(Getty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhile both Mediterrnanean diet groups lost weight and saw improvements in their overall health, the polyphenol group lost more visceral fat.<\/p>\n
A unique aspect of trial 2 was that it included around 80 participants from trial 1. Some of these participants weighed more than they did at the start of the first trial. Such weight recidivism is common following weight loss. This is due to various biological and physiological functions that reduce metabolism and increase hunger, causing people to regain weight and store fat.<\/p>\n
The authors compared the people who rejoined the research project against their health and weight status at the start of trial 1. They assessed body weight and other aspects of health \u2013 including body fat and blood sugar levels. Despite the re-joiners weighing around the same (if not more) than they did at the start of trial 1, they had lower levels of abdominal fat and visceral fat five years later.<\/p>\n
Their metabolic health was also better than it was at the start of the first trial, based their blood lipid (fat) levels, cardiovascular health and blood sugar control.<\/p>\n
On the surface, this appears to be good news \u2013 suggesting participants retained some of the health benefits of the weight they lost the first time around, despite regaining the weight.<\/p>\n
Yet, the results suggest that the very adaptations which helped the re-joiners stay healthy despite regaining weight could potentially have repercussions later. To understand why this is the case requires a grasp of how the body responds to a calorie deficit.<\/p>\n
Weight loss and body fat<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n Our fat stores (known as adipose tissue) serve as our main energy (calorie) buffer when there\u2019s no food to provide that fuel. These stores are sacrificed to cover the energy shortfall, causing fat cells to shrink. Visceral fat is the first to go, followed by the more beneficial fat cell stores.<\/p>\n
But when people stop dieting, the body puts priority on regaining lost fat. Indeed, our body replenishes fat stores far more quickly than it does muscle or protein stores. More importantly, in response to this shrinkage, the body compensates by making more fat cells. It does this to help the body better cope the next time there\u2019s a fuel crisis.<\/p>\n\nAbout the author<\/h2>\nAdam Collins is an Associate Professor of Nutrition at the University of Surrey.<\/p>\n
This article was first published by The Conversation and is republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
So dieting literally makes you fatter in the long run. But thankfully, this will most likely be healthier subcutaneous fat (in the hips, thighs, buttocks and torso) instead of around the organs as harmful visceral fat.<\/p>\n
So even though you\u2019ll be carrying excess weight, you\u2019ll experience fewer of the metabolic issues caused by unwanted visceral fat \u2013 such as insulin resistance and high cholesterol, which elevate your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.<\/p>\n
But with the higher capacity to store fat comes the risk of overshooting your original weight. This may also have implications for yo-yo dieting.<\/p>\n
The weight loss cycle<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n In the paper, the re-joiners who took part in trial 2 did manage to lose weight again. But, on average, they lost slightly less than the trial\u2019s first-timers. That said, when all of the participants from trial 2 were followed up five years later, the re-joiners from trial 1 had regained less, too. They had also retained more of the health benefits of losing weight.<\/p>\n
Taking stock of the whole weight-loss journey, it appears that those who regained weight and then joined trial 2 are at a comparable place at the end of ten years to those who just did trial 1.<\/p>\n
But there are a few caveats to the trial\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n
\n
\n<\/div>
The paper shows us that weight loss is still beneficial for your health \u2013 even if it requires a few attempts to get to your goal weight (Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nFirst, the paper only examined body fat. It didn\u2019t provide any information on lean tissue (such as muscle). This is important, as when we lose weight we lose both fat and muscle. Given muscle\u2019s importance for a healthy metabolism, a lack of muscle could result in even greater weight gain.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not clear whether regaining weight changes the nature of muscle tissue. There are two key types of muscle fibre. Type 1 is smaller and more efficient at burning fat. Type 2 is larger, faster and more powerful \u2013 important for explosive exercise.<\/p>\n
If an overall loss of muscle results in muscle fibres changing from type 1 to type 2, this could increase risk of health problems \u2013 including sarcopenic obesity and earlier onset of age-related health issues associated with muscle loss.<\/p>\n
Overall, the paper shows us that weight loss is still beneficial for your health \u2013 even if it requires a few attempts to get to your goal weight. But to avoid potentially gaining more weight the second time around, it\u2019s key to establish good diet and lifestyle changes that are sustainable long-term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more The only thing harder than losing weight is keeping it off. Many people who lose weight find themselves stuck in the cycle of \u201cyo-yo dieting\u201d \u2013 losing weight and gaining it all (and sometimes more) back again. Research on yo-yo dieting has long indicated it can be harmful for your health. But a recent paper has now suggested yo-yo dieting might not be as unhealthy as we\u2019ve been led to believe. This recent paper, published in BMC Medicine, presents the findings of two separate weight loss trials that were conducted five years apart. The first trial (trial 1) looked at 278 participants who were overweight or obese. Participants were randomised to follow either a low-fat or low-carb Mediterranean diet \u2013 either with or without exercise. All participants lost a comparable amount of weight at the end of the 18-month trial. But those who incorporated exercise achieved the biggest decrease in visceral fat (a dangerous type of fat that is stored around the organs). The second trial (trial 2) was conducted five years later. Si…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}