Positive Health Online

Growing Social Pressures to Lose Weight Amid Skyrocketing Weight-loss Injection Costs

• 43% reported feeling more pressure to lose weight than they did two years ago;
• 31% believe changing body trends have influenced the pressure to lose weight;
• 41% reveal they had sourced injections online without a prescription. 

Despite the sharply rising cost of weight-loss medications, more and more Brits are feeling negative about their weight and a growing social pressure to lose it, according to a new survey.  A survey of 2,004 respondents across the UK conducted in September reveals external pressures are encouraging more people to jump on ‘quick fixes’ that may be both costly and unsustainable, even as they worry about potential side effects.

Two in 5 (43%) report that they feel more pressure to lose weight now than they did just two years ago, with 31% believing that changing body trends have influenced the pressure. Almost a quarter (23%) say fashion/beauty standards cause negative emotions about weight, as well as social media (20%) and celebrities/influencers (18%).

The study reveals that 1 in 5 (21%) who have tried or considered trying weight loss injections, did so to lose weight quickly. Although 20% say they have done so under medical advice, 11% admit they felt they had no other option.

Worryingly, 41% revealed they had sourced injections online independently without a prescription. A third (35%) say they have obtained them through a friend or family member. All medications should be authorised by a trained professional and those using them closely monitored.

Despite this, nearly a third (31%) said they would be worried about the side effects of the jabs and over a quarter (28%) would prefer a more natural approach to weight loss, such as dietary fibre-based supplements designed to support metabolism, digestion, and satiety.

Although injections remain popular, many are seeking every day, non-invasive tools to support their health goals – either alongside clinical interventions or as standalone solutions. But 55% say they feel ‘overwhelmed by conflicting advice’ on weight loss and nutrition.

The survey was commissioned by GP Nutrition, founded by celebrity nutritionist Gabriela Peacock, who seeks to cut through the noise with a balanced approach to weight management, favouring natural solutions proven effective by science.

Her dietary fibre-based supplements – Fibre Capsules and MetaboliseMe – support more stable blood sugar levels** and reduce the energy crashes that often trigger snacking. 
Both contain glucomannan – a highly absorbable fibre from Konjac root that keeps you feeling fuller and satisfied for longer. Glucomannan is the only natural ingredient with a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)-approved health claim for weight loss support.

“The current research shows that people who stop using medical weight-loss drugs tend to regain most of their lost weight within a year. Used as part of a healthy diet, Fibre capsules and MetaboliseMe offer natural ways to support this transition more gently and effectively,” says Gabriela. 

A former model who became a nutritionist after years of hearing misleading and sometimes harmful dietary advice, Gabriela now pushes back against social pressures to meet perceived standards of perfection. “Real-life wellness means meeting yourself where you are, and making choices that are supportive, not punitive. We need to be kinder to ourselves.”

“Fibre can help you if you’re trying to lose weight, by curbing sugary cravings and keeping you fuller for longer – but many of us just don’t eat enough. I created Fibre Capsules and MetaboliseMe to help busy people take small daily steps that can make a meaningful difference. Perfection isn’t the goal, feeling good is.”

*Glucomannan is the only ingredient with an EU-approved health claim for weight loss support, and is included in both GP Nutrition’s Fibre and MetaboliseMe  supplements.

**MetaboliseMe contains chromium, which contributes to the maintenance of normal blood glucose levels. 

 About GP Nutrition and Gabriela Peacock

Gabriela Peacock qualified as a Nutritional Therapist with BSc (Hons) in Health Science from the University of Westminster and a diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition, going on to set up her first clinic in Belgravia in 2012.

She is passionate about the impact that high-quality supplements can have in every area of our lives. Sleep, immunity, fertility, energy levels, wellness and of course healthy weight loss – good nutrition is always the foundation. Wanting to help more people than she could in her clinic alone she created GP Nutrition to revolutionise and simplify the way we shop for nutrients.

Media Contact and Further Information

"Alice Rowley" <alice.rowley@4media-group.com>

Scientists Launch World’s most Comprehensive Human Virus Protein Database

Harnessing the power of AI, a research team at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research has launched Viro3D – the most comprehensive database of human and animal virus protein structure predictions in the world.

A free and searchable AI-powered database, Viro3D offers a completely new, in-depth perspective on viruses, allowing us to learn more and faster about their origins and evolution.

Although virus particles are the most abundant biological entities on our planet, these tiny structures remain among the least well-understood. Insights into the key protein structures within viruses have, until now, only been achieved through slow and laborious research work, a pace that has impacted our ability to develop treatments and vaccines at speed.

Now, in an effort to accelerate our understanding, a team of researchers, led by Dr Joe Grove at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, has harnessed the power of AI to create a new database of thousands of human and animal virus proteins.

Viro3D contains high-quality structural models for 85,000 proteins from 4,400 human and animal viruses – the largest database of complete structural models for human and animal viruses, expanding our current knowledge in this area by 30 times.

The creators of Viro3D expect the database will begin a new era for human and animal virus research, and accelerate the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines against existing endemic viruses, such as hepatitis, HIV, the common cold and COVID-19, as well as for new and emerging pandemic threats.

The database, which was recently detailed in the journal Molecular Systems Biology, has already revealed some previously unknown information on the genetic ancestry of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Data from Viro3D suggests that a key protein in SARS-CoV-2, one of the ones responsible for infection, may have originally come from a genetic exchange with an ancestral herpesvirus, the family of viruses responsible for a range of illnesses including cold sores and chickenpox.

The research team say Viro3D has the potential to generate much more information like this – on the evolutionary history and origins of viruses – for thousands of different proteins, helping to turbocharge our understanding of human and animal viruses, and in turn our ability to combat them at pace.

Dr Joe Grove, lead author from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, said:

“We are only at the beginning of understanding the enormous genetic diversity within the viral community. Viruses are as old as cellular life, having been around for billions of years.

“Viro3D provides a completely new perspective on viruses, allowing us to learn about their origins and evolution. We expect Viro3D, and artificial intelligence, to accelerate the computational design of antiviral drugs and vaccines against existing endemic viruses. We can then bring these designs back into laboratories and then to the real world.”

Proteins are the building blocks of life, performing a huge range of functions for our cells and playing critical roles in both health and disease. In order to understand how proteins work, researchers must be able to examine their three-dimensional structure.

While advances in artificial intelligence have led to the creation of general protein structure databases, such as The Alpha Fold Database and The Evolutionary Scale Modelling Metagenomic Atlas, virus proteins have so far either been excluded from prediction efforts or only included in small numbers. 

Viro3D is detailed in the study ‘Viro3D: a comprehensive database of virus protein structure predictions’. The work was funded by Wellcome, The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Medical Research Foundation.

Media Contact and Further Information

For more information contact Elizabeth McMeekin or Ali Howard in the University of Glasgow Communications and Public Affairs Office on Elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk  or ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk

Food Industry must be Held Accountable for Driving Rising Obesity and Ill Health

World leaders meet today at the UN General Assembly to discuss their response to non-communicable diseases and mental health challenges. IBFAN, FIAN International and the World Public Health Nutrition Association call for close attention to the central role of ultra-processed products in driving an epidemic of food-related ill health.

The Fourth High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-Being presents a critical opportunity to draw attention to the harm caused by ultra-processed food corporations shaping our food system.

Aggressive Marketing Pushes out Healthier Food Options

Around the world, poor quality, addictive ultra-processed products have been aggressively marketed – to the detriment of more bio-diverse traditional foods – resulting in growing obesity levels especially among children and young people. This year, for the first time, the global prevalence of obesity overtook that of underweight children.

Global production and trade of these products exacerbate the root causes of the climate crisis: transport, plastic packaging, intensive agriculture, mono-cropping, deforestation and land-and-sea-grabbing. Women and children are especially impacted by climate change, environmental pollution and depleted water levels. Infant feeding products and plastic packaging are inherently risky and often contain endocrine disrupting chemicals that impact on infants’ immune, reproductive and endocrine systems.

Unhealthy Diets

From the heavy use of agrotoxics and other chemicals to the aggressive marketing of ultra-processed “food” products (UPFs) and drinks, the industrial food system plays a central role in driving NCDS [Non-communicable Diseases], such as heart diseases and strokes, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. An estimated quarter of the 43 million deaths attributed to NCDS each year have been linked to unhealthy diets – or in other words, diets high in UPFs promoted by the food industry.

Despite the growing urgency of this public health crisis, a draft political declaration has been negotiated behind closed doors ahead of today’s meeting. This text entirely fails to include a food systems perspective or properly consider the causes of ill-health – including the role played by the food and beverage industry in pushing products that are proven to cause substantial health harm. Instead of introducing safeguards to shield health policies from corporate influence, the declaration encourages industry engagement and thereby may instead obstruct efforts to regulate these harmful products and prevent NCDS.

IBFAN, FIAN International, World Public Health Nutrition Association and other civil society networks  call on governments to incorporate a food systems perspective with strong safeguards to protect human and planetary health.

We insist that the final political declaration agreed today should provide for robust follow-up and accountability procedures that allow for the meaningful participation of public-interest civil society and rights holders. Furthermore, there must be clear and enforceable measures to prevent conflicts of interest and protect against undue influence and interference by the food and beverage industry in NCD-related policymaking at national and UN levels.

Media Contact and Further Information

"Patti Rundall" < prundall@babymilkaction.org  >

Laura Michéle, FIAN International: Michele@fian.org. 

Angela Carriedo, WPHNA:  angela_carriedo@yahoo.com

Patti Rundall, IBFAN: prundall@babymilkaction.org

Patti Rundall,  OBE

Policy Director, IBFAN Global Advocacy
Baby Milk Action/IBFAN UK, 
Cambridge   UK    
Mobile: 07786 523493
prundall@babymilkaction.org

www.babymilkaction.org
www.babymilkaction.org/news/policy
http://www.babymilkaction.org/tigers
UK Member of the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), a global network of 314 groups in 106 countries. www.ibfan.org
Member of the Conflict of Interest Coalition: 162 public interest organisations representing over 2000 NGOs, united by the common objective of safeguarding public health policy-making against commercial conflicts of interests.  The Conflict of Interest Network (COIN) is the formally constituted organisation that builds on the Conflict of Interest Statement. http://coicoalition.blogspot.com
Member of the Baby Feeding Law Group a coalition of leading health professional and lay organisations working to  bring UK and EU legislation in line with World Health Assembly Resolutions. https://www.bflg-uk.org
Patron of First Steps Nutrition Trust and independent public health nutrition charity that provides information and resources to support eating well from pre-conception to five years. www.firststepsnutrition.org
Member IBFAN’s Codex team, representative of the European Network of Childbirth Associations (ENCA) and the International Association of Consumer Food Organisations (IACFO) 

Member of the interagency collaboration on infant and young child feeding in emergencies  (IFE/IYCF-E)  A global portal to resources related to infant and young child nutrition in humanitarian contexts

Operational Guidance on Infant and Young Child Feeding in Emergencies

Become a Specialist Cancer Coach

Dr Rosy Daniel – My New Focus

Following the publication of my Springer paper ‘The Case for Integration of Health Coaching in Integrative Oncology’ in Current Oncology Reports I have decide to focus on the training of Specialist Cancer Coaches. This paper paves the way for the presence of health coaches in the heart of Oncology teams and it is time to build momentum and get you prepared for work with people diagnosed with cancer. Read the paper here.

At the same time I am approaching cancer service providers with a view to Health Creation Cancer Coaching becoming the ‘go to’ provider for health coaching for people with cancer, given my forty years’ experience in person-centred holistic cancer help. It is time to be bold and join the dots to get your help to where it so hugely needed!

Announcing the Autumn ‘Health Coaching for People with Cancer’ Module

Starting on October 18th, I will be running the 20 hour CPD module with the same Course Aims, but greatly enhanced content following all the study that our Society of Integrative Oncology and British Society of Integrative Oncology Special Interest Group made in Spring 2025. This has opened my eyes to the Global picture, and in particular the wealth of evidence there is for the power of health coaching for people with cancer to affect medical outcomes as well as having the potential to transform emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Read the course information  here.

Recruiting Now!  

If you would like to catch this new wave of focussed specialist cancer coaching, then follow the link to apply within the flyer, or you can start your application here.

If you would like to talk to me before applying with questions, then please write to support@healthcreation.co.uk  with your phone number and a good time to call you.

Contact and Further Information

"Health Creation Dr Rosy Daniel" <rosy.daniel@healthcreation.co.uk>