In this 6-part series, I look into some recent science in the field of health and wellness. As a clinical naturopath I read so much research and want to share with you some highlights. Happy Reading!
Nutrition is more important than exercise for weight loss
Yes, they are both important. But what you eat plays more of a role in your weight than how much you exercise. Studies that have pitted exercise against diet have shown that participants tend to lose more weight by dieting alone than by exercise alone.
Reference: Foster-Schubert KE, Alfano CM, Duggan CR et al. (2011) Effect of diet and exercise, alone or combined, on weight and body composition in overweight-to-obese post-menopausal women. Obesity (Silver Spring). August; 20(8): 1628–1638.
Exercise is still vital for a healthy metabolism
While exercise may not be as important for weight loss as calorie restriction, it’s important in another way: it begins to repair a broken metabolism.
Bed-rest studies conducted by NASA indicate that within a couple of days of non-activity, the metabolism becomes ‘inflexible’. Metabolic flexibility is the ability of the human body to switch from one fuel source to the next: from fats to carbs and carbs to fat. When you have a flexible (healthy) metabolism, your body efficiently burns whatever kind of food you eat.
Reference: Jost PD. (2008). Simulating human space physiology with bed rest. Hippokratia, 12(Suppl 1), 37–40.
Your brain controls your weight loss or gain
When it comes down to it, it’s not the body or the metabolism that are actually creating overweight or obesity – it’s the brain. Over time, poor decisions lead to significant changes in how the brain governs – and responds to – the hunger and satiation processes.
The good news? By developing new habits, we can help correct the brain patterns that lead to weight gain, for example, by training ourselves to adopt healthy behaviours such as calorie restriction, healthy food choices and exercise. It just takes time.
Reference: Stanek KM, Grieve SM, Brickman AM et al. (2011) Obesity Is Associated With Reduced White Matter Integrity in Otherwise Healthy Adults. Obesity, 19:500–504. doi: 10.1038/oby.2010.312
Dieting makes you fatter
A 2011 study on more than 2000 sets of twins from Finland found that not only is dieting (independent of genetics) significantly associated with accelerated weight gain, it also increases the risk of becoming overweight.
The study found that dieting twins who embarked on just one intentional weight-loss episode were nearly two to three times more likely to become overweight, compared to their non-dieting twin counterpart. Furthermore, the risk of becoming overweight increased in a dose-dependent manner with each dieting episode.
Reference: Pietiläinen, K H et al. (2011). Does dieting make you fat? A twin study. International Journal of Obesity, doi:10.1038/ijo.2011.160
