FDA clears new weight loss capsules that help you feel more full

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WPVI) -- The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the sale of a new type of weight loss product - one designed to make you more full at meal time.

Plenity is a prescription product. It is capsule with hydrogel particles which expand in the stomach after the capsule is swallowed.

The particles aren't absorbed into the body, but pass through the intestines. Plenity is for adults with a body mass index over 25.

In trials, Plenity users were twice as likely to lose at least 5% of their weight than those taking a placebo, or dummy capsule.

And 59% of the users lost at least 5% of their weight, 26% were described as "super-responders" who lost at least 10% of their weight. People in that group lost an average of 15% or approximately 30 pounds.

Plenity is to be used with diet and exercise, not alone.

With nearly half the country overweight or obese, there's been pressure on the medical community to develop new weight loss options.

The company plans to begin selling Plenity in the second half of 2019.