the
flab could become a thing of the past.
Professor Stephen Bloom has spent the last 18 years researching the
reasons for overeating, and last week published his findings in the
scientific journal Nature.
The 59-year-old, and his team at Imperial College, have discovered a
hormone known as PYY3-36 that can be injected into the body
suppressing the desire to eat excessively.
He told TJ: “The Jewish traditions of hospitality are the traditions
of overeating. I remember visiting my grandmother in Liverpool when I
was a young boy and she always laid on a feast.
“Jewish people have quite a problem with heart disease, stroke and
diabetes and this hormone could help all three.
The PYY3-36 hormone is released from a person’s intestines when they
eat and acts on the brain to switch off appetite.
Bloom says that injecting the hormone into a human body can produce a
similar effect.
In the trials twelve volunteers at Hammersmith hospital were given
either the hormone or neutral salt water.
When offered an unlimited buffet two hours later it was found that
those injected with PYY3-36 consumed a third fewer calories, and also
felt less hungry than the other volunteers.
But, as the revolutionary research is in its early stages, the product
is not expected to be on the market for three to four years due to
strict government drug testing regulations.
Bloom, who was brought up in Mill Hill, had a reform bar mitzvah, but
chose not to lead a religious Jewish life.
He said: “I think it is difficult for a scientist to be religious
because in science everything is defined in mechanical real world
terms.”
Source:
Totally Jewish.
June
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