• Okay, so it’s not quite as simple as sending a tweet and—poof!—a pound is gone. But in a recent study, researchers found that people who used the social networking site to post updates about their weight loss were able to shed more pounds than those who didn’t. A team at the University of South Carolina followed 96 obese or overweight men and women for six months. The volunteers, all of whom owned a smartphone or other mobile device (think: iPad), were divided into two groups: one which received bi-weekly health Podcasts, and one which received Podcasts and were asked to post Twitter updates about their weight loss. At the end of the study, the people in the latter group lost more weight—about half a pound more for every 10 Tweets. Why? The researchers say it has to do with the ongoing engagement—you know, the more you talk about your goal, the more likely you are to achieve it. Prevention.com has more. (Psst! Follow Be Well Philly on Twitter here!)

• Speaking of Twitter, NPR has a story about what’s appropriate and what’s not when it comes to doctors sharing things on social media—you know, like pictures of a passed-out college who got drunk at the hospital holiday party.

• Have a food allergy? A seriously cool smartphone device could allow users to test food for allergens on the spot, ScienceDaily reports. So say goodbye to sneaky peanuts and gluten!

• I was immediately horrified when I read a post on Jezebel yesterday about a new weight-loss gadget called the AspireAssist Aspiration Therapy System. It works like this: users stuff themselves silly with whatever food they want, then, 20 minutes later, they pump their own stomachs (!!!!) before the calories absorb, thereby losing weight. But that’s not what made me gasp at my computer. What elicited a shriek from this health editor was realizing that the AspireAssist is the pet project of a King of Prussia-based company called Aspire Bariatrics, which is currently seeking U.S. patent for the contraption. The device was actually invented by Segway creator Dean Kamen, and it requires first having a valve surgically implanted in your stomach. Then, whenever you want to suck out the food you’ve just eaten, you hook up a tube and pump away, a process that supposedly takes between 5 and 10 minutes. According to the Aspire Bariatrics website, the AspireAssist “allows patients to remove about 30% of the food from the stomach” and should be used three times a day at first, reducing frequency as weight loss occurs. Guys, I could not make this up if I wanted to; Jezebel goes so far as to call it a “bulimia machine,” and I have to admit, that doesn’t seem too far off. Read more at the company’s website. Or better yet, watch the video below to see for yourself how it works.

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• If losing weight is on your New Year’s resolution list, listen up: You may not need to shed as many pounds as you think. A new analysis of three million adults from around the world found those who were a few pounds overweight actually lived longer than normal-weight peers. While obesity was linked to a much higher risk for early death—as much as 29 percent, depending on a person’s level of obesity—people whose BMIs landed them in the “overweight” category actually faced a six percent lower risk of death compared to normal-weight people. Researchers aren’t sure why, but they have their guesses. Some examples: perhaps overweight people head to the doctor sooner when health issues arise, or maybe the extra weight means they get screened more frequently for medical conditions. It’s important to note, as HealthDay does, that “while the study found an association between weight and premature death risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.” Also, before you start stuffing your face with cookies and cake, remember that overweight and obesity carry higher risks for scary medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes. (This tidbit, incidentally, is why some people are calling the study “rubbish.”) In other words, don’t abandon your New Year’s weight-loss plans just yet.

• If you need a reason to lay off sweets or processed food, here’s one: a small new study found that the simple sugar fructose—yup, that one in high fructose corn syrup—messes with your body’s hormones and actually makes you feel less full than other kinds of sugars. Read more here.

• Do this right now: blink your eyes. Feel better? New research found that blinking helps the brain “power down” for super-quick catnaps, helping it rest and recharge. The LA Times has more.

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