The Checkup: Competition and Cash Are a Great Combo for Weight Loss, Penn Study Finds

Which is probably why The Biggest Loser is still on the air.

• If someone offered to pay you money to lose weight, would you do it? What if you were competing against someone else for the financial reward? A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania found that cash and competition are perfect bedfellows when it comes to motivating people to lose weight. In a six-month study, which used 105 subjects from our own Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, subjects were divided into three groups: one in which individuals received $100 a month for reaching weight-loss goals; one in which people were pitted against others in a group, and were rewarded with $100 for reaching their weight-loss goals plus the balance of the funds for those in their group who didn’t; and a group of controls, who weren’t given any financial or competition incentives. In the end, subjects in the second group lost and kept off the most weight, an average of 10.5 pounds—more than twice what those in the first group lost and nine times what the controls lost. Awesome, right? The Los Angeles Times has more.

• Imagine: a sleeping pill that doesn’t leave you feeling groggy the next day. Researchers say such wonder-pills may be just around the corner. More here.

• Well, this is interesting. Someone made vodka made out of milk. No joke.