Three New Surprising Weight Loss Studies

Three new studies have revealed some interesting findings about food, weight and health.

Weight loss drugs reduce activity.

There are many benefits to weight loss and GLP-1 drugs have helped many people drop the extra weight. Because these drugs are known to cause muscle loss along with body fat, it is important to maintain muscle with exercise.

Weight loss should make moving easier. Less weight to carry means less stress on joints and reduces the load that needs to be moved, therefore it should be easier to move more. However, new research tells a different story.

Researchers used Fitbit data from 753 people who were classified as obese and active before the study began. 78% were women, with an average age of 53. They tracked steps, and moderate to vigorous physical activity, pre and post weight loss drugs. It is recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week.

The findings were not what they expected.

As the participants lost weight they decreased steps and physical activity. The study found that the biggest decreases in activity were not in those people who were older or had cardiovascular disease, but in men.

The researchers found no evidence that taking GLP-1 drugs and the corresponding weight loss caused people to become more active. In fact, the opposite was true. Leading researchers to believe that muscle loss may be responsible for the reduced activity levels.

Study leader Sajana Maharjan, M.D., of HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois says,

While many assume that weight loss leads naturally to increased physical activity, our study suggests otherwise. The findings in our study reinforce that exercise cannot be optional for people taking these medications. People need targeted interventions that encourage physical activity alongside medication for obesity.

Maintaining muscle is vital for health. Maintaining it during weight loss is just as important.

Fitness Trackers

AI powered calorie trackers are misleading

Apps that use photos and AI to track calories underestimate calorie totals.

Researchers tested four apps that used photos to track calories and found that they were underestimating the calories by up to 30%. The researchers took standardized photos of 102 meals which were submitted to MyFitnessPal, LoseIt!, CalAI and Appediet to compare each app’s calorie estimates to the known nutritional values.

The meals were made in a controlled metabolic kitchen which meant the researchers had an accurate measure of the nutritional content of each meal.

All of the apps were better at judging high calorie meals, versus low calorie ones. However, all underestimated fat content by up to 30 grams and calorie totals were underestimated by 250-345 calories for each meal. A quick reminder that fat contains 9 calories per gram. Meaning those 30 grams of fat would equal 270 fat calories. If you are eating a 1600 calorie per day diet, than the recommendations for fat grams would be 36-62 grams per day depending on your nutrient breakdown.

Sugar free for better health, maybe not.

Giving up sugar sounds like a healthy nutrition practice, but apparently there are negative consequences for gut health. Researchers from the Dasman Diabetes Institute in Kuwait studied the sugar-free consequences on gut health in mice. The mice were on a low-fat diet, which is recommended for health and blood sugar control, and the results showed that eliminating sugar did not improve health.

Rasheed Ahmad, Ph.D., principal scientist and head of the Immunology & Microbiology Department at the Dasman Diabetes Institute, in Kuwait City, Kuwait says,

Completely removing sucrose from a low-fat diet may unexpectedly disrupt gut health and promote inflammation and metabolic dysfunction, highlighting that balanced nutrition is more important than simply eliminating sugar.

Before the diet restrictions, the researchers measured glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, circulating metabolic hormones, the gut microbiome, and inflammation in both the colon and liver to monitor the effects of a sugar free diet. Even with maintaining calorie totals and their weight, the mice on the sugar free diet suffered negative health consequences. These included reduced glucose control, insulin resistance, imbalances in gut microbes, intestinal inflammation, and changes associated with fatty liver disease.

Is Sugar Really that Bad?

This research reinforces nutritional balance instead of focusing on one nutrient. While eating refined sugar has no nutritional value, including whole foods that have sugar is not a health risk and this research shows that it can be important for maintaining your health. Foods like dates, raisins, bananas, are often demonized as having “too much sugar” when they can be a healthy part of your diet.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla