{"id":4708,"date":"2016-11-16T12:14:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T17:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/?p=4708"},"modified":"2019-05-30T15:50:28","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T19:50:28","slug":"why-yo-yo-dieting-is-so-bad-for-your-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=4708","title":{"rendered":"Why Yo Yo Dieting Is So Bad For Your Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Putting on some extra weight over winter\u00a0or during a super-stressful time may not seem like such a big deal, as long as you slim down again when the weather gets warmer or your schedule calms down. But new research suggests that yo-yo weight fluctuations are\u00a0bad for the heart. For some women, these ups and downs may even raise their risk of dying\u00a0from cardiac disease.<\/span><\/p>\n

The study, which was presented today at an American Heart Association conference, followed nearly 160,000 postmenopausal women\u00a0for about 11 years. Women who were\u00a0normal\u00a0weight at the start of the study and\u00a0lost and regained at least 10 pounds had about 3.5 times higher risk of sudden cardiac death<\/a>\u00a0than women whose weight remained stable.\u00a0This type of \u201cweight cycling\u201d was also linked to\u00a0a 66% increased risk for death related to coronary heart disease<\/a>\u00a0in those women. (Coronary heart disease occurs when fat and other substances block\u00a0blood vessels to the heart.)<\/span><\/div>\n

Yo-yo dieters who started the study\u00a0overweight or obese<\/a>, however, had no increase in either type of death. They also found no increase in death for women who gained weight but did not lose it, or for women who lost weight but did not gain it back.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lead author Somwail Rasla, MD, internal medicine resident at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island and\u00a0Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says that normal-weight women seem to be more vulnerable to the dangers of weight fluctuations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNormal-weight women usually have less adaptive mechanisms in their body, compared to overweight and obese women, when they [are] exposed to\u2026the hazardous effects of weight cycling<\/a>,\u201d he said in a video on the American Heart Association website. Previous research has shown that these effects include changes in\u00a0metabolism<\/a>, blood pressure, and cholesterol<\/a>;\u00a0and animal studies have shown that practices like yo-yo dieting can damage DNA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean that it was healthier to be heavier\u00a0in the study, or that overweight women didn\u2019t face their own health risks. Although it wasn\u2019t the focus of the research, obesity still raises the risk of cardiac disease, Dr. Rasla stresses,\u00a0as well as several types of cancer, diabetes<\/a>, and other chronic conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor those who have normal weight, they should preserve their body weight and avoid, as much as they can, fluctuations,\u201d Dr. Rasla said. \u201cBut for those who are overweight or obese, actually the worst thing for them is being overweight and obese.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re overweight, losing those extra pounds (through exercise or a balanced diet) will almost always be a good thing. This group of people \u201cshould not worry about weight cycling or fluctuations in body weight, because basically they are not increasing their risk,\u201d Dr. Rasla said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weight gain and loss in this study were self-reported, and the researchers did not collect information on the causes behind the changes. But Dr. Rasla says that often, weight cycling is tied to stress eating<\/a> and crash diets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, and the researchers say that more studies are needed before any clinical recommendations can be made\u2014especially since theirs did not include men or younger women. Plus, the study was observational (and not a placebo-controlled intervention, for example), so it was only able to determine a link\u00a0between weight fluctuation and heart disease risk, not a cause-and-effect relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, Dr. Rasla is still comfortable providing some advice to people concerned about their weight and their heart health: \u201cOur main message [is] that those who are, in their adult life, normal-weight, should stick to, as much as they can, with a stable weight,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

American Heart Association spokesperson Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, agrees that while the\u00a0study should not be seen as the \u201cend all be all\u201d of the health effects of yo-yo dieting, the findings are certainly important\u2014especially for women who have trouble keeping off extra pounds after menopause<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHere is a study which shows the real true negative effects of what yo-yo dieting can do on our hearts, and this is very, very relevant and important for us to see and understand,\u201d said Dr. Steinbaum, who is director of Women and Heart Disease at Lenox Hill Hospital\u2019s Heart and Vascular Institute in New York City, in a video.<\/span><\/p>\n

“One of the things I often say to women is, ‘Train for menopause like you’re training for a marathon because you’re in it for the long haul,” she added. In other words, make lifestyle changes you can actually maintain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yo-yo diets are characterized by extremes and quick fixes, says Dr. Steinbaum (think slashing calories, cutting out\u00a0entire food groups, or over-exercising). \u201cWe know that’s not sustainable, so there’s significant weight gain that comes back,\u201d she said. \u201cThat pattern is very hard on our hearts.\u00a0It’s important to take home the message that a healthy lifestyle is about a lifestyle…It’s really about making choices that can sustain you in a heart-healthy way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

via Amanda Macmillan @ Health.com\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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