New research turns everything we thought we knew about yo-yo dieting on its head

Talk about the ups and downs of dieting.

Yo-yo dieting, a common pattern where people restrict calories to lose weight, then slip back into old eating habits before starting the cycle over again, has often been linked to more weight gain.

But new research has turned the belief that this much-criticized diet habit is bad for you on its head, finding it may not be as bad as once thought.

Yo-yo dieting is a common pattern of restricting calories, then falling back into old eating habits and gaining weight. Vadym – stock.adobe.com

It’s estimated that up to 55% of American women and 35% of men have fallen into the yo-yo dieting trap that can even cause fat cells to “remember” being overweight.

A study published in the journal BMC Medicine, however, suggests that this eating pattern could actually build long-term health benefits, even when the weight eventually returns.

This dieting pattern leads to more than just changes in weight; it can also affect body composition — especially visceral fat around the abdomen, which is closely linked to cardiovascular disease — and even genetic modifications.

This led the research team to look into whether repeated diet efforts help or hurt long-term health, with their findings challenging the idea that weight loss success should be judged only by the scale.

A study found that yo-yo diet cycles actually improved several metabolic health markers, including unhealthy visceral fat. amixstudio – stock.adobe.com

Comparing diet-based interventions and physical activity of nearly 500 participants over five- and ten-year periods, the researchers conducted MRI scans before and after each diet cycle to measure changes in body composition.

Despite returning to nearly the same body weight before another dieting cycle, there were several metabolic improvements.

Visceral or abdominal fat distribution was better than at the start of a diet, as well as insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles improving.

According to the researchers, these findings show a lasting “cardiometabolic memory” from previous weight loss attempts.

Even five years after finishing a second diet intervention, participants had regained less weight and abdominal fat than those who only participated in a weight loss program once.

“Repeated participation in a lifestyle program aimed at weight loss, even after an apparent ‘failure,’ in which an individual regains all the weight lost in a previous diet, may lead to significant and sustainable health benefits over the years, particularly through the reduction of harmful visceral fat,” the study’s principal investigator, Iris Shai, said in a press release.

This research comes as the obesity epidemic continues to grow, as nearly half of American adults will be obese by 2035.

And the health risks of carrying extra weight have been well-documented, raising the chances of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, breathing problems, joint issues and depression.