It's still worth the effort... but...

... weight loss really could be more difficult for some individuals than others, according to new research published by researchers at the Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases division.

Their recent study selected 12 obese individuals (both male and female) to participate in the study.  Allow me to digress for a moment, as I was a little disappointed to see such a small number of participants.  First, males and females have proven to be different in the realm of weight loss.  Second, a statistically significant study should have at least 30 participants, or can it really be applied to the general population?  And third... don't we seem to have an ample supply of obese individuals in this country that could have participated in this?  I'm operating under the assumption that the study was so small simply because there wasn't enough funding for more people.  Now back to the details.

So the participants fasted for a day and then spent some time in an indirect calorimetry room.  Indirect calorimetry, or an indirect calorimeter, is used to measure metabolism - the rate at which we use energy.  Energy is "burned" and the burning of energy creates heat.  Heat is measured in kilocalories or calories.  The indirect calorimeter does this by measures the amount of oxygen we take in and the amount of carbon dioxide we then produce.  Through complex equations with these 2 factors, researchers can then determine how much energy was used by the body (without having to "directly" measure the heat produced as this is much more difficult when working with an animate object).

After the day of fasting, and the measurement of their metabolic rate, all participants then followed a controlled diet for 6 weeks.  The diet provided only 50% of their calorie needs.  At the end of the study, after accounting for differences in age, sex, race and baseline weight, the researchers found that some of the individuals were more resistant to weight loss than others.  This factor itself doesn't seem news-worthy.  What was interesting was that the participants whose metabolism dropped the most following their one-day fast, were the same participants that lost the least amount of weight. 

The ability for the body to adapt to new circumstances seems like a great thing.  But in the face of weight loss, this adaptive metabolism is impressively frustrating.  These people are said to possess a "thrifty" metabolism.  Thrifty is great when you're working with a tight financial budget... but when you're working hard to lose weight and your body is constantly fighting this, it certainly makes the road to success much more difficult.

Interestingly, it doesn't seem that the participants were encouraged to exercise during this study.  That may have been on purpose as exercise can help to increase or at least preserve your metabolic rate (and the study just wanted to see what effect the food restriction had).

So if you find yourself suffering with a thrifty metabolism.  Don't fret.  Your struggle will be harder, but as long as you recognize the need to preserve your metabolism by making smaller diet alterations and increasing activity along the way... your success will taste much sweeter than those for whom weight loss is a breeze.

Next up on the list to study, for these particular researchers, is the effect on metabolism when studying lean individuals who are put on a higher calorie diet.

www.nih.gov/news/health/may2015/niddk-11.htm