Fitness

A lack of consistency in your fitness 
program can do you more harm than good!

For years, health experts have warned about the vicious cycle of losing and regaining weight. Now a major scientific study concludes that yo-yo dieting may cause more harm than good.

Linked to heart disease

In a study of 3,130 men and women, a team of researchers found that yo-yo dieters have a greater chance (25-100 percent) of developing heart disease and an overall higher death rate than those who maintained a consistent weight.

In fact, the health risks of repeated weight loss and gain may exceed those of being overweight, according to Dr. Kelly Brownell, a psychologist at Yale who directed the study.

The study analyzed 32 years of health records of 3,130 participants in the ongoing Framingham Heart Study.  All participants were free of coronary heart disease when the study was initiated.

The study recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine says, "persons whose body weight fluctuates often or greatly have a higher risk of coronary heart disease and death than do persons with relatively stable body weights."

Ages 30 to 44 most at risk.

The study also found that subjects with the greatest weight fluctuation--those between the ages of 30-44--were at most risk.  According to the researchers, this is the age category where dieting is most prevalent.

Dr. Brownell stated that his findings underscore the importance of dieters assessing their willingness to make a long-term commitment to changing eating behavior before starting a weight-loss effort.

Dr. George Blackburn, an obesity specialist at Harvard Medical School said, "If you are trying to lose ten pounds and are not sure you can keep it off, it may not be a good idea to lose it in the first place."

The researchers also concluded, "These results do suggest that over weight persons should be taught skills to maintain weight loss and the prevention of relapse should become a more central focus of weight loss programs."

Compounding the problem is that many dieters really don't need to lose weight.   According to the tufts University Diet and Nutrition Letter, the media has fueled the notion that lean is desirable with unremitting intensity....At no other time in history has dieting as a way of life been more ingrained.

Forty years ago, even among the health care community there was a feeling that all people are meant to be slim and "that all heavy people could slim down if they just made more of an effort to stop eating too much."  Slowly that view is changing.

Source--courier Communications
Dare's Products offers these articles for educational purposes and general interest, and is not intended to diagnose medical problems or give medical advice, which should only be obtained directly from your doctor. 

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