Yo-yo dieting and subsequent weight gain

Factual Questions
1

I’ve read many times that “yo-yo” dieting, or repeated episodes of near-starvation for weight loss followed by a return to normal eating, causes one to have a lot of trouble with weight loss in middle age, usually due to a very slow metabolism. I have heard similar problems with middle aged people who were anorexic or bulimic in their youth.

Does anyone have any good evidence that this is true? Like from well-respected journals and such? I kind of suspect that it’s just diet lore and a way to justify middle-aged weight gain.

2

Try this: Taylor & Francis - Harnessing the Power of Knowledge

I think “yo-yo dieting” and its effects are too well documented to be diet lore or rationalization. It makes sense that humans who go through periods of starvation would become more calorie-efficient. I recall reading (sorry, don’t recall where) that the effects of YYD have been observed in lab rats–not a group known for rationalizing much. :slight_smile:

3

Here’s one: The effects of repeated cycles of weight loss and regain in rats.

4

In terms of increasing the risk for later obesity, the idea was that rapid weight loss would decrease lean body mass as well as fat, and regain would be mostly in fat. I have not done a full literature review but what I have seen in the past shows that that may not actually be true, even though it makes sense. There was this on its effects on body fat distribution though.

OTOH there are lots of studies that suggest a greater risk of coronary artery disease and mortality, gallstones, and metabolic syndrome. From the last cite’s abstract:

5

Taffygirl, I absolutely agree that in theory it would make sense for people to become more calorie-efficient in the short term, but to remain that way in the long term? Also, I think I have read that the level of caloric reduction that causes people to go into “starvation mode” is much lower than was previously expected.

EmAnJ, I appreciate your doing research on behalf of my question. However, your cite is 24 years old. I think more recent research is yielding different results.

Actually, now that I know the scientific term, I was able to look up “weight cycling.” The first result on google is not a scientific paper, but is from the NIDDK, and states that recent research suggests that previous eating habits should not affect your current ability to gain or lose weight, i.e. your “metabolism.”