People should think twice before dieting, according to researchers behind a recent study who identified negative consequences of yo-yo dieting or weight cycling.
Weight cycling describes the cycle of losing weight through dieting, regaining it and reentering a diet to shed the pounds once again.
“Yo-yo dieting — unintentionally gaining weight and dieting to lose weight only to gain it back and restart the cycle — is a prevalent part of American culture, with fad diets and lose-weight-quick plans or drugs normalized as people pursue beauty ideals,” said Lynsey Romo, corresponding author of the study published in the journal Qualitative Health Research.
The study highlights how toxic yo-yo dieting can be and how difficult it can be for people to get out of the cycle. Based on their findings, researchers recommend avoiding dieting unless medically necessary.
“Based on what we learned through this study, as well as the existing research, we recommend that most people avoid dieting unless it is medically necessary. Our study also offers insights into how people can combat insidious aspects of weight cycling and challenge the cycle,” Romo said.
To investigate the reasons behind people entering the yo-yo dieting cycle and examine if people managed to break free from it, the team interviewed 36 adults (13 men and 23 women) who experienced weight cycling. All the participants lost and regained more than 11 pounds.
From their interviews, researchers noted that participants opted to shed pounds either due to social stigma linked to their weight or by comparing themselves to celebrities or peers.
“Overwhelmingly, participants did not start dieting for health reasons, but because they felt social pressure to lose weight,” Romo said.
Because the intention behind weight loss stemmed mainly from societal stigma, participants tended to feel worse about themselves when they started regaining weight. This prompted them to restart dieting, sometimes resorting to extreme measures for…
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