A Mechanism Behind the Yo-Yo Effect

 

The yo-yo effect in dieting is something that has been observed for a long time- someone tries to lose weight but gains it all back right after the diet. Recently, scientists have discovered a mechanism behind the yo-yo effect that could help explain why it occurs. By analyzing fat cells from overweight mice and of mice that lost weight through dieting, it was revealed that obesity leads to characteristic epigenetic changes in the nuclei of the fat cells. These changes were found to have remained even after the loss of weight, where the cells remember the overweight state and find it easier to return to it. The mice with those epigenetic markers were able to gain the weight back faster when they resumed a high fat diet. A similar study was carried out on humans and the results were found to be consistent with the mice study.

In my opinion, this is a study that has produced useful information. By discovering a mechanism for why the yo-yo effect occurs on the molecular level, we can better understand how and why it occurs in humans. We could perform more research on this topic in order to potentially develop strategies to prevent it from happening to people who are trying to lose weight and keep it off. This study could have many benefits for many of these people.

DNA Dieting

It's no question obesity is an issue in our society. Putting aside the "loving your body" movement, there is an undeniable line that you can cross where, no matter how much you love your own body, excess weight becomes unhealthy. But can super effective diets be tailored to each person based on their DNA? Turns out, no, it can't be done. Despite earlier studies claiming certain variations in genetic code improve one's ability to lose weight via a low carb OR low fat type of diet, this nucleotide nutrition regimen is not a legitimate one. A study completed in February of this year pretty clearly showed that in a large sample size of well educated(dieting-wise), overweight adults, that when assigned either a low carb or low fat, their weight loss progress and type of diet did not match up with their PPARG, ADRB2, and FABP2 genes variants (which are involved in processes such as fat and carbohydrate metabolism). That is, given that about half of each set of people with "low fat diet genes" and "low carb diet genes" ended up being given a type of diet which corresponded with their genes. And out of all of those people, none of them exhibited any noticeable increase in weight loss compared to the rest of their group. So if you came to this post looking for the cure to your dieting woes, I'm sorry for misleading you, but you'll have to keep looking for your dream diet elsewhere. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/matching-dna-to-a-diet-does-not-work/