Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The mantra in obesity treatment is 'eat less and move more'. But a leading group of obesity experts writing in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology question the belief that this is sufficient to treat obesity. They argue that obesity is a chronic disease with largely biological causes that cannot be cured with just diet and exercise.
Many people with obesity can lose weight for a few months, but 80%-95% regain their lost weight eventually. One explanation for this limited long-term success is that reducing caloric intake triggers several biological systems that drive us to eat high-calorie foods and gain weight. These biological systems evolved when humans needed to survive times of food scarcity. But in modern humans who have had obesity for some time, these biological adaptations encourage calorie consumption and the storage of fat to protect an individual's highest sustained weight. Overriding this fat-loss defence does not appear possible for most individuals through just lifestyle changes, say the authors, particularly in a 21st century environment that promotes the consumption of calorically dense, high-fat foods along with low energy expenditure.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/tl-tld021015.php
Many people with obesity can lose weight for a few months, but 80%-95% regain their lost weight eventually. One explanation for this limited long-term success is that reducing caloric intake triggers several biological systems that drive us to eat high-calorie foods and gain weight. These biological systems evolved when humans needed to survive times of food scarcity. But in modern humans who have had obesity for some time, these biological adaptations encourage calorie consumption and the storage of fat to protect an individual's highest sustained weight. Overriding this fat-loss defence does not appear possible for most individuals through just lifestyle changes, say the authors, particularly in a 21st century environment that promotes the consumption of calorically dense, high-fat foods along with low energy expenditure.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/tl-tld021015.php