2024-02-26 07:00:01
The rebound effect is the body’s response to restrictive diets. Its repetition over the years generates an increased risk of suffering from diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Last update : February 26, 2024
How many times has it happened to you that following stopping the diet to lose weight, you quickly regained the lost pounds, or even more? Indeed, if this happens frequently, the problem does not come from you. But in the way you choose to lose weight. Faced with a very restrictive diet, the body returns to its initial weight as a defense mechanism. In this way, it counters the lack of calories that has been imposed on it. This is called the “rebound effect”.
It is also called the “yo-yo effect”. Because weight comes and goes, especially when implementing extreme diets. The key to avoiding this lies in professional, personalized advice.
How does the rebound effect in food work?
Getting back to your original weight following quitting a diet seems to be the precise definition of the rebound effect. However, experts have looked for concrete data to establish when a person is in this situation.
There is no unanimous criterion. However, the following two, compiled in the magazine Obesity Reviewsare indicative:
The person regains at least 30% of their pre-diet weight within 6 months of stopping. Rapid voluntary weight loss is observed in less than 6 months. In addition, what was lost is recovered (partially or totally) between 6 to 18 months following stopping the diet.
Complying with any of these situations might mean you are experiencing the rebound effect. Although you may also be in another group, these are still recurring fluctuations in weight.
This situation is known as “weight cycling” and involves a repetitive pattern throughout life. Typically, these are people who have intentionally tried several times to lose more than 5 pounds, but always returned to their original weight when they stopped the diet.
What are the health effects?
A study published in theInternational Journal of Obesity points out that only a quarter of overweight people manage to lose 10% of their initial weight and maintain it for 1 year. Others gain weight back with relative ease. Especially when they follow restrictive diets in the short term.
But the rebound effect has other consequences on health. We analyze them.
Increased abdominal fat
An article, also published in the journal Obesity Reviews, clearly shows that short-term weight loss and gain, or yo-yo effect, changes the distribution and metabolic efficiency of different body tissues. That implies that the ability to recover and store fat in the abdominal area increases. To the detriment of muscle mass, as we will see later.
Loss of muscle mass
The rebound effect causes a loss of lean tissue, known as sarcopenia. The direct consequence is the reduction of physical strength. This situation is even recorded with the implementation of different types of regimes.
However, there are strategies to prevent the problem. According to the official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, practicing physical activities and consuming proteins of high biological value, in the midst of a weight loss process, might prevent the deterioration of muscle mass.
Consequence of the rebound effect: Slow metabolism
Metabolism slows down due to the rebound effect. By losing lean tissue, we effectively reduce the proportion of the most active cells and those that spend the most energy to form their proteins.
Less muscle means reduced caloric expenditure at rest. This promotes weight gain when returning to a normal, non-restrictive diet.
Increased risk of type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance
According to’American Diabetes Association, when weight is lost and gained in a short period of time, blood sugar imbalance and increased insulin resistance occur. This might lead to type 2 diabetes.
The situation is accentuated by the effects described above. Excessive accumulation of abdominal fat, for example, slows metabolism and therefore increases the concentration of circulating glucose that does not enter cells.
Increased risk of coronary heart disease
A study of more than 9,000 participants found that the rebound effect is associated with heart conditions. Each cycle of body weight variability increases the rate of mortality and cardiovascular events.
How to avoid the rebound effect?
If you are considering losing weight, you need to plan the steps you need to take to get it right. The first step is to remove restrictive diets from options. With them you will increase the risk of rebound effect and you will waste all your efforts.
Next, you will have to change your thoughts and your patterns of action to direct them towards a new lifestyle. The following recommendations may help you.
Also read: 7 strategies to lose weight without restrictive diets
Adopt healthy eating habits
A publication in the prestigious journal The New England Journal of Medicine, based on the analysis of more than 120,000 participants, found that practicing certain basic eating behaviors reduced body weight. In addition, they help maintain it for several years.
Here are the habits indicated by the experts:
Avoid junk food and ultra-processed foods. These types of foods provide empty calories that can quickly cause you to gain weight once more. French fries, sweet drinks, sweets, industrial pastries, ready-made pizzas and fast hamburgers are some examples.Limit starchy foods. Starch is a complex carbohydrate that concentrates a large amount of energy. It is considered the main source of calories in roots, cereals and tubers, pseudo-cereals, bakery and pastry products. It must therefore be incorporated with caution.Give priority to natural products and fat-free dairy products. Include more fruits, nuts, vegetables, whole grains, yogurt, and low-fat dairy products, both whole and with skin, in your weight loss plan.Consume high quality proteins. This guarantees the incorporation of essential amino acids and prevents sarcopenia, thus facilitating the metabolic production of muscles. Good sources include lean meats, fish, shellfish, poultry, nuts and legumes.
More sport
Accompany your weight loss diet with a physical activity program that helps burn calories and is then sustainable in the long term. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the United States recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week.
Walking 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, is a comfortable and effective option.
The time and type of physical activity should be individualized. They are programmed according to personal needs. So they vary for each person.
Quality sleep to prevent the rebound effect
It’s not just regarding getting enough sleep in a few hours. It is important to have quality sleep, on a consistent and regular schedule. According to the US National Academy of Sciences, people who don’t get enough sleep increase their chances of eating more.
Being awake requires more energy. And this leads to weight gain when we consume extra calories.
On the other hand, a recent scientific publication, dating from 2023, concludes that not sleeping well reduces levels of the satiety hormone (leptin), while increasing the hormone that makes you eat (ghrelin). This then promotes the yo-yo effect.
Eat consciously
Harvard University explains that mindful eating, with mindful, slow intakes, can help you lose weight and keep it off long-term. To do this, mindfulness techniques are applied that help relieve stress.
It is therefore very interesting to review certain recommendations to start eating consciously. For example, before eating you can think for a few minutes whether you are really hungry or not. If this is the case, set the timer to eat the food more slowly than usual, savoring each bite.
Prevent the rebound effect with professional advice
Don’t try to change your metabolism or body composition in an effort to lose weight overnight. Experts confirm that it There is a high probability that extreme diets, very low in calories, will cause a rebound effect.
It is therefore essential to support you with a nutrition professional. His advice will adjust your eating habits to your age, your level of physical activity and your general health.
Finally, any modification in the consumption of carbohydrates or fats must be approved by a nutritionist, as well as the daily quota of proteins to be ingested. Of course, a change in habits complements professional support to prevent the harmful consequences of the rebound effect.
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