Weight Loss Success Could Be Hindered by Hunger Hormones Researchers Say

If you’ve ever successfully lost weight before, you probably know that it seems almost harder to keep it off than it was to lose it in the first place.

People chide dieters for lack of willpower, and when people are watching their weight through a specific strategy, they’re often told that as soon as they return to eating “normally,” they’ll gain all the weight back. The idea that it’s difficult to maintain healthy eating patterns is often used to caution dieters against adopting plans that seem too efficient, like a low-carb or shake-based diet, because rebound weight gain seems so common.

New research published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that lax attitudes after the weight loss is complete may not be to blame for regained weight. Citing a small study of 50 dieters before, during and after their diets indicates that “hunger hormones” like ghrelin may have more than a little sway when it comes to piling the pounds back on. WebMD explains:

Gherlin is the “go” hormone that tells us to eat. Leptin is the hormone that tells us to stop eating. More ghrelin and less leptin set the stage for weight regain. Reductions in other hormones such as peptide YY and cholecystokinin also help favor weight regain after weight loss.

Study researcher Joseph Proietto, MBBS, PhD commented on the implications of the findings:

“The findings explain why most people find it difficult to maintain weight loss long term.It may also explain why public health measures adopted so far have generally failed to reduce obesity prevalence.”

Johns Hopkins obesity expert Scott Kahan, MD concurred:

“This is a really important study. It is clear from this study and many others that weight regain is not a problem of willpower. Things change hormonally, metabolically, and otherwise after you gain weight so even if you take it off, things don’t go always go back to baseline.”

Doctors say appetite suppressing medications could allow dieters to combat the effects of ghrelin and other hunger hormones in order to keep weight off.