MADRID, 15 Oct. (EDITIONS) –
Many people manage to lose weight, but few manage to maintain it. It’s not about lack of willpower, but of biology: after losing weight, the body activates a complex defense system that slows down the metabolism, increases appetite and “pushes” back towards the previous weight. This is how science explains the feared rebound effect.
Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial disease that goes far beyond the calories that are ingested or expended. When a person loses weight, Your body interprets this loss as a threat to survival and reacts: the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety become unbalanced – leptin decreases and ghrelin increases – the metabolism slows down and the brain promotes weight recovery.
It is an evolutionary mechanism that, in times of scarcity, helped us survive, but today sabotages efforts to maintain a healthy weight. That’s why, Experts insist that treating obesity requires a medical vision and sustained over time, not quick solutions or miracle diets.
This is explained during an interview with Europa Press Salud Infosalus Montse Prados, specialist in Endocrinology and doctor of Medicine (UAB), who works at the Martorell Hospital in Barcelona, ​​specializing in obesity and cardiovascular health, who also recalls that, among the consequences of obesity, there are metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular pathologies, joint disorders, and mental health problems.
“Furthermore, it is a disease relapsing and progressivewhich explains the difficulty in maintaining long-term weight loss,” insists the member of the Obesity working group of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (SEEN) and the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO).
THE BODY INTERPRETS THE LOSS OF KILOS AS A THREAT
He points out in this way that there are many people who manage to lose weight, although he states that there are few who maintain the weight in the long term, all because “the body interprets weight loss as a threat.” “After losing weight, the metabolism slows down and the appetite increaseswhich makes it easier to regain the kilos. This phenomenon responds to evolutionary defense mechanisms designed to avoid starvation,” he emphasizes.
In fact, Dr. Prados, author of ‘The medicine you need is you: Anti-inflammatory habits for extraordinary health’ (Last line of essay), emphasizes that biology weighs much more than we usually think in this area: “Hunger and satiety hormones are altered after weight lossand the brain drives its recovery because it interprets it as a threat to survival. There is an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure that may be due to changes in ‘neurohormonal’ signals, as well as genetic predisposition. This explains why it is not just a matter of personal effort, but rather gaining back the lost kilos has a physiological basis, not a moral one.”
YES YOU CAN MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT
In this sense, this Obesity specialist highlights that the body defends its “set point”, so that the body is biologically prepared to avoid weight loss, as a survival mechanism inherited from our ancestors.
“Yes, it is possible to lose weight and keep it off.but it is complex because the body activates energy-saving mechanisms and increases appetite. This forces us to consider obesity as a chronic disease: needs medical follow-up and long-term strategies; not quick solutions,” he adds.
METABOLISM ALSO CHANGES
Here Dr. Prados reminds us that leptin (satiety hormone) decreases and ghrelin (hunger hormone) increases, which intensifies appetite. “These changes can last at least 12 months after losing weight, even if diet and exercise are maintained. Additionally, The metabolism also changes to decrease energy expenditure, rslowing down the resting metabolic rate, and the activity metabolic rate. That’s why we talk about a physiological tendency to rebound.’
For this reason, this specialist and member of SEEDO insists that recovering the kilos lost after losing weight “has a physiological basis and is also influenced by genetic, hormonal, environmental, psychological, and social factors.”
PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS
With all this, this expert from the Martorell Hospital in Barcelona provides the following practical recommendations for someone who has just lost weight and does not want to regain it:
Maintain sustainable habits, diet based on fresh products and vegetables, avoiding very restrictive diets and consumption of ultra-processed foods.. Regular physical activity, at least 30-60 minutes most days; and combine cardiovascular exercise with strength exercise. Taking care of sleep and managing stress, factors that influence appetite. Psychological support to work on the relationship with food and motivation. Medical follow-up, which may include pharmacological treatment, or bariatric surgery in selected cases.
“Obesity is a chronic and multifactorial disease. It is not just about eating less and moving more: it requires a medical, psychological, and social approach. Maintaining lost weight involves long-term strategies. Sustainable habit changes, psychological support and, in some cases, drugs or bariatric surgery are part of the treatment,” reiterates Montse Prados, specialist in Endocrinology and doctor of Medicine.
