It's working for me. I weigh less right now than I did at the beginning of college ~6 years ago, because I started tracking what I ate and staying below my basal requirements. Losing weight is hard, but it's not complicated. A 500 calorie deficit per day only has you losing something like 1 pound a week.
I agree with you, but we also know for a fact that it's harder for some people to lose weight than for others. This might be part of it and that's why I think that's why this research is relevant and exciting.
Life isn't fair, and in my opinion research like this takes away from the core problem of 'You have a shit diet' because it gives an out. 'I don't have enough copper in my body to lose weight like you do.' or 'I don't have enough copper, that's why I'm fat' instead of 'I like to deal with stress by eating a block of cream cheese dipped in cane sugar every other day' WHY someone has a shit diet is a very important question. Much more important than the copper content of their blood/various tissues.it's harder for some people to lose weight than for others.
From what I have gathered in my experience, and putting myself as an example, it's because people have no idea that eating healthy and doing own meals takes less time when given some practice and guidelines than eating unhealthy. Before I have started making all of my meals I was one of those "I'll just buy a frozen pizza" types. Then I have discovered that by the time I'm waiting for oven to heat up I can make myself a god-damned spinach + veggies pot pie for next three days! For almost the same amount of money that I would spend for one frozen pizza. Maybe I'm just blessed by shitty oven in the dorm's kitchen, but it was a shocking discovery that largely made me pursue various cooking techniques and recipes. Right now I can make myself food for a week in advance for, comparatively, pennies. So it saves time, money and turned out to be much more healthy. Perhaps actual cooking lessons in schools that focus on making fast day-to-day meals could be more beneficial than some of the alternative public campaigns. I never had any weight to lose (if anything I'm a bit underweight), but I do feel better ever since I have stopped eating crap.WHY someone has a shit diet is a very important question. Much more important than the copper content of their blood/various tissues.
You could apply the exact same reasoning to lung cancer research. Just because many people could avoid getting lung cancer by not smoking doesn't mean we shouldn't look for a cure. Note that I am not defending all the fat people who make up excuses for being fat. But I'm all for making it easier to lose weight and stay fit.
If you get diabetes from obesity, it's too late to reverse that condition, so it's a bit similar. Same thing if you get a heart attack or a stroke. Anyways, it was just an example. My point is that the fact that there is an existing way to fight obesity doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make that process easier.
Very interesting results. It's important that this study was performed using a mouse model, so it has yet to be confirmed in humans. But still, very interesting. Note: there is a link to the original publication at the bottom of the article: http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchembio.2098.html