Health
‘Yo-yo’ weight loss occurs because of this surprising reason
About 40% of American adults live with obesity — and for many, it can feel a bit like a roller-coaster ride as their weight fluctuates up and down.
The cycle of losing and regaining weight, commonly known as the yo-yo effect, could be due to a type of “metabolic memory,” in which the body remembers and strives to return to its former state of obesity, according to a new study.
“Obesity is a chronic condition with significant metabolic consequences, strongly linked to various metabolic and cardiovascular diseases,” study author Dr. Ferdinand von Meyenn, assistant professor for nutrition and metabolic epigenetics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, told Fox News Digital.
IS EATING ONCE A DAY A GOOD IDEA? EXPERTS SHARE VARYING OPINIONS ON THE ‘OMAD DIET’
“A well-documented observation is that the body tends to defend increased body weight, making weight loss and maintenance notoriously challenging.”
Obesity is a common chronic disease in the U.S., with one in five children and two out of five adults meeting the criteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The cycle of losing and regaining weight on repeat, commonly known as the yo-yo effect, could be due to a type of “metabolic memory,” a new study found. (iStock)
The new research, published in November in the journal Nature, points to epigenetics (genetic activity) that may play a role in regaining weight after weight loss.
What is epigenetics?
“Epigenetics, which involves chemical markers that influence gene activity without altering the DNA sequence, is crucial in how cells function and respond to environmental factors,” Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told Fox News Digital.
‘HIDDEN’ FAT COULD PREDICT ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE UP TO 20 YEARS BEFORE SYMPTOMS, RESEARCH FINDS
“These markers can be altered by lifestyle factors, such as diet, and can remain stable for years, effectively creating a cellular ‘memory’ of past states, such as obesity,” added Stanford, who was not part of the study.
It is well-known that cells keep their genetic identity as they divide. The researchers were curious about what happens to fat cells — which live on average for 10 years before the body replaces them, von Meyenn said.
The researchers investigated what happens to fat cells, which live on average for 10 years before the body replaces them. (iStock)
This differs from other cells in tissues, which divide much faster – intestinal cells, for example, generally divide every other week, he added.
Fat cells still must adapt to external stimuli and undergo epigenetic adaptations, von Meyenn noted.
The researchers set out to determine whether these changes could be reversed.
Fighting ‘memory’ in fat cells
In mouse studies, the researchers found that even after significant weight loss, their cells have a “memory” of obesity encoded in the epigenome, which controls the activity of genes, said von Meyenn.
“Our study indicates that one reason maintaining body weight after initial weight loss is difficult is that the fat cells remember their prior obese state and likely aim to return to this state,” he told Fox News Digital.
“The body tends to defend increased body weight, making weight loss and maintenance notoriously challenging.”
“This means one would have to ‘fight’ this obesogenic memory to maintain body weight.”
Based on this research, a failure to maintain weight loss after dieting is not necessarily due to lack of effort or willpower, but could also be driven by an underlying biological phenomenon, von Meyenn added.
Potential limitations
The research looked only at fatty tissue, and the genetic mechanisms were studied only in mice. Even so, the researchers said they believe that similar mechanisms also apply to humans.
Other experts cautioned, however, that the study shows only association and does not prove that epigenetic changes cause the yo-yo effect.
CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR NEXT MEAL? IT’S CALLED FOOD NOISE, HERE’S WHAT TO DO
“The authors pointed out that they cannot say for certain that the epigenetic modifications directly cause people to regain their lost weight, nor pinpoint which specific epigenetic markers may be driving this effect,” Petronella Ravenshear, board-certified nutritionist and author of “The Human Being Diet,” told Fox News Digital.
Florida-based Ravenshear, who was not part of the study, noted that the results should not lead people to claim, “It’s not my fault, it’s my genes!”
Plans for future research
“We will need to now expand, see how the memory can be erased and whether other cells or tissues are also affected, [such as] the brain or the liver,” von Meyenn said.
It’s possible that if people maintain a healthy weight for a year or longer after dieting, that may be enough time to erase the memory in fat cells, according to Ravenshear.
The term “diet,” in its original connotation, means “way of living” — but it is now synonymous with short-term dietary changes that are unsustainable, one expert said. (iStock)
“This discovery underscores the importance of preventing obesity, particularly in children and adolescents, to avoid establishing this epigenetic memory that complicates long-term weight management,” Stanford noted.
“Understanding these mechanisms further could lead to more effective treatments and prevention strategies, emphasizing the need for a proactive approach to weight management from an early age,” she added.
‘Way of living’
The term “diet,” in its original connotation, means “way of living” — but it is now synonymous with short-term dietary changes that are unsustainable, Ravenshear noted.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
People often regain the weight they lose when they return to the eating habits that led to weight gain in the first place, many experts agree.
Ravenshear cited Professor David Benton at Swansea University in the U.K., author of “Tackling the Obesity Crisis,” who recently shared in a Guardian interview, “The mantra is that diets fail.”
One expert recommends focusing on breaking addictions to sugar and refined carbohydrates and embracing a new way of eating. (iStock)
“They fail because to avoid regaining lost weight, you need to permanently change your diet.”
After finishing a diet, many people return to the previous lifestyle that caused the problem in the first place, he noted.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“Frequently snacking, and eating calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods, disrupts our blood sugar, raises insulin levels and adds to inflammation – and the inflammation itself makes it harder to lose weight,” Ravenshear told Fox News Digital.
“Eating calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods disrupts our blood sugar, raises insulin levels and adds to inflammation – and the inflammation itself makes it harder to lose weight,” one expert cautioned. (iStock)
She recommends focusing on breaking addictions to sugar and refined carbohydrates and embracing a new way of eating.
The expert suggests choosing nutrient-dense whole foods, eating three meals a day, and fasting with nothing but water for five hours between meals.
The weight loss occurs as a side effect of rebalanced hormones and lowered inflammation, she noted.
Ravenshear added, “When we are getting the calories, but not the nutrients that our body and brain need, we’re always hungry because our brain drives us to keep searching for food.”
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GETTING YOUR FLU SHOT, ACCORDING TO DOCTORS
Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
HOW LONG YOU’RE CONTAGIOUS WITH THE FLU — AND WHEN IT’S SAFE TO GO OUT
The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
RESEARCHERS LOCKED FLU PATIENTS IN A HOTEL WITH HEALTHY ADULTS — NO ONE GOT SICK
The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
FREQUENT HEARTBURN MAY BE A WARNING SIGN OF A MORE DANGEROUS CONDITION, DOCTOR SAYS
The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
BACTERIA IN YOUR MOUTH MAY TRAVEL TO THE GUT AND TRIGGER STOMACH CANCER, RESEARCH FINDS
After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES
These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER
However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
-
Los Angeles, Ca40 minutes agoOvernight military training brings loud flash bangs, simulated gunfire to quiet Pasadena neighborhood
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoDetroit Lions add UDFA rookie WR during OTAs
-
San Francisco, CA1 hour agoHow to watch San Francisco Giants vs. Milwaukee Brewers
-
Dallas, TX1 hour ago3 different Cowboys 53-man roster projections pinpoint contested roster spots
-
Miami, FL1 hour agoJeff Hafley suggests Miami Dolphins entertain Malik Willis Tush Push
-
Boston, MA1 hour agoKaren Read sues the police agencies that investigated her Boston police boyfriend’s death
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoPedestrian dies after hit by car on southbound E-470, Aurora police say
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoSeattle paying $2.6M to settle sexual harassment lawsuit filed by four female SPD officers – MyNorthwest.com
