According to new research, there are a few associations between yo-yo dieting and seven deep-seated markers of cardiovascular health.
More than 80 percent of those who manage to shed 10 percent of their body weight often end up regaining the weight within one year. Also called “weight-cycling,” “yo-yo dieting” is characterized by losing weight for a short period and then gaining it back.
Several studies have found the potentially damaging effects of yo-yo dieting. Some studies have found that yo-yo-dieting increases the risk of mortality, while others have suggested an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease in particular.
On the flipside, one of the studies suggested that yo-yo-dieting could lead to a cardio-metabolic dip in which cardiovascular health significantly improves in a few weeks of following a healthy diet, and the negative influence on the cardiovascular health is immediate once you stop following the diet.
Now, researchers are paying more attention to the cardiovascular effects of yo-yo dieting in women.
Dr. Brooke Aggarwal, the assistant professor of medical sciences at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, along with her team, examine the effects of yo-yo-dieting on seven well-established risk factors of heart disease.
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2019 Scientific Sessions that took place in Houston, TX.
The study examined 485 women (average age of 37 years) with a median body mass index (BMI) of 26. The participants reported how often they had lost around 10 pounds and then regained within a year.
The team assessed the participant’s health with “Life’s Simple 7” — the cardiovascular risk factors used by the American Heart Association.
“Life’s Simple 7″ employs seven modifiable risk factors or predictors of heart health. The seven predictors include – physical activity, weight, diet, blood glucose, smoking status, cholesterol, and blood pressure.”
The team found that 73 percent of the participants said that they had at least one episode of weight cycling. They were 82 percent less likely to have a BMI that is within normal limits and 65 percent less likely to fall within the optimal range of Life’s Simple 7.
According to the American Heart Association, people who fall in the optimal range of Life’s Simple 7 have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who fall in the poor ranges.
The study also found that the negative effects of yo-yo dieting were more remarkable in the women who had never conceived.
Dr. Aggarwal explained, “The women without a pregnancy history were likely younger and might be those who started weight cycling at an earlier age. We need to identify critical periods for the effect of weight fluctuation on heart disease risk over the life course to find out whether it is worse when women start on a dieting roller coaster at an early age.”
However, the team was not able to determine whether the dieting negatively influences a person’s ability to adhere to Life’s Simple 7. Dr. Aggarwal said, “We hope to extend the study 5 to 10 years to confirm these results and look at long-term effects. There has been prior research that showed similar results in men, with those who weight cycled having twice the risk of cardiovascular death in middle age.”
