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December 22nd, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda THURSDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) — Some weight regain is
common after weight loss, but in older women many of those regained pounds
return as fat mass rather than muscle mass, according to a new study.
How this affects strength and health needs further study, but experts
said the findings underscore the downside of so-called yo-yo dieting.
The study included 78 women, average age 58, who had lost about 25
pounds during a previous diet study. Looking at data on the regainers, the
researchers found a change in body composition.
“A third of the weight lost was muscle,” said Dr. Barbara Nicklas, a
gerontologist at the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“The proportion of weight they gained [back] as muscle was 20 percent.”
That left them with more fat and less muscle.
The researchers evaluated the women’s body weight, lean mass and fat
mass before the diet, right after weight loss, and six and 12 months
later. At one year, the researchers zeroed in on 68 women for whom
complete records were available. Fifty-two (76 percent) had regained some
weight, including 11 who weighed more than at the study’s start. Sixteen
were still losing weight.
The study was published Dec. 13 in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition.
The women in the study were sedentary, and their average body mass
index (BMI) at the start was 33. BMI is a calculation based on height and
weight, and a BMI of 30 is considered obese.
The finding may not apply to women who are less overweight, Nicklas
said. She suspects the results would also apply to older men, but perhaps
not to younger men or women.
“Some research shows [younger people] regain their weight in the same
muscle-fat proportion they lost [it],” she said.
There is a possibility, Nicklas said, that a higher proportion of fat
with the regained weight may simply reflect normal aging.
The study of regain after weight loss is a relatively new area, said
Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science at Tufts
University, Boston, who is familiar with the study.
“There was a wide range of variability in both weight loss and regain
among the postmenopausal women studied,” she said. The shift in body
composition toward more fat than muscle didn’t occur in all women, she
said.
Even so, she said the clear message is to try to avoid becoming
overweight to begin with, and to keep off the excess weight once you lose
it.
“For those women who have gained excess body weight and are then
successful in losing it, this finding may add a bit more impetus to
maintain the weight loss,” Lichtenstein said.
But the study shouldn’t deter overweight individuals from trying to
slim down, she said.
Protein consumption is important to help minimize the amount of muscle
loss, Nicklas said.
U.S. dietary guidelines recommend 0.8 grams of protein (or more) for
every 2.2 pounds of body weight. For instance, a woman who weighs 200
pounds should take in about 70 to 90 grams of protein, Nicklas said. A
5.3-ounce container of Greek yogurt has about 13 grams or more of protein,
she noted.
Exercise and a balanced diet can help maintain weight loss, Nicklas
advised.
More information
For more on body mass index, see the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute.
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