Reading and Reflection

Study: It’s better to keep trying to lose weight than to remain obese.  By Jenny Merkin Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Trying to shed the results of eating all that Thanksgiving turkey with Christmas roast right around the corner is a worthy cause, a new study shows.

Yo-yo dieting — losing and regaining weight — is better than remaining at a higher weight, the study shows, and may in fact extend your life.

The study, conducted at Ohio University, runs counter to the conventional wisdom that yo-yo dieting is harmful.

Scientists separated 30 mice into three groups: one that remained on a high-fat diet, one they switched between high-fat and low-fat diets every four weeks, and a consistently low-fat group. The study, which was announced yesterday at the annual Endocrine Society in Boston, found that mice on the fluctuating diet lived 25 percent longer than those who ate a high-fat diet exclusively.

The yo-yoing mice lived an average of 2.04 years, while the obese mice lived 1.5 years; the low-fat group lived 2.09 years.

Ed List, a scientist at Ohio University’s Edison Biotechnology Institute who was the lead researcher on the study, had a personal interest in the results: “I did this every year myself — I gain weight, I lose weight. I’ve been told by nutritionists that it’s bad for you, and I just naively accepted it. I gain weight around Christmastime, and then I have a New Year’s resolution to get it off, and it helped knowing millions and millions of people do this.”

“Don’t give up,” said List. “If someone read that it’s better to remain obese, then they might just give up. So I hope that people continue to try to lose weight. It is the healthiest thing to do — try to stay thin. But if they do fail, and I’m sure nine out of 10 times they will fail, they should keep trying.”

Megan Fendt, a registered dietician at Beth Israel Medical Center’s Freidman Diabetes Institute, isn’t surprised by the results.

“One day of eating more healthfully and exercising is better than spending that day eating high-fat, high-calorie foods or remaining sedentary,” said Fendt. “It’s always that pound that’s going to help you for the long term.”

Richard Feinman, the founder of the Nutrition & Metabolism Society, called the dangerous effect of yo-yo dieting “a myth. It doesn’t have any basis in hard science. If you spend a year at a normal [weight], and then your weight creeps up, that’s better than always being heavier. Doctors in particular are very conservative and have this idea that everything’s supposed to be smooth.”

DASHing away the poundsA new ranking of the best diets in America says the popular DASH diet is the best overall, even though it’s not the most effective at making you lose weight.

For dropping those extra pounds, Weight Watchers was ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report, followed closely by Jenny Craig and the Raw Food Diet.

However, the new DASH diet was deemed best overall, because it also helps to lower high blood pressure and combat diabetes.

“Our analysis put hard numbers on the commonsense belief that no diet is ideal for everybody,” the magazine said on its website.

DASH — Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension — emphasizes fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry and whole grains. It is high in fiber, potassium, calcium and magnesium, and low in fat.

The Mediterranean Diet came in second on the magazine’s list.

U.S. News & World Report compiled profiles of 20 diets, which were reviewed by a panel of 22 experts in diet and nutrition, diabetes and heart disease.

The rankings were based on scores in seven categories — short-term weight loss, long-term weight loss, easiness to follow, nutritional completeness, ability to prevent or manage diabetes and to manage heart disease.

— Reuters

My Comments:
Okay, so everytime someone says something about overweight (I usually say “FAT”) people, you get tagged with being insensitive, even called the “A-word”.  Well, you know what…I am just gonna get oustide of my politically correct mind-frame for a minute here; and if you are a friend of mine and you are offended by my words because you are fat or you have a fat friend, well…I have lots of friends so I am trying to get rid of a few….just kidding…I am sorry…I love all my friend…even the fat ones…sincerely tho, this is not meant to offend.

So here we go…

Aaaigghht…I get it – its in your genes, you have a medical condition, your mom was fat so….you know what I say to that…whatever fat-@$$! 

I do believe there are folks who are fat for some legitimate reason, but when I look around each day and see close to 3 out of every 4 women overweight walk by me, pulling kids that are well on their way to overfatness…it is downright shameful; and those large gut dudes don’t get a pass either – it is shameful .  Go on then with your fat-a@@ wondering …why do I have hypertension, diabetes…etc…  

Bottomline – as a society, we overeat and teach our kids to do the same.  It is an epidemic.  If you are gonna eat a whole pizza at one sitting then prepare to move yo-@$$ to work it off later…don’t expect to not become huge by just sitting around.  Fat is simply not attractive folks…lose the excess and look your best.