Can Dieting Actually Lead to Long-Term Weight Loss?

[JohnS]

Indeed. It's the question a great majority of us will ask ourselves once we past mid-age and our metabolism slows down. Exactly how can we get back to looking like we did in our twenties? Why is it that when I lose weight now that I'm older, it comes back on down the track? Am I fighting the genetic predisposition I inherited? Questions, questions, questions...

One thing I do know, (and yes I am sounding a bit like the ancient Greek Philosopher, Socrates here) is that there seemingly is an annual need on our forum for a 'Fat Bastard' competition. That there is no doubt!

Semaglutide is an antidiabetic medication used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and an anti-obesity medication used for long-term weight management. You may know it as Ozempic in its injectable form, Rybelsus in its pill form for diabetes, and under the brand name Wegovy for weight loss. Will this transform our weight concerns in the future?

In the meantime, check out the article on Dieting and Long-term Weight loss below...

Can Dieting Actually Lead to Long-Term Weight Loss?

We asked experts to explain what diets can (and can’t) do for our health.

Derek Brahney

By Alice Callahan

Jan. 11, 2024

Dieting has long been viewed as the path to smaller bodies and better health. Stick to the right diet, the $75 billion U.S. weight loss industry may have you think, and you, too, can lose weight and keep it off.

The rise of new weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound has highlighted just how ineffective dieting has been for the millions of people who have tried it. In a 2021 clinical trial of semaglutide (the active ingredient in Wegovy), for example, those taking the medication lost about 15 percent of their body weight in a little over a year, while those relying on just diet and exercise dropped only about 2 percent.

But there are many people who want to lose a few pounds for whom weight loss drugs are not the right choice. For those people, is old-fashioned dieting a good option?

We asked some experts to help explain what dieting can — and can’t — do for you.

Can a diet help you lose weight?

In the short term, diets do seem to help most people lose at least a small amount of weight, whether it’s a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet or just plain calorie restriction, said Dr. Ellen Schur, the director of the University of Washington Nutrition and Obesity Research Center.

But individual results can vary. In one 2018 clinical trial, for example, researchers asked 600 people to follow either a low-fat or a low-carb diet for one year. While most participants lost weight — on average, 5 to 6 percent of their body weight (or 12 to 13 pounds) — about 15 percent gained weight during the study, and a few lost as many as 50 to 60 pounds.

It’s common, though, for people’s weight loss to plateau at around six to eight months, after which they are at risk of regaining that weight, said Dr. Maria Collazo-Clavell, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic. Research suggests that most people return to their previous weight within about four years.

For those who are successful at keeping their weight off, it’s not clear if it’s because of their genetics, health history or simply their life circumstances, such as having a supportive partner, a stable job or time to cook, said Kevin Hall, a nutrition and metabolism scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Why doesn’t the weight stay off?

When you lose weight, your body responds by increasing your appetite and reducing the number of calories you burn, Dr. Hall said.

He and others have estimated that for every two pounds of weight you lose, your metabolism slows by about 25 calories per day, and your appetite increases by about 95 calories per day. So in other words, if you lose 20 pounds, your body will burn roughly 250 calories less each day while craving about 950 calories more.

To maintain your weight loss through dieting over time, you’ll have to continue eating less while resisting a rising appetite and slower metabolism, which is “increasingly difficult,” Dr. Schur said.

The drive to eat more is so strong because our brains “sense that our energy stores are being depleted,” she added, and “that’s a threat to our survival.”

The new weight loss drugs prevent weight regain in part by reducing normal appetite signals, Dr. Collazo-Clavell said. But when people stop taking the drugs, the weight returns, probably for the same reasons described above.

Are there health risks associated with dieting for weight loss?

Dieting often results in cycles of weight loss and regain, and some research has suggested that this can be harmful, said Kendrin Sonneville, an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Some, but not all, studies have found that weight fluctuation is associated with earlier death, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and depression; however, these studies sometimes include people who have lost and regained weight because of health problems, not just from dieting.

“There’s not conclusive evidence that it’s harmful to go up and down,” Dr. Schur said, but there is debate about the possibility.

Dr. Sonneville also worries that dieting may put some people at risk of developing an eating disorder. Anecdotally, many people with eating disorders say that their conditions began with dieting, she said. While clinical weight loss trials have not borne this out, those studies have had many limitations and have not fully assessed how dieting affects “people’s relationship with food and their bodies in the long term,” Dr. Sonneville said, so more research is needed.

Most people who diet don’t develop an eating disorder, Dr. Sonneville said, but even then, their relationships with food can deteriorate if they start “prioritizing weight and nutrition over joy and culture and connection.”

If you have a difficult relationship with food and your body, or if you have experienced binge eating or another eating disorder, Dr. Schur said, it is more important to focus on a healthy relationship with food than on your weight.

If dieting doesn’t work, what should we do?

People sometimes think that if they just “grit their teeth and white-knuckle it through” a diet to lose 10 or 20 pounds, “they can start to relax,” Dr. Hall said. “That’s the wrong way to think about it.”

If you want to change the way you eat in order to lose weight, you have to sustain those changes “for the rest of your life,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re going to regain the weight.” Given that, consider making healthy changes that you can stick with, he said.

If you consume a lot of ultraprocessed foods, reducing your intake can be a sustainable approach. Short-term research has shown that those who consume mostly ultraprocessed foods tend to eat more and gain more weight than those who consume minimally processed foods, though Dr. Hall acknowledged that a lack of time, money and access to whole foods are all potential barriers to making this change.

Dr. Collazo-Clavell suggested adopting a Mediterranean eating pattern, which focuses on healthy fats, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fruits and vegetables. Taking time to eat at least two or three square meals each day can help you feel full and be less likely to overeat at the end of the day, she added. And avoid eating within three hours of going to bed, which is associated with weight gain.

Getting regular physical activity can also help with keeping the weight off and has many other benefits, including a longer life and a lower risk of dementia, Dr. Schur said.

Ayana Habtemariam, a dietitian in Arlington, Va., encourages her clients — many of whom have spent decades dieting — to practice intuitive eating. This involves tuning in to your body’s hunger and fullness cues more deeply, and redefining success so that you can feel happy and confident regardless of your size, she said.

All of the experts we spoke with agreed on one point: People will benefit from adopting healthy habits, “even if they don’t lose a pound,” Dr. Collazo-Clavell said.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/well/eat/dieting-weight-loss.html

[ha_banos]

I'm a believer we (I mean me, but this makes me weep a bit less) just eat/drink too much of the wrong $h!t nowadays. We can't even control what we eat much of the time - if we are concerned about health/weight.

The only time I lose fat - I don't want too lose muscle - is to stop drinking alcohol (ok, um, well just reduce it to a couple of evenings a week... ) and cut back on the processed foods. I exercise for 3 hours or so a week on my sedate work/lifestyle. I just always revert back to lazy/convenient eating as the majority diet.

Look at the bodybuilders (not saying they are all healthy! drugs!) - they can eat 3-10,000 calories a day. They don't burn off the calories! The only people that do burn off calories are those that exercise many many more hours. We're not simple therodynamic machines. We're chemical/homonal complexities.

Sure eat less you will waste away. But don't neglect body composition. And don't 'go back'.

 

Eddie Abbew is on a rampage against the fitness industry at the moment! lol Go Eddie! Eat real food!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1mjuuBoS_S/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

[Namisgr11]

Although they may well be in the minority, some people do lose weight and keep it off for the long term. Often, the success involves a medical issue or scare and a set of lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, and relaxation (stress reduction) that collectively are more effective than dieting alone. The motivation that comes from having a heart attack, a stroke, or diagnoses of atherosclerosis, morbid obesity, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, mid-stage chronic kidney disease, etc. is enough to keep some people on track long haul.

[JohnS]

4 hours ago, Namisgr11 said:

Often, the success involves a medical issue or scare and a set of lifestyle changes including diet, exercise, and relaxation (stress reduction) that collectively are more effective than dieting alone. The motivation that comes from having a heart attack, a stroke, or diagnoses of atherosclerosis, morbid obesity, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, mid-stage chronic kidney disease, etc. is enough to keep some people on track long haul.

Well said. I know @El Presidente is an inspiration (at least for me) on this point after his health issue a few years ago. He dieted (at that time to slim down) but he espouses stress reduction also via daily walking and exercise too. No doubt, he may 'weigh-in' on this topic.

As for me, I've had my times in my life where I've lost weight and regained it later on. Sometimes, it has taken years so I'm not feeling too hard on myself. Right now, I'm not too bad, but I know I need to make changes (i.e. to diet and more importantly exercise) otherwise, I can't improve in this area.

[Fugu]

Leave out sugar and you’re 95% there! Often the cause for other issues, too.

[JohnS]

2 minutes ago, Fugu said:

Leave out sugar and you’re 95% there! Often the cause for other issues, too.

Yes, cutting down as much as one can on processed foods. Indeed!

[Fugu]

1 minute ago, JohnS said:

Yes, cutting down as much as one can on processed foods. Indeed!

In fact, it’s easier than one would think. You get used to it pretty quickly.

No sweets, no cake, no cookies, and if possible also no (wheat) bread. No sweetened diet (zero sugar) drinks either, as they will still trigger your insulin levels. Everything else - fair game! (alcohol in moderation, goes w/o saying 😉)

Lost 12 kilos two years ago, and keeping it, while not being suuuper strict anymore (e.g. when at a birthday party, I’ll not say no to some 🍰 of course 😅)

[cnov]

I'm not really fussed about dieting or being a bit overweight, I enjoy eating and drinking whatever I like.

One thing that has piqued my interest has been cutting out processed food though. I was given this book last year https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultra-Processed-People-Stuff-That-Isnt-ebook/dp/B0B1TRPQCT

It was a bit of an eye opener into how shitty our food system is, shitty and impressive in equal measure to be fair. We've been absolutely lead up the garden path by the food and "health" industries, all in the name of profits. The book feels like it could be a good tool for anyone looking to improve their diet without actually going on a diet.

[RDB]

The key sentence in that article above is ‘for the rest of your life’. The only changes that really work are the ones we can sustain indefinitely. So you have to make it pleasant - find a form of physical activity you like, change your diet in ways that mean you still enjoy your food, cut out the worst stuff that you don’t really love, recognise when eating is a stress reaction. If you do enough exercise and eat almost zero processed food, you can eat just about anything you like and it will be fine.

[targa88]

It is a lifestyle choice...not a moment in time.

As you get older....you realize that you made choices in the past (maybe not the best ones....in some cases). However you can influence the future.

Most chaps, it is a function of defining moments that cause the change.

In terms of the quality of nutrients is one answer. The amount of exercise. However sleep and recovery are greatly overlooked as determining the outcome.

When we are young and stupid with think we are invincible. With age, we would hope there would be some wisdom and moderation.

However unfortunately, as we age - we tend to be less mobile - ironically exercise improves and extends mobility (Both physical and mental).

Being committed to something you enjoy is part of the answer: whether it is walking outside or inside on a treadmill - the answer is mobility and not one size fits all...

[JohnS]

Here's another excellent article below on this issue. It notes that 80% of people who lose weight will regain it within five years and it has to do mainly with how human beings store fat for survival...

Losing weight is hard. Here are 5 things to keep in mind

By Andrea Kane, CNN

Updated 8:31 PM EST, Fri January 26, 2024

There are evolutionary reasons why it's hard to lose weight and keep it off. Fat helped early humans stay alive, keep their brains working and make them healthy enough to reproduce.

(CNN) — If you think it’s hard to lose weight and keep it off, you are not alone — and you are also 100% correct. Long-term weight loss is really difficult to achieve, studies have found.

Estimates vary, but it’s believed that more than 80% of people who lose a substantial amount of weight regain it within five years.

But failure to shed pounds is often not about lacking the willpower to make important lifestyle changes, such as eating healthier, reducing calories and increasing physical activity. The dirty little secret is that our bodies are programmed by evolution to hold on to fat.

“We evolved not to lose weight intentionally,” paleoanthropologist Daniel Lieberman told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently on the podcast Chasing Life. Lieberman, a professor and chair of the department of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, studies why the human body looks and functions the way it does.

“All animals need some fat, but humans have evolved to have exceptionally high levels of fat, even thin humans,” he said. “And so we are under exceptional sort of biological pressure, always, to put it on and keep it as long as we have it, for when we need it.”

Humans are fundamentally adapted not to be happy or healthy but rather to be reproductively successful, Lieberman said. And for that, we need fat, a lot of fat — which is why Lieberman calls humans “an unusually fat species” compared with other mammals, even other primates.

“We have these big brains, which cost a huge amount of energy. … It’s 20% of our metabolism,” he said. “And a baby, when it’s born, half of its energy is paying for its brain. It needs a lot of fat. So … human babies are born very fat because they have to have that energy to make sure that they can keep their brain going.”

Lieberman said fat is storable energy. It helped early humans stay alive, powered their bodies to find food, kept their brains working and made them healthy enough to reproduce.

“It’s like money in the bank account. And so individuals who have appropriate levels of fat did better in our evolutionary history than those who didn’t,” he said. “And so we were selected to make sure that we always could put it on, because there were always times when we had to lose it.”

Lieberman said humans never evolved to lose weight deliberately.

And while our bodies haven’t really evolved from those earlier times, our environment has — and that is, what Lieberman called, a big mismatch. Nowadays, we don’t have to run from wild animals, travel long distances on foot, or hunt and gather our next meal. We can pick up a smartphone to call an Uber or Uber Eats and experience all manner of modern conveniences. As a result, many people now live with weight issues and obesity, and all of the “mismatch diseases” that stem from that.

“So mismatch diseases are defined as conditions or diseases that are more common or more severe when we live in environments for which we’re poorly or inadequately adapted,” Lieberman said, referring to our modern-day “obesogenic environment” that often contributes to weight gain.

“And so, of course, it’s hard. It’s because we evolved not to lose weight intentionally. And so, losing weight requires dieting, requires tricking your body and overcoming those adaptations — which your body’s going to fight you every, every inch of the way.”

Lieberman, who said we need to be “extremely compassionate” toward those who face weight challenges, including ourselves, suggests keeping these five things in mind:

Develop (evolutionary) perspective

Not all humans are meant to be stick figures or willowy waifs — no matter what you see on television, at the movies or on social media.

“Fat is especially important for humans,” Lieberman wrote in an email. “Even thin humans have between 15-25% body fat, which is three to four times more than most mammals.”

You will always have a certain amount of fat, and it is necessary in some ways.

Fat equals evolutionary success

Fat actually helps us survive and thrive.

“We evolved to store a lot of fat — a source of stored energy — because of our energetically expensive bodies and life history,” Lieberman said. “That fat helps fuel our big brains and our high cost of reproduction all while staying physically active.”

Even so, “we never evolved to store a lot of belly fat, which can lead to health problems,” Lieberman pointed out. “So having a lot of fat around the middle is a sign to do something.”

Small fluctuations are normal

Don’t worry if your weight goes up and down a few pounds over short periods of time.

“Much of that variation is due to water,” Lieberman said. “For most of human history people regularly cycled through times when they took in more energy than they used and stored the surplus as fat and then drew on those fat reserves during lean times when they used more energy than they consumed.”

The deck really is stacked against you

If you find it hard to lose weight, don’t blame yourself.

“Humans evolved to store plenty of fat when possible and then use it when needed,” Lieberman said. “But we never evolved to voluntarily consume less energy than we used — that is, diet.”

Lieberman said dieting triggers the body’s starvation responses that cause dieters to crave food and save energy by slowing down their metabolism. “So when people diet, they almost always struggle to overcome ancient, fundamental adaptations to prevent their bodies from losing weight,” he added.

Dieting versus exercise

If you are wondering which is more important for weight loss — exercise or dieting — the answer is both, but for different reasons.

“You can lose more weight by dieting than exercising,” Lieberman said. “But exercise helps prevent gaining or regaining weight, plus it has many, many other benefits for both mental and physical health.”

And as for that mismatch between our Stone Age bodies and our modern, obesogenic environment, Lieberman said we have to “figure out how to engineer our worlds to help us make the choices that we would like to make.”

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/26/health/weight-loss-hard-evolution-wellness/index.html

[Mr. Esposito]

What worked for me. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_1FHaToyMSRcNuKhVov2z3lMbEL8dJQiRkOuzs_ucIM/edit?usp=drivesd

[ha_banos]

New study https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240219130901.htm

 

 

Science News

from research organizations

 

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Eating too much protein is bad for your arteries, and this amino acid is to blame

Date:

February 19, 2024

Source:

University of Pittsburgh

Summary:

Consuming over 22% of dietary calories from protein can lead to increased activation of immune cells that play a role in atherosclerotic plaque formation and drive the disease risk, new study showed.

Share:

    

 

FULL STORY

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University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers discovered a molecular mechanism by which excessive dietary protein could increase atherosclerosis risk. The findings were published in Nature Metabolism today.

The study, which combined small human trials with experiments in mice and cells in a Petri dish, showed that consuming over 22% of dietary calories from protein can lead to increased activation of immune cells that play a role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, driving the disease risk.

Furthermore, the scientists showed that one amino acid -- leucine -- seems to have a disproportionate role in driving the pathological pathways linked to atherosclerosis, or stiff, hardened arteries.

"Our study shows that dialing up your protein intake in pursuit of better metabolic health is not a panacea. You could be doing real damage to your arteries," said senior and co-corresponding author Babak Razani, M.D., Ph.D., professor of cardiology at Pitt.

"Our hope is that this research starts a conversation about ways of modifying diets in a precise manner that can influence body function at a molecular level and dampen disease risks."

According to a survey of an average American diet over the last decade, Americans generally consume a lot of protein, mostly from animal sources.

Further, nearly a quarter of the population receives over 22% of all daily calories from protein alone.

That trend is likely driven by the popular idea that dietary protein is essential to healthy living, says Razani.

But his and other groups have shown that overreliance on protein may not be such a good thing for long-term health.

Following their 2020 research, in which Razani's laboratory first showed that excess dietary protein increases atherosclerosis risk in mice, his next study in collaboration with Bettina Mittendorfer, Ph.D., a metabolism expert at the University of Missouri, Columbia, delved deeper into the potential mechanism and its relevance to the human body.

"We have shown in our mechanistic studies that amino acids, which are really the building blocks of the protein, can trigger disease through specific signaling mechanisms and then also alter the metabolism of these cells," Mittendorfer said.

"For instance, small immune cells in the vasculature called macrophages can trigger the development of atherosclerosis."

Based on initial experiments in healthy human subjects to determine the timeline of immune cell activation following ingestion of protein-enriched meals, the researchers simulated similar conditions in mice and in human macrophages, immune cells that are shown to be particularly sensitive to amino acids derived from protein.

Their work showed that consuming more than 22% of daily dietary calories through protein can negatively affect macrophages that are responsible for clearing out cellular debris, leading to the accumulation of a "graveyard" of those cells inside the vessel walls and worsening of atherosclerotic plaques overtime.

Interestingly, the analysis of circulating amino acids showed that leucine -- an amino acid enriched in animal-derived foods like beef, eggs and milk -- is primarily responsible for abnormal macrophage activation and atherosclerosis risk, suggesting a potential avenue for further research on personalized diet modification, or "precision nutrition."

Razani is careful to note that many questions remain to be answered, mainly: What happens when a person consumes between 15% of daily calories from protein as recommended by the USDA and 22% of daily calories from protein, and if there is a 'sweet spot' for maximizing the benefits of protein -- such as muscle gain -- while avoiding kick-starting a molecular cascade of damaging events leading to cardiovascular disease.

The findings are particularly relevant in hospital settings, where nutritionists often recommend protein-rich foods for the sickest patients to preserve muscle mass and strength.

"Perhaps blindly increasing protein load is wrong," Razani said.

"Instead, it's important to look at the diet as a whole and suggest balanced meals that won't inadvertently exacerbate cardiovascular conditions, especially in people at risk of heart disease and vessel disorders."

Razani also notes that these findings suggest differences in leucine levels between diets enriched in plant and animal protein might explain the differences in their effect on cardiovascular and metabolic health.

"The potential for this type of mechanistic research to inform future dietary guidelines is quite exciting," he said.

Additional authors of the study are Yu-Sheng Yeh, Ph.D., also from Pitt; Alan Fappi, Ph.D. and Vasavi Shabrish, Ph.D., both of the University of Missouri, Columbia; Se-Jin Jeong, Ph.D., Jeremiah Stitham, M.D., Ph.D., Ismail Sergin, Ph.D., Eman Yousif, M.D., Astrid Rodriguez-Velez, Ph.D., Arick Park, M.D., Ph.D., Joel Schilling, M.D., Ph.D., Marco Sardiello, Ph.D., Abhinav Diwan, M.D., Nathan Stitziel, M.D., Ph.D., Ali Javaheri, M.D., Ph.D., Irfan Lodhi, Ph.D., and Jaehyung Cho, Ph.D., all of Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; Arif Yurdagul Jr, Ph.D., and Oren Rom, Ph.D., both of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center; and Slava Epelman, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Toronto.

[Chitmo]

I hate that so much of the population waste so much of their life trying to hack the system. Maintaining a healthy body weight is the easiest thing in the world but nobody wants to do it the easy way because it’s hard work. Do the math to find maintenance calories, eat less slightly less calories than you need and exercise regularly. It’s that simple! The word diet makes me so mad. Diets are like religion and politics for me, topics I generally stay away from. 

[sbsbsb1]

Agree that it can't be a diet or any other term which evokes a sense of non-permanence.  It's a lifestyle change, plain and simple. Of course, indulgences are allowed, but are just that...not daily occurrences. 

[ha_banos]

The word diet by definition is not a short term snapshot. It's been hijacked! Ones diet is simply what one eats, regularly. Regional diets, seasonal diet. The term 'go on a diet', pffft, marketing scam. To change ones diet implies permanent change. And is needed to get some change. You are your diet. Ergo you are what you eat.