Episode 195, The Latest in Weight Loss Research




The Paleo View show

Summary: Intro (0:00)News and Views (1:18)Stacy is leaving for a country that doesn't speak englishShe has only used her passport once beforeStacy is heading on a cruise with her father and sisters down the MediterraneanThey will fly into Rome by way of Ireland, and then will stop by a couple of ports in Italy, Turkey and GreeceStacy will be visiting some family members overseas while travelingPlanning ahead with podcast recordingsThis week's topic will likely take Stacy and Sarah through three episodes - covering a number of discussions around weight loss, utilizing the latest research available on the topicWeight Loss and Paleo (8:35)There are three different major communities that come into Paleo - athletes who want to optimize performance, people who are looking to mitigate disease, those who are looking to sustainably and healthfully lose weightThere is overlap in these three communities , but these are the most common motivators to adopt a Paleo diet and lifestyleReminder, Paleo is a template - a set of dietary guidelines with plenty of room for self-experimentation and individualizationThere are a lot of gray areas to Paleo - a lot of, 'try this - see how you feel' things, and a lot of room for tweaking, which can get overwhelming very quicklyThe great thing about this is that you can use the general starting point and then take advantage of the flexibility to see what will work best for your lifestyleYou can essentially figure out how to Paleo in a way that works best for your body and is the most sustainable for your lifeNew science helps us make informed decisions about how we tinker with our individual Paleo template, and how we manage these gray areas, and how we can adapt Paleo to best suit our individual health goalsScience with Sarah (14:20)New York Times article - After 'The Biggest Loser' Their Bodies Fought to Regain WeightThings that can happen when you lose a significant amount of weightSome of the latest in weight loss research:It doesn't matter what diet you are on, if you want to lose weight you simply must be on a diet and be mindful of your eatingLow fat and low carb are basically tied for their effectiveness at supporting weight lossRapid weight loss may increase your chances of maintaining itThere are lots of strategies to getting people to lose weight, there are lots of diets that work - and there is no magic 'this diet is better than this diet'What is difficult if finding the path to maintaining weight lossStudies show that only 20% of people maintain weight loss no matter what weight loss program they followed to initially lose the weightThe calories in/calories out model that is used on 'The Biggest Loser'The hormone changes surrounding this modelContestants on this show have a much higher percent that maintain a greater than 10% weight loss over six years, compared to other studiesThe significant changes that happened to contestants resting metabolic rates and leptin levelsWhat the research found in thyroid functionThe contestants were not more insulin sensitive after six years as they were before they started the diet, independent of whether they maintained a 10% weight loss or not, and they have about the same lipid panel as when they startedWhat the other measurements showedSarah's take home from this study - rapid weight loss causes a massive slow down in metabolismWhen you lose weight rapidly you lose lean body mass at the same time, which will happen no matter what diet you are following, and this impacts your resting metabolic rateIt is important to understand that rapid weight loss has these other consequences, and what it meant for 'The Biggest Loser' contestants is that more effort was needed on maintenance than was needed on weight lossIt begs the question - what is a better way to do it? What is the key to maintaining a dramatic weight loss?All the effort that Sarah has to put into her weight loss maintenanceThere is no magic formula, but there are lots of things that we can do to set ourselves up for success, which we will discuss on next week's episodeThanks everyone - we will be back next week!Outro (43:17)