Five Facts the Diet Industry Does Not Want You to Know

Weight

Oct 4

Dieting is a multi-billion dollar business. Even most obesity researchers are funded by the diet industry. What’s the result? Lots of research that says obesity will kill you. What you don’t ever hear about are the following 5 facts the diet industry does not want you to know:

1. Weights above recommended levels do not necessarily lead to poor health or shorter lifespan.

Approximately 75 % of all studies about weight and death rate published since the 1950s have found that weight is irrelevant to health and death rate (1) (except for the very thin or extremely fat). This means that people who are “moderately overweight” cannot automatically be considered “unhealthy” (2).

2. Weight loss is not inherently good. Thinner is not necessarily healthier.

Weight loss does not necessarily result in a longer life and/or improved health. In fact, The National Institutes of Health reported that "most epidemiological studies suggest that weight loss is associated with increased mortality” (3).

3. Weight loss is not necessary to improve the health.

You’ve heard that you need to lose weight to improve blood pressure, or diabetes, etc, but significant research exists showing these problems can improve without weight loss. Even “metabolic syndrome” (the combination of high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids, and poor blood sugar control) can improve without weight loss. Consuming a high fiber, nutrient-rich diet with adequate physical activity is the key, not a weight loss diet (4-12).

And higher weights can have health benefits, including reduced risk of lung cancer (the number one cause of cancer deaths in both women and men), premenopausal breast cancer and osteoporosis. Even weights defined as overweight and obese have been shown to have advantages (1).

4. Diets don’t work.

Diets have an extremely poor success rate, only 2 to 5% of people who diet will lose weight and keep it off (13-15).

And you probably know from personal experience (and research confirms) that 95 to 98% of people regain all their lost weight, but 1/3 of them will gain extra weight. Dieting will make you fatter in the long run (14, 16). This is also true for children.

5. Diets can negatively impact health.

People who yo-yo diet have decreased metabolic rates, are more efficient at storing fat, and end up with a higher proportion of fat on their bodies.

In fact, each time you lose weight and regain it, weight actually redistributes. It moves from the lower body (where it has a protective effect against heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and high cholesterol) to the belly (where it is a health risk factor) (1).

To make matters worse, those who chronically lose and regain weight have increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes (9, 17-20). Weight cycling is also linked to gall bladder disease, osteoporosis, and kidney cancer (21-23) and breast cancer (24). In fact, long-term studies find higher mortality rates in people who have lost weight (1).

And don’t forget that dieting is the on-ramp to an eating disorder--a devastating and potentially deadly disease. In 20 years of specializing in the treatment of those with eating disorders, I have never met a person with an eating disorder who did not start with dieting.

The Bottom Line

Being hounded to lose weight is not making us thinner, but it is making us miserable. Millions of people have suffered due to focus on weight. Untold numbers have died in their attempts to alter their weights (25-27), even those without eating disorders (28, 29). And, lets face it--a focus on weight only uses up precious time and energy and keeps the focus OFF the more reachable goals of improved nutrition and physical activity (1).

Quit letting our culture make you feel bad because of your weight. Quit letting the government’s “war on obesity” make you feel inadequate. Quit spending money on the diet industry and instead spend it on yourself!

And take the health advice you may have heard from your mother:

"Eat your veggies then go outside and play." ~ Mom

Healthy eating and enjoyable activity will bring you good health. Continually hating and trying to change your body will not.

About Eating Wisdom and Drs Karin and Hannah

We are two PhD level Registered and Licensed Nutritionists whose passion is to help others escape diet culture and to learn to use their natural, innate Eating Wisdom to, finally, find peace with food, eating and weight.

Check out our course, Intuitive Eating: How to Escape Diet Culture and Become an Empowered Eater,. plus we have lots of info and handouts (including the original Hunger Fullness Scale) at our website, www.EatingWisdom.com. We provide virtual nutrition counseling, as well as in person. Take advantage of our combined 40+ years of experience and reach out today!

References

1. Gaesser G. Big Fat Lies: The truth about your weight and your health. Carlsbad, CA: Gurze Books, 2002.

2. Troiano R, Frongillo E, Sobal J, Levitsky D. The relationship between body weight and mortality: A quantitative analysis of combined information from existing studies. International Journal of Obesity 1996;20:65-75.

3. National Institutes of Health. National Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Conference. "Methods for Voluntary Weight Loss and Control. Annals of Internal Medicine 1992;116:942-949.

4. Appel L, Moore TJ, Obarzanek E. A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure. New England Journal of Medicine 1997;336:1117-1124.

5. Bacon L, Keim NL, VanLoan MD, et al. Evaluating a 'Non-Diet' Wellness Intervention for Improvement of metabolic fitness, psychological well-being and eating and activity behaviors. International Journal of Obesity 2002;26:854-865.

6. Barnard JR, Jung T, Inkeles SB. Diet and exercise in the treatment of NIDDM. Diabetes Care 1994;17:1469.

7. Barnard RJ, Ugianskis EJ, Martin DA, Inkeles SB. Role of Diet and Exercise in the Management of Hyperinsulinemia and Associated Atherosclerotic Risk Factors. American Journal of Cardiology 1992;69:440-444.

8. Blair SN, Hohl HW, Paffenbarger RW, Clark DG, Cooper KH, Gibbons LW. Physical fitness and all-cause mortality: a prospective study of healthy men and women. Journal of the American Medical Association 1989;262:2395-2402.

9. Blair SN, Shatten J, Brownell K, Collins G, Lissner L. Body weight change, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality in the multiple risk factor intervention trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 1993;119:749-757.

10. Crespo C, Palmieri MG, Perdomo RP, et al. The Relationship of Physical Activity and Body Weight with All-Cause Mortality: Results from The Puerto Rico Heart Health Program. Annals of Epidemiology 2002;12:543-552.

11. Lamarche B, Depres JP, Pouliot MC, et al. Is Body Fat Loss a Determinant Factor in the Improvement of Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism Following Aerobic Exercise Training in Obese Women? Metabolism 1992;41:1249-1256.

12. Tremblay A, Depres JP, Maheux J, et al. Normalization of the Metabolic Profile in Obese Women by Exercise and a Low Fat Diet. Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise 1991;23:1326-1331.

13. Goodrick GK, Foreyt JP. Why treatments for obesity don't last. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1991;91:1243-1247.

14. Field AE, Austin SB, Taylor CB, et al. Relation Between Dieting and Weight Change Among Preadolescents and Adolescents. Pediatrics 2003;112:900-906.

15. Coulston AM. Obesity as an epidemic: Facing the challenge. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1998;98 (suppl 2):S6-S8.

16. Keys A, Brozek J, Henschel A, Michelson O, Taylor HI. Biology of Human Starvation. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1950.

17. Olson MB. Weight cycling and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in women: Evidence of an adverse effect. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2000;36:1565-1571.

18. Guagnono MT. Risk factors for hypertension in obese women: The role of weight cycling. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000;54:356-360.

19. Holbrook TL, Barrett-Connor EL, Wingard DL. The association of lifetime weight and weight control patterns with diabetes among men and women in an adult community. International Journal of Obesity 1989;13:723-729.

20. Lissner L, Odell P, D'Agostino R, et al. Variability in body weight and health outcomes in the Framingham population. New England Journal of Medicine 1991;324:1839-1844.

21. Fogelholm M. Association between weight cycling history and bone density in premenopausal women. Osteoporosis International 1997;7:354-358.

22. Linblad P, Wolk A, Bergstrom R, Persson I, Adami HO. The role of obesity and weight fluctuation in the etiology of renal cell cancer: A population-based case-control study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prevention 1994;3:631-639.

23. Snyder R, Hasbrouck L. Feminist identity, gender traits, and the symptoms of disturbed eating among college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly 1996;20:593-598.

24. Syngal S, Coakley EH, Willett WC, Byers T, Williamson DF, Colditz GA. Long-term weight patterns and risk for cholecystectomy in women. Annals of Internal Medicine 1999;130:471-477.

25. Wolf N. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1991.

26. Bloom C, Gitter A, Gutwill S, Kogel L, Zaphiropoulos L. Eating Problems: A feminist psychoanalytic treatment model. New York: Basic Books, 1994.

27. Brown C, Jasper K, eds. Consuming Passions: Feminist Approaches to Weight Preoccupation and Eating Disorders. Toronto: Second Story Press, 1993.

28. Berg FM. The Health Risks of Obesity. Hettinger, ND: Healthy Living Institute, 1993.

29. Mundy A. Dispensing with the Truth: The victims, the drug companies and the dramatic story behind the battle over Fen-Phen. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.

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