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Grapefruit diet? Probably not worth it. By Tim Spector, King's College London | Photo Credit: Sophie Jonasson, CC BY-SA

Why frequent dieting makes you put on weight – and what to do about it

People who regularly go on diets tend to lose weight initially but bounce back and even gain weight after stopping the regime. This phenomenon – dubbed yo-yo dieting – is associated with changes in metabolism and is one reason why the vast majority of calorie-based diets fail. But exactly what causes these metabolic changes has remained a mystery – until now.

Previous studies in identical twins who differed in dieting patterns have shown that non-genetic factors are largely responsible. The working hypothesis was that when you gain weight you somehow “reset” your internal thermostat corresponding to the higher weight level and so when you lose weight – your body does all it can to return to that new higher set point. Now new research, published in Nature, explains why this happens to some people more than others and, importantly, how it could be reversed.

The study, by an Israeli group of scientists, mimicked human yo-yo dieters in lab mice. The researchers fed the mice in several cycles of alternating weight gaining and losing diets. They started with big, high-fat portions to fatten them up then slimmed them down with a diet of normal, light meals, then repeated the regime. Like humans, the mice slowly gained weight compared to other mice on steady diets of similar...

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Why Frequent Dieting Makes You Put On Weight – And What To Do About It

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