go on a dramatic weightloss Dieting when you’re not obese could actually harm your health years later, a major study suggests.
People who were already quite thin and lost 10 pounds (4.5 kg) had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes a decade later compared to their peers who didn’t follow an extreme diet.
They were also more likely to gain weight later in life, according to research from Harvard University.
The scientists called their results “surprising”.
But they believed that lean people who underwent drastic weight loss had higher levels of hunger hormones, making them more likely to crave junk food.
Many skinny people try to lose fat in hopes of achieving ‘Instagram’-style washboard abs or a more toned physique.
But the Harvard team is now warning that crash diets for weight loss should be used only by those who ‘medically need them’.
The results also showed that lean people who lost weight by following a fad diet or commercial weight-loss program were more likely to gain weight later in life.
About 40 percent of American adults are overweight, but a to study found that up to half of women and 20 percent of men who are thin believe they also fall into this category.
The graph above shows weight change after ten years in people who were considered thin (blue bars) or obese (red bars) at the start of the study and experienced extreme weight loss of up to 9.9 pounds (4.5 kg). ). It is divided into the method used to lose weight (the left column shows the labels) and the amount of weight lost or regained over ten years compared to people in the same group who did not attempt extreme weight loss. All of those in the lean group who attempted extreme weight loss regained more weight than their peers, up to 17 pounds (7.7 kg) more, the study says. But in the obese group, four of the groups managed to maintain more weight ten years later, with up to four pounds (1.2 kg) less
Many skinny people try to cut their weight with the goal of achieving washboard abs and toned “Instagram-ready” bodies. But scientists warned that this was bad for their health.
In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers analyzed data from 200,000 healthy Americans collected between 1988 and 2017.
Nine out of ten participants were women.
They were divided by body mass index (BMI) into those who were lean (in the healthy or underweight range), overweight, or obese.
Each was then divided into two groups: those who lost 9.9 pounds (lb) (or 4.5 kilograms, kg), over a four-year period, and those who didn’t.
Weight watchers were also asked how they lost weight and were divided into seven groups: a low-calorie diet; exercise; low-calorie diet plus exercise; fast; commercial weight loss program; diet pills and a combination of fasting, commercial and diet pills.
The scientists then looked at the participants’ medical records for another 10 years, on average.
Among lean people, those on an extreme diet gained 4.4 to 17 pounds (2 to 7.7 kg) more than their peers.
But among obese people, those who followed four of the programs (low-calorie diet, exercise, low-calorie diet and exercise, and fasting) lost an additional 3.5 to 1.3 pounds (1.2 to 0.5 kg ) than their peers.
The scientists also looked at the participants’ diabetes risk.
Lean people who went through dramatic weight loss were up to 54 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than their peers.
But obese adults who followed a strict weight-loss program at some point in their lives were less likely to develop diabetes than their peers.
Dr Qi Sun, a Harvard epidemiologist who led the study, said: “We were a bit surprised when we first saw the positive associations of weight loss attempts with faster weight gain and increased risk of type diabetes. 2 among skinny people.”
“However, we now know that such observations are supported by the biology that unfortunately leads to adverse health outcomes when lean people intentionally attempt to lose weight.
“The good news is that people with obesity will clearly benefit from losing a few pounds, and the health benefits last even when the weight loss is temporary.”
He said the weight loss likely led to biological changes in lean people that put them at greater risk of packing on the pounds later on.
It can raise levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin, which makes someone hungry more often.
This may also make people more likely to seek out salty or sugary foods because it activates the region of the brain associated with rewards.
Similarly, the researchers warned that more fat cells, which release ghrelin, can be stored in lean people to increase levels of the hormone.
At the same time, rapid weight loss is thought to lead to lower levels of anorexigenic hormones, such as leptin, which help suppress hunger.
Studies also suggest that being skinny makes people move less as a way to conserve energy, making it harder to burn calories.
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