Why Your Goal To Lose Weight May Lead to Weight Gain, Long-term
TW: mention of weight loss, specific weight numbers and weight stigmatizing words to describe body size for the purposes of using language referenced in research studies
It is estimated that about 42-44% of the US population are currently trying to lose weight, regardless of race or ethic background. And yet, for the majority of people, diets fail within 3-5 years.
Dieting is so common. It is likely you are either on a diet (or have been on one in the past), know someone who is on a diet, or both. In fact, it is no wonder that diets impact so many. The global weight management market (aka global diet market) was valued at 132.7 billion in 2021 with an expected growth rate of 9.7%! This means that the amount of money being poured into the diet industry, including marketing, is already insurmountable and predicted to continue steadily growing at a rapid rate.
With so much money spent on weight loss, the questions arises: Do diets work? There has been a lot of research on diets that the dieting industry does not share related to the outcomes of diets, long term. Here are some findings on the “successes” of dieting that may surprise you:
More than 2 years after dieting, 83% of participants gained more weight then they had lost
87.6% of diets require restricting certain foods
Diets where people are instructed to restrict certain foods increases overeating those foods by 133%
Risk of gallstones increases by more than 33% for individuals who lose more than 3 lbs a week or who are on a low-fat, low-calorie diet.
A systematic review done in 2020 (a study that looks at many studies at once) examined 14 of the most popular diets, including the Atkins diet (low carb), Weight Watchers (Noom), Jenny Craig, DASH, the Mediterranean diet, and more. It included 21,942 participants and followed their experience on these diets for 6 months and then a one year follow up. In this review they tracked a large span of health markers. In the initial 6 months of the study, the average weight loss was about 10 lbs and there were some modest improvements in health markers.
By the one year follow up, there were no significant health marker improvements or weight loss from baseline with the exception of LDL (bad) cholesterol was still reduced for participants on the Mediterranean diet. Any other health markers that may have moderately improved returned back and any weight loss, even on the Mediterranean diet, was regained.
This is a common outcome when looking at weight loss research and outcomes long term.
To illustrate this, In the research, there is an ongoing and predictable “V-shaped curve” graph trend seen with diets related to weight at base line, weight lost and weight gain. What does this mean? With most studies tracking weight loss and weight gain you will mark the initial weight, the 1 year weight loss (the bottom of the V), and then the subsequent weight regain (back up to baseline or more), thus making a “V-shape”.
The connection between weight loss from dieting, and subsequent weight gain is very strong, and weight stigma can also impact attempts to loss weight. A systematic review found that an individual just believing they are “overweight” leads them to attempt weight loss and, over time, gain more weight.
With so many people on diets and so much money put into the diet industry, why is it that diets are so unsuccessful in their attempt to produce weight loss? Why is the act of dieting producing more weight gain in the long term? These questions have also been looked at in the research.
Why do diets fail long-term?
There are a myriad of reasons diets are not successful and it is not because you are not motivated enough, you didn’t exercise enough, or you did not have enough support. The reason for this pattern of weight cycling (losing weight and gaining weight repeatedly) has a lot more to do with biology and psychology than you might think.
Your weight is determined by many different factors, mostly related to genetics. Yes, your weight and body size is influenced almost entirely by genetics. And, there is another very important factor that can determine your body size: past dieting and weight loss attempts.
When you are in a food restricted state (ie you’re not getting enough to support your body’s needs), your body turns on and adjusts multiple biological mechanisms to keep you alive, no matter your body size. Remember, your body’s sole goal and purpose is making sure it survives.
When eating less while dieting, one major mechanism that is impacted is your metabolism. Your metabolism is the energy that is required for your body to function at rest. This includes all of your organ functions (including your heart beating), digestion, brain function, nutrient absorption and much more! When you’re not eating enough food (ie restricting calories, food groups, or amounts of foods), your body makes metabolic adjustments to make sure that it gets its most basic needs met. So how does it go this?
Digestion slows in order to get the most nutrition from the food that is being eaten and to spend less energy on digestion
Taps into internal sources of energy, namely muscle, to be used for more vital functions in your body such as organ function (yes, this means that your body preferentially uses muscle when it’s not getting enough energy from from to support it’s needs)
Reducing the amount of energy/food you need to be able to function at baseline
Increase in release of hunger hormone ghrelin
Another interesting and important biological function that is adjusted by restricting calories is dopamine, a neurotransmitter and hormone, that helps with both reward and motivation. Studies have shown that in a state of food restriction( dieting) , your body increases sensitivity to dopamine receptors. This means that your body is increasing your biological reward for eating, and desire for eating food, when you are restricting food. This increased dopamine sensitivity from being in a restricted food state will continues until consistent ,adequate nutrition has occurred, which is something that the dietitians at Bravespace Nutrition in Seattle, Wa help their clients to achieve.
Food restriction alone, without decreasing calories, can also lead to psychological and behavioral changes in effort to increase food intake. In a study looking at the impact of food restriction without reducing overall calories, it found that there was an increase in food cravings as a result of the food restriction. This shows that there are multiple mechanisms that can lead to an increase in desire to eat, both biologically and psychologically, when restricting foods.
The combination of these mechanisms makes losing weight very challenging and explains why, if it is achieved, it is not maintained for the majority of people. Your metabolism slows down, and your brain tries to increase the amount of food you’re eating when you’re dieting. The weight management industry, which profits off people thinking they need to diet and lose weight, would like you to think that you can’t loose or maintain weight loss because you we’re motivated enough, didn’t exercise enough, and didn’t have enough support. This logic puts all of the blame on you and perpetuates a false message that: “if the diet failed then you must have failed. Try harder next time!” This message creates guilt and shame because if you cannot lose weight, it must be all your fault. But here’s the truth:
You didn’t fail at weight loss, the diets failed you.
If any other type of treatment produced the aforementioned outcomes, it would be unethical to offer it as a treatment. And, any other type of “treatment”, with such a high failure/adherence rates like there are with dieting, would likely lead people, at the very least, to start questioning the effectiveness of the treatment as a whole.
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Are you feeling trapped in a cycle of dieting, weight loss, and weight regain? You're not alone!
At Bravespace Nutrition, we know how challenging it can be to heal your relationship with food and your body. Our caring, nonjudgmental Seattle-based eating disorder dietitians are trained to help you heal your body image after years of body hatred, disgust and frustration. We offer a variety of services including nutrition counseling to address body image concerns, disordered eating, eating disorders, chronic dieting, and more! We know how difficult it can be to establish peace with your body, and we’re here to support you in your healing journey! To get started, check out our nutrition services here and schedule a free 15-minute discovery phone call today with one of our caring anti-diet dietitians.