Why Diets Don’t Work for You

Even though they work for your friends – Lots of us are entangled in a conundrum that’s giving us a fear of food. Ever notice some people seem to eat anything they want and never gain a pound, while others seem to gain weight just by looking at fattening foods? Does the diet that works for a friend not work for you?

Many people have experienced the frustration that comes with regaining weight that was lost from dieting. According to a new study, the levels of appetite hormones in the body prior to dieting may serve as a predictor of weight regain after dieting. Weight researcher Ana Crujeiras says, “Treating obesity with drugs or dietary programs can be very effective in the short-term, but the long-term success of maintaining the weight lost is usually poor. Our study sheds light on how the appetite hormones leptin and ghrelin affect weight regain after weight loss. This knowledge could be used as a tool to personalize weight-loss programs that could guarantee success in keeping off the weight.”

In her study, researchers evaluated a group of 104 obese or overweight men and women during an 8-week low-calorie diet and again 32 weeks after treatment. Researchers measured body weight as well as plasma fasting ghrelin, leptin and insulin concentrations before, during and after dieting. They found that subjects with higher plasma leptin and lower ghrelin levels before dieting were more prone to regain weight lost after dieting and that these hormone levels could be proposed as biomarkers for predicting obesity-treatment outcomes. According to Crujeiras, “We believe this research is of foremost relevance in clinical terms as it may indicate that the outcome of weight therapy may be pre-conditioned.”

Other studies, using fruit flies, show that genes interacting with diet, rather than diet alone, are the main cause of variation in metabolic traits, such as body weight. This helps explain why some diets work better for some people than others, and suggests that future diets should be tailored to an individual’s genes rather than to physical appearance.

Geneticist Laura K. Reed says, “There is no one-size-fits all solution to the diseases of obesity and type-2 diabetes. Each person has a unique set of genetic and environmental factors contributing to his or her metabolic health, and as a society, we should stop looking for a panacea and start accepting that this is a complex problem that may have a different solution for each individual.”

To make this discovery, the scientists studied 146 different genetic lines of fruit flies that were fed four different diets (nutritionally balanced, low calorie, high sugar, and high fat). Researchers then measured a variety of metabolic traits, including body weight, in each group. Flies in some of the genetic lines were highly sensitive to their diets, as reflected by changes in body weight, while flies of other lines showed no change in weight across diets. Researcher Mark Johnston says, “This research explains why the one-size-fits-all approach offered by many diet programs can have dramatically different effects for people who try them.”

Does all this mean you shouldn’t even TRY to lose weight? Here at unknowncountry.com, we CARE about your health, which is why there’s a FREE diet book right here on our website. To read it, click here and scroll down to What I Learned From the Fat Years. Anne Strieber, who used to be a diabetic, devised this diet herself, using scientific principles, and lost 100 pounds by following this path, and it works for everyone, so no matter what your DNA is, you can lose weight on it too. Click on unknowncountry.com every day to find out the latest facts about food (and everything else!) The only path you can take to make sure we’ll still be here tomorrow with our great radio shows and podcasts is to subscribe today!

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