Yo-yo dieting

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Another Reason Yo-Yo Dieting Is for Yo-Yos

Exercise and nutrition promote better overall health

Many of you have written to us asking what to do if you have not been so disciplined all your life about eating. Or in other words, you have lost weight when you were really motivated and then put it back on when you became careless. And then something special happened, and you lost it again, and the cycle has continued. Denis Faye, a fitness expert answers some of the questions related to yo-yo dieting and what to do about it. Here are his thoughts:

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington provided yet more evidence in favor of the healthy-diet-and-regular-exercise method of weight loss with a new study indicating that yo-yo dieting, where a person loses and regains weight over the years, may have a negative impact on immune function. The study, published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, looked at the dieting history of 114 overweight but otherwise healthy sedentary, postmenopausal women over the past 20 years. "Frequent weight loss episodes were associated with significantly decreased natural-killer-cell activity," said Cornelia Ulrich, a Ph.D. who worked on the study. "Those who reported losing weight more than five times had about a third lower natural-killer-cell function." (Related article: Lose weight by reading positive messages)

Conversely, women who maintained the same weight for five or more years had 40 percent greater natural-killer-cell activity as compared to those whose weight had remained stable for fewer than two years. Natural-killer cells, or NK cells, are the commando soldiers of the immune system. In addition to killing viruses and suppressing colds and infections, they have been shown to kill cancer cells in laboratory tests.

While the report is definitely intriguing, Ulrich notes that the results are preliminary. Much more testing will have to be done over a longer period of time to prove anything conclusive. Researchers also note that this isn't an excuse to just stay fat. Study co-author Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., explained, "The overwhelming evidence is that weight loss among the overweight or obese improves various aspects of health such as risk for diabetes, coronary disease and perhaps cancer. Therefore, it is still recommended that overweight and obese people try to lose weight but preferably avoid weight regain."

Easy for her to say, right? Well, actually, losing the weight and keeping it off is easy. It's just a matter of finding a sensible, balanced diet and augmenting that with plenty of exercise. "General guidelines would include consuming an abundant array of non-starchy vegetables and fruits, moderate amounts of lean protein and dairy products, moderate amounts of legumes and whole grains, and few or no refined carbohydrates and saturated fats," McTiernan said. "A diet high in vegetables, for example, helps reduce calories while providing most vitamins and minerals."

Add to that 60 minutes of daily exercise and you're not only losing weight, you're actually improving your immune system, added Ulrich. "Previous studies have shown that exercise appears to blunt the negative effects of weight loss on immune function," she said. "Because exercise in combination with dietary change can be effective for promoting weight loss and maintenance, it can help prevent weight cycling and potentially lessen any detrimental effects of weight loss on the immune system." Sixty minutes? Well, what do you know? That's just about how long it takes to get through a workout.

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