The numbers on your scale may not be the only ones in danger with the bounce.
Bouncing off your diet can be more worrying than just having to buy a new size of pants every few months: According to a new study from Harvard University School of Medicine, losing weight and then gaining it back can be bad for your health.
The researchers examined 129 patients who were obese, with diabetes, and who were enrolled in a weight management program. They found that people who maintained a weight loss of 7 percent or more of their body weight at the end of the first year were more likely to maintain it in the long term.
Furthermore, these people also put themselves in a better position to deal with heart problems. When they lost weight, they experienced decreases in their “bad cholesterol” levels and increases in “good cholesterol.” Blood sugar levels stabilized and her blood pressure dropped.
However, people who gained weight again experienced increased levels of triglycerides, or the amount of fat and blood – sugar levels in the blood, both indexes initially fell when they lost the weight for the first time. This happened even when people gained back only 5 kilos.
Although the study was conducted in diabetic patients, Dr. Osama Hamdy, of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the study, believes the results may be similar for non-diabetics. The beneficial effects of weight loss – from lowering blood pressure to improving cholesterol – have been shown to be similar in all people, which is why Dr. Hamdy says the negative effects, caused by weight recovery, are likely. in the studio, be similar too.
Regardless of whether you are diabetic or not, even less weight loss – starting at around 5 percent of your total body weight – can improve heart health measurements. This is because it decreases your visceral fat or the fat inside your abdomen.
“This is the deepest fat in the waist, and it is the most dangerous fat in our body,” explains Dr. Hamdy. It secretes hormones and chemicals that have been linked to diabetes and heart attacks.
Men with a waist circumference of 100 centimeters or more are particularly at risk of cardiovascular disease due to the actions caused by this fat, he adds. In the study, participants lost an average of 10 centimeters from their waists, and this may have been responsible for their decreased risk of heart problems.