What yo-yo dieting do to your body

Posted under female workout

Contrary to what most people think that restrictive dieting as the best way to lose weight, it is, in fact, a dangerous choice to make.

Let’s talk about yo-yo dieting. Almost all women are guilty of observing yo-yo diet. It is characterized by a cyclical pattern of repetitious loss and gain of body weight. Some of the ways people choose to do this include skipping meals and consuming very low calories.

Be very careful about sudden shift of weight or weight cycling. There is a growing evidence that weight cycling eventually lead to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders such as hypertension and diabetes. The risks involved seem greater in people with normal weight or slightly overweight than in obese people.

According to The US National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, weight cycling or “yo-yo dieting” produces psychological and physiological health hazards.

1. The amount of fat stored in the body increases with each cycle of up-and-down dieting.
When a person loses weight, both fat and muscle tissue is shed off. When the weight is put back, however, it tends to be made up of a greater proportion of fat and less muscle, making the person “fatter” than ever. A history of loss and gain is associated with greater amounts of fat stored in the abdomen. As a result, the pattern of fat distribution in the said area is linked to greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.

2. Yo-yo dieting has a definite affect on food preferences, increasing the craving for fat.
Fat is the most concentrated source of calories in the diet. The body appears to store calories from fat more easily than surplus calories from carbohydrates or protein.

3. Repeated cycles of loss and gain take a psychological toll.
Many dieters see themselves as failures after every unsuccessful attempt to keep off excess weight. The result, over time, is lowered sense of self-esteem coupled with depression and guilt.

4. People who repeatedly lose and regain weight are weakening their immune systems.
Women who have tried losing weight more than five times will have about one third lower natural-killer-cell function. In contrast, women who maintain the same weight for five or more years have 40 percent greater natural-killer-cell activity as compared to those whose weight had remained stable for fewer than two years.

5. Some studies suggest that weight cycling may increase the risk for certain health problems.
Weight cycling can cause diseases such high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and gallbladder disease.

Yo yo dieting as a strict diet is followed by a rebound in weight. Aim to keep a stable weight rather than weight cycling. It will only worsen the pattern of weight loss due to stressing the body and damaging the metabolism.

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