🗳️ Is yo-yo dieting healthy?

Yo-yo dieting is losing weight, gaining it back (maybe more), losing it again, gaining it again (maybe even more).

And so it goes.

It very common among people that try dieting using non-sustainable methods where the emphasis is on calories rather than behavioural change.

Yo-yo dieting can be frustrating and time consuming.

And recent research suggests that it could also be harmful to your cardiovascular health.

Mice previously on a high fat diet, had lower risk of cardiovascular disease once put on a low fat diet.

But re-exposure to a high fat diet can quickly reverse these benefits, accelerating cardiovascular disease.

In this context, cardiovascular disease was measured as plaque buildup in the arteries due to increased inflammation and decreased protective mechanisms by different certain immune cells.

This exploratory research suggests that short term fixes can often have long term repercussions.

However, mice and humans are not the same beings and results must be interpreted with caution.

🥊 Punchline

Recent research suggests that yo-yo dieting can increase risk of cardiovascular disease and so long-term dietary changes may be necessary to effectively manage this condition.

🤸'Weekend warrior' exercise may help protect against multiple diseases

Not everyone has the time to exercise during the week.

Some are ‘weekend warriors’, concentrating moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at weekends.

A new research on 89,573 individuals wearing wrist accelerometers found that, ‘weekend warrior’ intense activity was as effective at disease prevention as regular exercise across the week.

‘Weekend warrior’ intense activity was associated with similarly lower risks of diseases across 16 categories: from heart and digestive conditions to mental health and neurological illnesses.

The strongest effects were seen for cardiometabolic conditions, such as high blood pressure (23% lower risk) and diabetes (43% lower risk).

There appears to be similar benefits for ‘weekend warrior’ versus regular activity, so it may be the total volume and intensity of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most.

🥊 Punchline

Concentrated intense physical activity patterns may be just as effective for disease prevention as patterns where exercise is spread out throughout the week.

🍟 Is it ok to have chat meals?

A cheat meal isn’t necessarily unhealthy. Rather it contain foods that aren't on your current diet plan or are considered indulgent.

The need to have a cheat meal is greater for people on restrictive diets, like ketogenic diets.

An exploratory study wanted to discover what happens when people that follow diets very low in sugar (e.g. ketogenic diet) reintroduce sugar.

Nine young males followed a 7-day high fat, low-carbohydrate diet that was similar to the keto diet (70% fat, 10% carbs, 20% protein).

They then consumed 75 g of pure sugar and exhibited biomarkers in blood associated with damaged blood vessels.

The theory is that a sudden spike in blood sugar levels triggers a cascade of events involving the immune system that results into greater inflammation within the walls of the blood vessels.

This could be because the body has gradually ‘lost its ability’ to deal with sugar after non consuming it for some time.

This is alarming because the participants were young and the consequences are similar to those seen in cardiovascular disease.

However, this research was only carried out in young males, following a specific diet, for a very short time and using pure sugar as the ‘cheat meal’. It is true that the body adapts to the diet, but short term adaptations don’t necessarily translate in long term adaptations or consequences. More research is needed on this topic.

🥊 Punchline

One week of high-fat, low-carb dieting among young males could interfere with how the body handles blood sugar levels, predisposing to damage to the walls of blood vessels. But don’t fret. This is just an exploratory research.