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Summary The scientists checked the blood levels of nine hormones that influence appetite.
A study finds that even a year after dieters shed a good chunk of weight quickly, their hormones were still insisting.The findings suggest that dieters who have regained weight are not just slipping back into old habits, but are struggling against a persistent biological urge.Weight regain is a common problem for dieters. To study what drives it, Proietto and his colleagues enrolled 50 overweight or obese patients in a 10-week diet program in Australia. They wanted to see what would happen in people who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight. Ultimately, only 34 people lost that much and stuck with the study long enough for analysis.The program was intense. On average, the participants lost almost 30 pounds during the 10 weeks, faster than the standard advice of losing 1 or 2 pounds a week. They took in 500 to 550 calories a day, using a meal replacement called Optifast plus vegetables for eight weeks. Then for two weeks they were gradually reintroduced to ordinary foods.The dieters also rated themselves as feeling hungrier after meals at the one-year mark, compared to what they reported before the diet program began.Experts not connected to the study said the persistent effect on hormone levels was not surprising, and that it probably had nothing to do with the speed of the weight loss.
