Yo-yo dieting won’t go away despite the risks. Slow, steady, and sustainable changes are the bedrock of any long-term health journey, but that doesn’t matter to those who treat weight loss goals like a stringy toy. They want the quick fix, even if it leads to a tougher road later. Also known as weight cycling, yo-yo dieting can be extremely harmful even if the person doing the dieting keeps gaining and losing as little as ten pounds.
“Repeated periods of weight loss and regain form a pattern known as weight cycling,” according to the International Journal of Exercise Science. This sharp pivoting between drastic calorie reduction in inconsistent cycles can include fasting, juice cleanses, rigid diet restrictions, and other forms of rapid and severe attempts to reduce body weight. These might seem useful when the scale heads in the desired direction for a short while, but ultimately, they can have long-term negative effects on weight loss goals. Yo-yo dieting can result in short-term weight loss, which leads to improved liver health and insulin tolerance but also a greater rate of weight gain.
Studies have consistently shown that weight change is likely to increase body fat and is associated with unfavorable metabolic and psychosocial attributes.
In addition, bodies that have experienced various bouts of weight cycling resist further weight loss and favor the recovery of lost weight goals.
Here are four ways that weight cycling could be getting in the way of your long-term weight loss:
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Yo-Yo Dieting Can Harm Your Heart Health
Maintaining a healthy heart is crucial for improving one’s overall wellness. That could be threatened by yo-yo dieting. According to a 2024 study from the Journal of the American Medical Association, “Human studies have linked weight change to vascular function deterioration and elevated BP via visceral fat accumulation.”
This doesn’t mean that you should stop all attempts to lose weight, but it does mean that you should try to do it in a healthy and sustainable way, or you’ll regret it later.
Yo-Yo Dieting Can Increase Your Risks of Gallstones
Your gallbladder is an organ located beneath the liver. It can be obstructed by gallstones when a rush to drop the pounds leads to unsafe choices. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reports that “losing weight very quickly may raise your chances of forming gallstones” because rapid weight loss could “prevent the gallbladder from emptying properly.”
Yo-Yo Dieting Can Increase Your Risk of Kidney Disease and Cancer
Portions of your metabolic health can be thrown off by yo-yo dieting. This is particularly risky for those with the chronic metabolic disease diabetes. “Body-weight cycling is significantly associated with an increased risk of kidney events in people with type 1 diabetes, regardless of body mass index and traditional risk factors,” according to The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Talk to your healthcare professional about preexisting conditions before implementing a strict routine that might work against you.
Weight cycling can raise your risk for kidney cancer as well. A 2021 report in Cancer Causes & Control said, “Frequent substantial weight cycling was associated with increased risk of kidney cancer, independent of BMI.”
Yo-Yo- Dieting Can Prevent You from Gaining Muscle
Muscle loss, clinically referred to as sarcopenia, occurs in people who participate in yo-yo dieting. A 2019 study in the Journal of Obesity said that “the risk of developing sarcopenia was nearly six times higher in participants with severe weight cycling compared with participants without weight cycling.”
Constantly yo-yo dieting can prevent you from developing the muscle mass needed to chase your fitness goals. Honor your body by choosing the path that leads to consistent change.
Additional Research:
The Journal of Obesity Reviews
