SPORTS PERFORMANCE
PHOTO CREDIT : iSTOCK : STEFAN 032
‘ When Chewie loses his marble ’ s !’
A recent study by Polidori , Sanghvi , Seeley , & Hall ( 2016 ) helped explain this . They assessed a 52-week randomised double-blind , placebo controlled trial . This involved 153 type-two diabetic subjects treated with a drug that increases urinary glucose excretion that has subjects expending energy without even being aware of it . The drug treated subjects lost 3.5kg of weight over the course of the study , but with their weight coming to a halt at eight months , despite the constant infusion of the drug for the rest of the 12 months . Sound familiar ? Using a mathematical model to quantify energy intake , the results demonstrated that as weight loss ensued , active control of energy intake exponentially increased by around 350 Calories per day , which by eight months prevented further weight loss ( Polidori , Sanghvi , Seeley , & Hall , 2016 ). In fact , active control of energy intake was three-times larger than the corresponding energy expenditure to weight loss . This means that for every kilogram of weight lost , the subjects increased their energy needs by 100 Kcal ’ s per day in an attempt to regain weight !
So , what ’ s going on here ?
Well , both impulses are working overtime , in a bid to restore lost body fat . As weight loss ensues , a biological persistence to drive up appetite , which appears to increase three times greater than the reduction in weight induced metabolism , persist in a bid to restore previous weight levels . This sets up an easy environment for weight gain . Even consuming calories to maintain weight is highlighted by the researchers as demanding exceptional will power and restraint simply to avoid overeating beyond maintenance needs . A lot of this , we can attribute to low circulating leptin levels . For instance , put someone who ’ s lost 10 per cent of their weight under a brain scan and measure responses to seeing food vs non-food items in a glass box . Brain areas related to homeostatic , emotional and cognitive responses will light up like a Pin-ball machine in the 10 per cent weight loss subjects compared to those who lost the same amount of weight , but have been provided with twice daily leptin injections ( Rosenbaum , Sy , Pavlovich , Leibel , & Hirsch , 2008 ). With all of this information in mind , losing weight comes with changes in ‘ defence hormones ’ that react with the mission of restoring previous fat stores .
134 MUSCLE & FITNESS / MARCH 2018