Weighty Matters: “The Biggest Loser Destroys Participants’ Metabolisms”
Dr. Yoni Freedhoff reports on a new study…
In an article published yesterday ahead of print, Darcy Johannsen and friends studied the impact 7 months of Biggest Loser weight loss had on the resting and total energy expenditures of 16 participants. They used all the latest gadgets to do so including indirect calorimetry and doubly labeled water. So what happened? By week 6 participants had lost 13% of their body weight and by week 30, 39%. More importantly by week 6 participants metabolisms had slowed by 244 more calories per day than would have been expected simply as a function of their weight loss and by week 30, by 504 more.
…Here’s how I’d spell it out. While some contestants of the Biggest Loser will translate their new lifestyles into careers as product spokespeople or fitness trainers and hence have new external motivators to maintain their extreme behaviours, those who don’t are doomed by the show itself to regain their weight, as the lifestyles promoted by the reality television show The Biggest Loser are only “realistic” to those whose livelihoods and/or fame depend on them.
The whole post is worth a read. Go for it.
April 27, 2012
This makes sense to me. In reading the article, it seems that anytime you have a very restricted intake of calories for a long time, your metabolism takes a hit.
I can see where going back to a “regular” intake could cause a problem.
As you have said before, this is not a “healthy” approach to fat loss.
April 28, 2012
I’m not surprised but that article was a good read. I remember watching an interview on Leno with Bob TBL trainer. He said that roughly 50% of the contestants end up gaining the weight back.