New study debunks the biggest fear about yo-yo dieting
Key takeaways
- Repeated weight loss followed by weight regain, often called "yo-yo dieting" or weight cycling, has long been viewed as unhealthy and potentially even worse than staying overweight.
- After examining the evidence, they found no convincing proof that weight cycling itself causes long-term harm in people with obesity.
- "Many people struggling with weight are discouraged from trying to lose weight because they fear 'yo-yo dieting' will lead to muscle loss and somehow damage their metabolism," says Prof.
Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.
Repeated weight loss followed by weight regain, often called "yo-yo dieting" or weight cycling, has long been viewed as unhealthy and potentially even worse than staying overweight. However, a major new review published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology argues that this belief is not backed by strong scientific evidence.
In an invited Personal View article, Professor Faidon Magkos of the University of Copenhagen and Professor Norbert Stefan of the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), University Hospital T bingen, and Helmholtz Munich reviewed decades of research involving both humans and animals. After examining the evidence, they found no convincing proof that weight cycling itself causes long-term harm in people with obesity.
"Many people struggling with weight are discouraged from trying to lose weight because they fear 'yo-yo dieting' will lead to muscle loss and somehow damage their metabolism," says Prof. Magkos. "Our review indicates that these fears are largely unsupported. In most cases, the benefits of trying to lose weight clearly outweigh the theoretical risks of weight cycling."