Bad Fads

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle have found that women who repeatedly gain and lose weight have weaker immune systems. They urge women against “yo-yo” dieting in a report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. They studied 114 overweight but otherwise healthy women. Blood tests revealed lower levels of white blood cells, the body’s natural defense against infection, viruses, and cancer, in the women who had histories of fluctuating weight due to dieting. Women who maintained the same weight over years, even if obese, had higher levels of white blood cells. Those who lost weight more than five times had one-third fewer of the beneficial blood cells. Assistant Research Professor Cornelia Ulrich said, “we’re concerned about … this pattern of weight cycling where women go up and down”.

“That’s why we registered dieticians are urging people not to do the fad diets and just try small changes that they’re more likely to be able to live with - even if the weight loss is slower,” said Katherine Tallmadge of the dietetic association. You can read a report at the BBC News website. A slower weight loss with lifestyle changes would dovetail with the recent recommendation of the Weight Watcher’s program as being more effective of several popular weight loss regimens.