I think the timing of this article is
on target. The holiday season is here and the food seems more carb
or calorie laden than usual. Specialty breads, cakes, and other carb
dense foods are everywhere you turn. As people with diabetes, you
may want to think long and hard about the food you chose to eat.
According to new research, if you diet for a period of time and then
eat more for a few days, your brain interprets repeated dieting as
short famines, prompting the body to store more fat for futures food
shortages, resulting in weight gain.
The study, published in the journal
Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, was led by Prof. Andrew
Higginson, from the University of Exeter, and Prof. John McNamara, of
the University of Bristol, both in the United Kingdom.
Keeping weight in check is a health
benefit; compared with people of a healthy weight, people who are
obese are at increased risk for many diseases. For instance, the
risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease,
and stroke are all higher in the obese population. More than
one-third of adults in the United States are obese, so keeping weight
at a healthy level is a major priority from a public health
perspective.
Although shedding holiday pounds may be
a popular focus for many of us in January, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), say that people who lose weight
gradually - about 1-2 pounds per week - are more successful at
keeping the weight off.
Previous studies have investigated the
negative health effects of yo-yo dieting. One study recently
presented by the American Heart Association suggested that yo-yo
dieting increases the risk of heart disease death.
For the latest study on yo-yo dieting,
the researchers utilized a mathematical model of animals, such as
birds, that know when food is in abundance or is scarce but do not
know when the situation will change. The researchers note that
animals respond to food shortages by storing energy and gaining
weight.
Their model demonstrates that when food
is in short supply, much like during a phase of dieting, an efficient
animal will gain excess weight between periods of food shortage.
Prof. Higginson says, "Our model
predicts that the average weight gain for dieters will actually be
greater than those who never diet. This happens because non-dieters
learn that the food supply is reliable so there is less need for the
insurance of fat stores." Prof. McNamara adds that their model
"shows that weight gain does not mean people's physiology is
malfunctioning or that they are being overwhelmed by unnaturally
sweet tastes." It could be that their brain is working
normally, "but uncertainty about the food supply triggers the
evolved response to gain weight," he adds.
The researchers say their model shows
that the desire to eat increases as a diet continues and this desire
will not go away as weight is gained. This is because the brain
thinks that further famines are likely. The model may explain why
many people get into a cycle of weight gain in the wake of
increasingly restrictive diets; it only serves to communicate to the
brain that it must store fat.
For those of us who over-indulge during
the holiday season, however, what is the best way to lose weight?
"The best thing for weight loss is to take it steady. Our work
suggests that eating only slightly less than you should, all the
time, and doing physical exercise is much more likely to help you
reach a healthy weight than going on low-calorie diets," says
Prof. Andrew Higginson, University of Exeter
The CDC offers some good advice for
healthy weight loss. Because 1 pound equals 3,500 calories, they
recommend reducing caloric intake by 500-1,000 calories per day to
lose 1-2 pounds per week. Once a healthy weight is achieved, the CDC
says to rely on healthful eating and physical activity most days of
the week to keep the weight off over the long term.
Even a modest weight loss will confer
health benefits, such as improvements in blood pressure, blood
cholesterol, and blood sugars, the organization adds.
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