Yo-yo dieting could hurt your heart: study

reports that research suggests “losing 10 pounds now and then and gaining it back may be bad for your heart,” especially for “normal-weight” women. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions. Investigators found that “women who were normal weight at the study’s start but who reported a history of weight cycling – dropping more than 10 pounds and regaining it while not sick or pregnant, more than four times – had a 3.5 times greater risk for sudden cardiac death than those with stable weights.” The researchers also found that “they...had a 66% increased risk of dying from coronary heart disease.” That weight fluctuations are linked to such dire consequences makes some sense, and there are several different theories as to why. One is that every time weight is gained and lost, risk variables like heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose fluctuate; repeat this cycle enough, and they’ll be less likely to return to baseline levels, Rasla says. Gaining and losing weight repeatedly may also cause insulin resistance, which increases the risk for coronary heart disease death, he says. Why do these health problems appear to disproportionately affect women of healthy weight? Other research has shown that normal-weight women are more likely to die from with heart failure than obese women, Rasla says. “Obese people have higher blood pressure, high diabetes but over a long period of time, and it’s been found that their bodies develop a compensatory adaptive mechanism to different diseases,” he says. Thinner women, though they don’t get sick as often, may therefore be more vulnerable. http://time.com/4571618/dieting-weight-loss-heart-health/