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Why Weight Maintenance Matters More Than Ever: The Science of Staying Steady

August 24, 2026

If maintaining a healthy weight feels harder now than it did ten years ago, you're not imagining it.

Many people find that even when they're eating well and staying active, their weight can slowly creep up over time. As we get older, natural changes in the body can make it harder to stay at the weight that once felt easier to manage.

That's why researchers are asking a different question.

Instead of focusing only on losing weight, they're looking at how we can help people maintain a healthy weight for longer.

Because staying at a healthy weight isn't just about what you eat or how much you exercise. It's also about supporting the body's natural signals that affect hunger, cravings and how it uses energy.

Understanding these changes can help explain why weight maintenance becomes more challenging with age and what you can do to support your health over the long term.

Two ingredients attracting attention in this area are Akkermansia muciniphila MucT® and Capsifen™. Found in Inner Health Metabolism & Weight with Akkermansia, these ingredients may help support two of the biggest challenges of long-term weight maintenance: Food cravings and healthy metabolism. In this article, we explain the science behind how they work.

Why Cravings Can Make Weight Maintenance So Hard

For many people, the biggest challenge when it comes to maintaining healthy weight is staying on top of food cravings: The feeling of ‘always thinking about food’, and the mental struggle that can make maintaining weight feel harder than it should.

Researchers sometimes refer to this as food noise. This is where Capsifen™ may help.

Meet Capsifen™ for Food Cravings

Capsifen™ is a capsicum extract made from compounds naturally found in chilli.⁶˒¹⁰˒¹¹ Unlike traditional chilli extracts, Capsifen™ is designed to be gentle on digestion and easy to absorb.¹⁰

Clinical studies suggest Capsifen™ may support in weight maintenance. ⁶˒¹¹ In a 28-day study, Capsifen™ was associated with:⁶

A 22.3% less food cravings which led to
A 2% reduction in body weight and body mass index (BMI), with less mid-section abdominal weight.

For many people, this is an important piece of the puzzle.

Because maintaining weight is not only about what happens in the body. It's also about managing the thoughts and behaviours that influence food choices.

Beyond Cravings: Capsifen™ For Supporting Healthy Metabolism

Capsifen™ does more than support cravings and appetite. Research also shows it may help support the body's natural process of producing heat and burning energy to support healthy weight maintenance.¹¹

In one study, Capsifen™ significantly increased energy expenditure.¹¹ After 28 days:

It increased calorie burning by 300 kcal at rest, equivalent to a medium-size snack, like a banana and a small tub of Greek yoghurt. ¹¹
And when combined with exercise, it burned a further 330 calories (equivalent to another medium-size snack!).¹¹

But cravings and calorie burning are only part of the story. Researchers are now uncovering another important piece of the puzzle: gut health. And that's where Akkermansia comes in.¹˒²

Click here for more information on Inner Health Metabolism & Weight with Akkermansia.

Introducing Akkermansia and Why Your Gut Could Hold the Missing Piece

most people think about metabolism, they think about controlling the calories they eat. But metabolism is much more complex than that.

It's the network of processes that help your body:

Respond appropriately to hunger signals
Store or burn energy from carbohydrates, sugars and fat
Maintain a healthy weight

Many of these processes are closely linked to gut health.² This is where Akkermansia really shines.

Meet Akkermansia: The Gut Health Ingredient Everyone Is Talking About

Akkermansia muciniphila is a beneficial bacterium naturally found in the gut microbiome. It makes up around 1%–4% of gut microbes.¹˒²

Researchers are especially interested in Akkermansia because its levels tend to decrease with age and in body with excess body weight.²˒⁵

Found within the protective mucus layer of the gut, Akkermansia helps support:

Gut barrier health²⁻⁴
Metabolic health²˒³˒⁷
Healthy weight maintenance⁸

A healthy gut barrier helps support communication between the gut and your metabolism.³˒⁴ In simple terms, Akkermansia helps support important systems that keep the body working in balance.

Why Researchers Are Interested in Akkermansia

Studies show that people with higher levels of Akkermansia are less likely to experience health problems linked to poor metabolic health. Researchers believe this may be because Akkermansia helps support healthy blood sugar control and insulin function, both of which play an important role in maintaining a healthy weight.⁵

In one study, people taking Akkermansia needed about one-third less of their own natural insulin after three months, while also responding better to it. This suggests their bodies were managing blood sugar more efficiently, a key sign of a healthy metabolism. ⁷

This is important because metabolism is about more than calories, cravings or eating less. It also includes how well the body uses energy and responds to important signals like insulin. When these systems are working efficiently, it can help support a healthy weight.

The benefits may also extend to people who have lost weight in pursuit of health and wellbeing. In a study, people who took Akkermansia MucT® after completing a strict diet, they regained 58% less weight than those taking a placebo over 6 months.⁸

Together, these findings suggest that supporting beneficial bacteria like Akkermansia may help maintain a healthy metabolism and make long-term weight maintenance easier.

Better Together: Why Akkermansia and Capsifen™ Make Sense

Although both ingredients support healthy weight maintenance, they do so in different ways.

Akkermansia MucT® supports:

Gut microbiome health¹˒²
Weight-loss maintenance¹˒³˒⁷˒⁸

Capsifen™ supports:

Managing food cravings.⁶
Energy and calorie burning¹¹

Akkermansia MucT® and Capsifen™ support the systems involved in long-term weight maintenance.

Because when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight, long-term success is often about supporting food cravings and appetite regulation, metabolism, gut health and together.

And that may be one of the most powerful weight-maintenance strategies yet.

Eager to learn more about Akkermansia MucT® and Capsifen™? Click here for more information on Inner Health Metabolism & Weight with Akkermansia.