Metabolism & weight loss study

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With summer right around the corner, many are taking their diets and workouts up a notch but a drastic change may not be effective. A new study reveals why you may end up regaining all that lost weight, and more.

A study of the contestants of the TV show ‘The Biggest Loser’ suggests that a slowed metabolism, not a lack of willpower, is largely to blame. When season eight winner Danny Cahill stood on the scale in 2009, he weighed 191 pounds, loosing an astonishing 239-pounds, in just seven months. Now fast forward six-years and more than 100 pounds have crept back onto his frame. In fact, 13 of the 14 contestants regained weight in the six years after the show. Four of them, are even heavier than before.

A study found their bodies were fighting to regain the weight. The cause? A damaged metabolism. When contestants began the show, their metabolisms burned a normal amount of calories for their weights. While any dieting results in a slower metabolism, their changes were so radical that it became virtually impossible to eat so little that the body could maintain its current weight. Even more surprising was that six years later, their metabolisms never recovered, in fact they became even slower.

Weight and metabolism are also at the forefront of research in Hamilton. At McMaster researchers are taking a look at metabolism and how it impacts chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. Doctor Gregory Steinberg and his team received a $2 million Federal grant to look at why obesity rates have increased so dramatically in the past decades.

Experts say people who want long term results need to focus on a healthy lifestyle, instead of fast weight loss. With the newly-announced funds, the Mac obesity team will be looking at ways people can boost their metabolism, in order to keep the weight off.