As any dieter knows, losing weight is hard. Keeping it off can be even harder, and a small, new study by Australian researchers helps explain why: a symphony of hormonal changes sends the body relentless signals to slow metabolism and increase the urge to eat, for at least a year after weight loss.
The findings support obesity researchers' long-held belief that dieters who regain weight aren't just reverting back to old habits. Instead, they may be fighting their own biology.
Many previous studies have shown that when overweight people slim down, their bodies respond vigorously, by undergoing changes in hormones that affect hunger and satiety — "multiple compensatory mechanisms encouraging weight gain," as the authors put it. For instance, when obese people lose body fat, levels of the hormone leptin, which is produced by fat cells, drop. That signals to the brain that the body's energy stores are low, slowing metabolism and triggering hunger.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/27/why-dieters-cant-keep-the-weight-off/
No comments:
Post a Comment