Ever wondered why losing weight and then maintaining your reduced weight is such a tough job? It seems losing weight brings about hormonal changes in the body which increase the appetite and bring back the fat which you had lost with so much difficulty.
Anyone who has ever made a serious effort to lose a significant amount of weight knows that it's easy to get started. Even the tiniest of lifestyle changes, in the form of a modest cut in calorie intake or slightly increased physical activity, can lead to results very quickly. "I don't know what all the fuss is about," people might think. "Losing weight is easy."
Then it becomes harder as you reach a plateau, or you get incredibly bored of your strict diet and workout regime. You stick with it till the bitter end and reach your goal weight. Congrats! What now? Well, you discover that you haven't made it to the end of a long journey, but you're standing at the precipice of a new one. Keeping the weight off is harder than getting it off in the first place. Why?
Hormones Play an Important Role in Regaining the Weight You Lost After so much Effort
Have you noticed that the extra fat on your body is so stubborn? You starve yourself off your favorite food, spend hours in the gym, and fight those food cravings for ages, only to shed a few pounds or see your waistline go down by a few inches. And even before you can flaunt your enviable figure, the fat is back to where it belongs.
For a long time, doctors as well as laymen have blamed your unhealthy eating habits for this tendency to relapse. However, now a study has proven that not all the blame lies with you. Your hormones play an important role in regaining the weight you lost after so much effort.
A study published in the October issue of the New England Journal of Medicine shows that hormones which stimulate your appetite, increase after diet induced weight loss, and do not revert to their previous state even after a long time. These circulating hormones are the main culprit behind the obesity relapse. Moreover, the obese patients have a higher “set point” of body weight and the body fights back any efforts to reduce the weight beyond this point. Once a person loses weight, many compensatory mechanisms are activated in the body for at least a year, which encourage weight gain.
Only 34 participants could complete the 10 week weight loss program in which they lost 30 lbs of weight on an average. At the end of 10 weeks, it was seen that the levels of leptin and insulin showed a significant reduction compared to the baseline levels. There was a significant increase in the levels of ghrelin. These changes in the levels of hormones persisted even after the completion of one year following the weight loss program.
The researchers were surprised to notice that a loss of weight is followed by a corresponding increase in appetite. The urge to eat seemed to increase both at the end of 10 weeks as well as after one year compared to the appetite at the beginning of the study. This increase in appetite led to a regain of the lost weight, even though the participants remained on a maintenance diet.
Hence, the next time you regain weight after losing it through a diet induced weight loss program, blame it on your hormones.
For a long time, doctors as well as laymen have blamed your unhealthy eating habits for this tendency to relapse. However, now a study has proven that not all the blame lies with you. Your hormones play an important role in regaining the weight you lost after so much effort.
A study published in the October issue of the New England Journal of Medicine shows that hormones which stimulate your appetite, increase after diet induced weight loss, and do not revert to their previous state even after a long time. These circulating hormones are the main culprit behind the obesity relapse. Moreover, the obese patients have a higher “set point” of body weight and the body fights back any efforts to reduce the weight beyond this point. Once a person loses weight, many compensatory mechanisms are activated in the body for at least a year, which encourage weight gain.
A Loss of Weight is followed by a Corresponding Increase in Appetite
The study, led by Dr. Joseph Proietto, from the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Australia, enrolled 50 overweight patients for a 10 week weight loss program. All the patients were without diabetes. They were put on a very low energy diet. The circulating levels of leptin, ghrelin, insulin, and other hormones related to appetite and satiation were measured at three points of the study, namely, at baseline (at the start of the weight loss program), at 10 weeks, i.e. when the program got completed, and one year after the completion of weight loss program. The researchers also measured the desire to eat in each participant at 10 weeks and after one year.Only 34 participants could complete the 10 week weight loss program in which they lost 30 lbs of weight on an average. At the end of 10 weeks, it was seen that the levels of leptin and insulin showed a significant reduction compared to the baseline levels. There was a significant increase in the levels of ghrelin. These changes in the levels of hormones persisted even after the completion of one year following the weight loss program.
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The researchers were surprised to notice that a loss of weight is followed by a corresponding increase in appetite. The urge to eat seemed to increase both at the end of 10 weeks as well as after one year compared to the appetite at the beginning of the study. This increase in appetite led to a regain of the lost weight, even though the participants remained on a maintenance diet.
Hence, the next time you regain weight after losing it through a diet induced weight loss program, blame it on your hormones.
Sources & Links
- “Study Shows Why It’s Hard to Keep Weight Off”, by Gina Kolata, The New York Times, published on October 26, 2011, accessed on November 17, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/health/biological-changes-thwart-weight-loss-efforts-study-finds.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
- “Long-Term Persistence of Hormonal Adaptations to Weight Loss”, by Joseph Proietto, et al, New England Journal of Medicine, published on October 27, 2011, accessed on November 17, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816
- “Hunger Hormones May Be Dieters' Worst Enemy”, by Kristina Fiore, Medpage Today, published on October 26, 2011, accessed on November 17, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/Obesity/29298?xid=ob_&utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=endo_rss
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