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Obesity doesnt just bring immediate health concerns for children with excess body fat. It brings worries for the future, too.

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Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy

Early obesity establishes a pattern that can lead to a lifetime of weight and health challenges. Kids who carry extra pounds are more at risk of developing chronic, life-altering medical conditions as they grow up.

At the moment, thats a stark reality of whats ahead for more than 160 million young people around the world living with obesity. That figure includes more than 14.7 million children in the United States.

These numbers continue to grow, too, fueling talk of an obesity epidemic among our youngest generation. Childhood obesity now qualifies as the most common chronic disease affecting youths.

To learn more about the long-term consequences of this trend, we turn to Lina Alkhaled, MD, a specialist in pediatric obesity.

So, when is a kid considered to have obesity or overweight? Thats an assessment made using body mass index (BMI) plus a BMI-for-age-and-sex growth chart, according to Dr. Alkhaled. (BMI uses a ratio of height and weight measurements to estimate body fat.)

Children whose BMI places them in the 95th percentile or above on the growth chart are considered to have obesity. Placement in the 85th to less than the 95th percentile qualifies as experiencing overweight.

Using the chart makes the determination process different from the BMI-only method used for adults without regard to age or sex.

There is not an absolute BMI number that defines obesity in children, clarifies Dr. Alkhaled. Instead, we plot the BMI value on certain curves for males and females. Based on where that point lands, we can define obesity or overweight.

It should be noted, too, that obesity is a complex chronic disease. Many factors including genetics and socioeconomic status contribute to why some children gain more weight than others. Its often not as simple as just food intake and activity levels.

No matter the cause or reason behind an obesity diagnosis, excess fat can bring associated health complications. Those extra pounds strain a body while forcing it to work harder to function.

As one group of researchers eloquently put it, obesity serves as the soil for the development of other diseases. Here are a few of those potential health risks.

Excess weight can take a toll on the heart, forcing it to work harder to circulate blood around a larger body. Obesity can also fuel heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol.

Early obesity increases the risk of heart issues later in life. A 2023 study found that kids with higher BMI are 40% more likely to experience cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

Those same researchers reported that children with multiple obesity-related risk factors such as high BMI, high blood pressure or high cholesterol could have up to a nine-times greater risk of a heart attack or stroke.

When you tie all of these factors and complications together, they can lead to heart diseases in the future, says Dr. Alkhaled. Theyre very closely linked.

Your body breaks down the food you eat into glucose (sugar) to provide the energy you need to power through the day. Insulin, a hormone made in your pancreas, plays a key role in regulating this process.

Obesity can lead to insulin resistance, meaning your body doesnt respond as it should. This can lead to high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) and the development of diabetes.

Increases in diagnoses of childhood diabetes have mirrored the rise in obesity, notes Dr. Ahlkaled. Research shows that children with obesity are more likely to develop lifelong diabetes than those with lower BMIs.

Early-onset diabetes also increases the risk of heart disease, as well as complications like kidney disease, eye disease and nerve damage.

Obesity at an early age creates an inflammatory environment that appears to suppress a bodys ability to ward off cancer later in life. Studies show that higher BMI during childhood may increase the risk of:

Overall, theres a strong connection between obesity and cancer. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that obesity and being overweight elevate the risk for 13 different kinds of cancer.

Carrying extra weight doesnt just take a physical toll on a person. Theres a mental one, too.

Research shows that children with obesity are 32% more likely to have depression than children at a healthier weight. This elevated risk of depression carries over into adulthood, too, says Dr. Alkhaled.

Excess weight can also lead to low self-esteem, eating disorders and social anxiety in children, which can become lifelong issues.

It has been found that children with obesity may have a very poor quality of life, even poorer than kids with cancer, shares Dr. Alkhaled. It can have a very negative impact on mental health.

Many of the health issues noted here arent just because of early-in-life obesity. Often, theyre a byproduct of continued obesity into adulthood.

Consider these study findings:

But its important to note that these statistics arent destiny: Children who attain a healthier weight before adulthood usually have similar health outcomes to those who never had obesity, says Dr. Alkhaled. Managing obesity early can help prevent future complications.

Guiding children with obesity toward a healthier weight begins with encouraging lifestyle changes, says Dr. Alkhaled. Positive steps include:

If lifestyle adjustments dont bring changes, talk to your childs healthcare provider about options such as medications that can help manage obesity.

Talk to your child openly about obesity, too, and explain how making changes is about being healthier in the present and future. Avoid blaming or shaming language or focusing too hard on weight numbers.

Address obesity from a health standpoint, advises Dr. Alkhaled. Explain to your child what they can do to feel more energized during the day, sleep better at night and live a healthier and hopefully longer life.

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Why Childhood Obesity Can Be a Long-Term Concern - Health Essentials

Counting calories, eschewing carbs weve tried it all when it comes to weight loss.

Up to 50 percent of women are dieting at any given time, according to Livestrong, and yet sixty-two percent of adult Americans are overweight or obese. Ninety-seven percent of people who lose weight regain everything they lost, according to Harriet Brown, author ofBody of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weightand What We Can Do About It. A recent studyeven found that reducing portion sizes and cutting calories couldhinder, not help, weight loss.

But just because traditional diets dont work doesnt mean its impossible to shed extra pounds. Here are five reasons why its so hard to lose weight by dieting and the one solution that will solve this age-old problem once and for all.

It can sometimes feel like even if you stick to your diet for weeks, one bad day can send your weight skyrocketing back to pre-diet figures.

This, according to Farrell Cahill, PhD, a researcher at Memorial University of Newfoundland, isnt just an impression; its because were genetically predisposed to hang onto weight.

Were the only species that survives under what we call the thrift-gene hypothesis, he explains. This theory states that natural selection led those of our human ancestors who could survive off of the smallest amounts of food to survive and procreate.

They were the most efficient at gaining weight, he says. So were the generation that has the ability to gain a significant amount of weight from small amounts of food, because thats what we needed to do 5,000, 10,000 years ago.

In other words, today, our genes are fighting against us and this isonly exacerbated by the way that people try to lose weight.

Weight loss is done too extremely, Cahill explains. So when you put yourself through that, those starvations, those immediate changes to your diet, your body goes into a mode of making sure youre not going to lose weight.

Worst of all, when you go back to your pre-diet way of eating, even briefly, youre now prompting your body to be more physiologically apt to gain weight.

Your body will try to gain more weight because it thought that the starvation and extra exercise is due to some sort of physiological anomaly, he explains. Your body, physiologically, doesnt know what your mind is trying to communicate.

Whereas our ancestors had to hunt and gather for food, today, were exposed to it all the time and its not the fiber- and nutrient-dense food that weve sought out for centuries.

Packaged foods with added sugar usually taste impossibly delicious and cause massive spikes of dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in reward, explains Max Lugavre in New York Times bestseller Genius Foods. What nobody tells us as we peruse the aisles lined with air-pumped bags of bliss is that these foods are literally engineered to create insatiable over-consumption, designed in labs by well-paid food scientists to be hyper-palatable.

Ive been thin my whole life, and fit, says JD Roth, co-creator of NBCs The Biggest Loser. Cookies call me in the middle of the night, just like they call everyone else. I dont keep cookies in the house!

For optimum weight loss, its ideal to take a page out of Roths book and eschew these foods entirely.

Stick to foods that will naturally regulate your hunger, allowing you to eat less, says Lugavere, noting that foods high in protein the most satiating macronutrient and fiber are ideal.

Food addiction is a real problem, as physiological as it is psychological.

Lugavere writes in Genius Foods that the more we consume of certain foods, the more we require to reach the same pleasure threshold.

The way sugar stimulates the release of dopamine resembles drugs of abuse, he writes. In fact, in animal models, rats prefer sugar over cocaineand rats really like cocaine.

This is specifically true of certain foods, such as fructose, which he writes has been shown to promote its own consumption.

When rats were fed the same number of calories from either fructose or glucose, glucose (like potato starch) induced satiety (feelings of fullness). Fructose, on the other hand, actually provoked more feedingit somehow made the rats hungrier.

But the psychological side of this food addiction is just as important.

Roth notes that the recidivism rate for someone who loses 100 pounds is identical to that of people addicted to drugs and alcohol. This issue, he explains, is linked to the fact that, unlike people trying to stay away from drugs or alcohol, everyone is confronted by food on a daily basis.

Youre faced with your addiction at minimum three times a day, he says, noting that the omnipresence of food makes it particularly difficult to avoid, even outside of mealtimes.

You cant even go to a store to buy a television, he says. When you get to the front of the line theres a whole section of candy on your way to the register.

The deprivation brought about by a dieting mindset, however, makes this constant exposure to food even worse.

People always say, Im on a diet, and Sunday is cheat day, says Roth. If you were an ex-crack addict, do you only do crack on Sundays?

Diets are problematic, perhaps above all, because they call for restricting food for a predefined period of time.

Were predetermined, in this country, emotionally, to think that the word diet has a start and an end, says Roth. Youre trying to get to a wedding. Youre trying to look good in a bikini. Or whatever it is. You eventually take your foot off the gas when the diet is over.

This is, in large part, due to the fact that people want to diet intensely for a short period of time.

We go too extreme, says Cahill. We put ourselves through suffering, so that means our quality of life decreases because we got rid of all the foods that give us pleasure.

And, contrary to popular belief,Increasing physical activity and dieting dont increase your quality of life not initially, at least, says Cahill.

In deciding that a diet will someday end, we set ourselves up for failure.

Once the program is over, he says, you wont be able to maintain that weight loss, because youre gonna go back to the behaviors, which you havent changed.

Anyone who has attempted a weight loss regimen may be struck, first and foremost, by the physicality of it: restricting portions, eating less, spending more time at the gym.But more than those physical changes, weight loss is an uphill emotional battle.

Many foods, especially packaged foods, increase the production of hormones like dopamine that make us feel good.Since many of us are faced with an inordinate number of stressors on a day-to-day basis, we turn to food for comfort.

Your mood is affected by dopamine, and the same dopamine you get from eating a donut is the same dopamine you get from going for a walk, says Roth.

But it goes deeper than that. Food can be an emotional crutch for many, and by not getting to the bottom of these emotional issues, people are often setting themselves up for failure before the diet even begins.

Were always eating for a reason, says Roth. You cant eat yourself to 400 pounds, because you like pizza. Youre eating yourself to 400 pounds because youre unhappy. So dont try to stop eating the pizza. Try to start figuring out why youre eating it.

Drew Manning, the personal trainer of Fit2Fat2Fit fame, notes that he was confronted with this emotional side of the battle when he attempted to lose the 75 pounds he had purposefully gained, in an attempt to understand where his clients were coming from.

He notes that for most Americans, the perception of health and fitness has to do with our own self-worth and our value.

We think we are more valuable, or were worth more, if were skinny, or we have the body that we see on Instagram.

Confronting this misconception is a major key to a better approach to lasting weight loss.

Obviously, there are ways to lose weight and keep it off, all of which boil down to two major premises: making small, sustainable changes, and making them with the mindset that this is your new lifestyle, your new reality.

Many small changes over time will be able to allow for you to have not only weight loss, but a consistent weight loss thats now maintainable, explains Cahill.

Instead of setting yourself up for failure, set yourself up for success. Remove trigger foods from your home; prepare healthy meals;surround yourself with people who share your goals who will encourage you when you succeed, and when you fail.

This is a journey, says Manning. Not a destination. There is no finish line. This is something that has to become part of your lifestyle every single day.

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Emily Monaco is a food and culture writer based in Paris. Her work has been featured in the Wall... More about Emily Monaco

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5 Reasons Dieting is Bad for Long-Term Weight Loss and the Solution that Works Every Time - Organic Authority

Pharmaceutical investing has seen huge moves in the industrys stocks over the past year, with one area grabbing particular attention: obesity drugs.

Since the end of 2022, the booming marketand potential for massive growthfor obesity drugs has led to big rallies for the stocks of the two manufacturers leading the race to market: Novo Nordisk NVO, producer of Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly LLY, which manufactures Mounjaro and Zepbound. Both stocks are posting their biggest gains when it comes to year-to-date performance since 1997.

The challenge is that both stocks currently trade in overvalued territory, according to Morningstar analysts. Investors looking to put new money to work in companies developing products in this potentially significant market must decide which of the more attractively valued competitors are best positioned to muscle their way in.

And with a new stream of studies being published, like Wegovys longest clinical trial to date, comes increased tensions between the drugmakers.

We think current share prices do not properly account for expected price declines and competition, let alone the risk of patients discontinuing therapy due to tolerability, cost, or long-term safety issues, says Karen Andersen, healthcare strategist at Morningstar.

Other Big Pharma companies looking to gain traction with their own obesity drugs include Roche RHHBY, Pfizer PFE, and Amgen AMGN.

Novo Nordisk: 60.6%

Eli Lilly: 78.1%

Pfizer: negative 17.9%

Amgen: 44.7%

Roche: negative 14.7%

Amid the obesity epidemic in the United States, pharmaceutical companies have been attempting to develop effective treatments for years. I dont think weve ever seen this sort of level of innovation, says Damien Conover, director of healthcare research for Morningstar. Historically, obesity has been an area of a lot of failed drug development. Its always dangerous to say, This time, its different. But this time, it really does seem different.

Andersen adds: So it was a sort of slow realization after the data, approval, shortages and then it took off. I think we had all been expecting less, given that the launch of Novos previous obesity drug, Saxenda, wasnt very successfulalbeit with about 5% weight loss.

However, investors have now definitely taken note, changing the landscape of pharma stocks. That came in part as Lilly has seen unparalleled efficacy in its weight-loss drug therapy, and its stock reflects that progress with its big 2023 rally. Meanwhile, Novo has become the largest company in Europe as measured by market capitalization.

Underlying these gains are expectations of massive growth for these drugs. Conover and Andersen project that the global market for obesity drugs will be $120 billion by 2031 and most of the market will be relatively split between Novo and Lilly. The overall market for the kinds of treatments employed in these medicationswhich are known as GLP-1s and are also used to treat Type 2 diabetesis seen as even larger, at some $170 billion.

Conover and Andersen forecast that over 25% of obese Americans and 15% of overweight Americans will receive treatment in 10 years, and the vast majority will receive branded GLP-1 therapies. They predict the bulk of those sales will go to Novo and Lilly.

With new gates being opened for these drugs, investors have multiple variables to consider when it comes to stocks that can benefit.

One of the biggest factors will be pricingboth the prices manufacturers can charge and what end consumers pay after insurance. Both Lillys Zepbound and Novos Wegovy have a listed monthly price over $1,000. But this is not necessarily reflective of what the typical consumer will be billed; the net payment could be discounted by as much as 79%. Such pricing could make a big difference in sales.

Its such a big market that you dont need to change the penetration levels that much and you would have substantially different projections, says Conover.

Meanwhile, already-intense competition is being fueled by a steady stream of studies of drug effectiveness. The first-of-its-kind clinical trial examining the long-term effects of Novos Wegovy found that people on the drug maintain weight loss for up to four years, on top of reducing the risk of heart disease. These findings could act as a catalyst for insurance companies and governments to cover Wegovy more liberally.

That competition is part of the reason Conover and Andersen expect a substantial pricing decline over time. They estimate companies are currently charging an average of $7,000 for obesity drugs, but that will likely decline to under $3,000 by 2031.

Competition and efforts to expand commercialprivate payerreimbursement contracts tend to lead to lower prices at bigger volumes, Andersen says.

Although many unforeseen corners could lie ahead, one thing is clear: Lilly and Novo revolutionized the weight-loss landscape through years of continual therapy improvements. They had been on this steady path until they got to the point where this obesity data came out, Andersen explains. It had somehow broken through this barrier for prior obesity drugs, since their efficacy was undeniable, and it really turned a corner.

Novo and Lilly are kind of doing their own thing in the stock market, and really in innovation, says Conover. They are bringing out some of the most powerful new drugs for sales generation, in our estimation.

Andersen says, I think were at a point in this market where its accepted that Novo and Lilly are both strong players and poised to benefit incredibly. I think it would be tough to really take down either, unless there was some drastic reduction in supply or a massive safety issue that we somehow didnt see until now.

However, for investors, there are valuations to consider. Lilly is currently trading at a price/fair value ratio of 1.45, meaning it is 45% overvalued compared with Conovers fair value estimate of $540. Meanwhile, Novo has a price/fair value ratio of 1.55, based on Andersens fair value estimate of $86.

We expect Lilly to partly elevate capacity constraints for Mounjaro and Zepbound in the second half of the year, Conover says. Lilly expects to increase the drugs production by 50% by the end of the year. With demand outstripping supply, we expect Lilly to sell what it can produce.

Pfizer has been considered a significant contender, but recently it provided lower-than-expected 2024 guidance, which brought its Morningstar fair value estimate for the companys stock from $47 to $42 per share. The companys 2024 projection included covid-19 product guidance of $8 billion, which was $5 billion lower than our expectation, Conover says.

However, Pfizers diverse line of drugs and vaccine provide for a steady cash flow, and the market is still significantly undervaluing its stock price, with the last closing price being $28.50.

Another aspirant is Amgen. They are committed to entering the obesity marketeither with the lead candidate (similar to Lillys Zepbound, it is targeting GLP-1 and GIP hormones) or additional drugs that are in phase 1 and preclinical studies, says Andersen. We expect phase 2 data from the lead AMG133 program in the second half of 2024. The key selling point so far, based on phase 1 data, could be that it requires less frequent administrationit could be administered monthly, instead of the weekly Zepboundand may lead to longer maintenance of weight loss after stopping therapy.

In addition, Andersen says Amgens offering has showed compelling speed of weight loss. It will be interesting to see longer-term data to see the final plateau of weight loss. She adds that, given the minimal data so far from the company, Amgen is sort of a wild card, as it could either be best-in-class or encounter issues with tolerability or safety that make it less compelling.

In the first quarter, Amgens sales grew 22%, raising its fair value estimate to $317. Amgens stock is also undervalued, currently trading at $314.54.

Then there is Roche, which in 2023 entered the fray with the acquisition of private biotechnology company Carmot, which has three clinical-stage obesity drugs in the works. Investors might be better served by taking a less focused approach toward investing in obesity stocks and consider a firm like Roche, where we like the overall portfolio and investors get some exposure to new obesity drug development, Conover says.

Heres a look at Morningstars take on key obesity drug developers and their stocks:

We are raising our Eli Lilly fair value estimate to $540 from $500 following stronger-than-expected first-quarter results. In particular, pricing drove 10 percentage points of the 26% top-line growth seen in the quarter, which is expanding gross margins faster than we expected. We believe the strong pricing power of weight-loss drug Mounjaro supported a major part of the pricing gains. While Lilly expects a deceleration in pricing gains in the second half of the year as discounts related to saving cards annualize, the robust pricing power showcases the strength of Lillys wide moat.

Read more of Damien Conovers analyst notes here.

Novo Nordisk reported constant currency sales growth of 24% in the first quarter, in line with the 25% constant currency sales growth assumption we had built into our model for 2024. First-quarter growth was heavily driven by GLP-1 sales growth in diabetes (32%, mostly from Ozempic) and obesity (42%, mostly from Wegovy).

Management increased constant currency sales growth guidance for 2024 by 1 percentage point (from a range of 18%-26% to a range of 19%-27%), and weve increased our sales growth assumption to 26%. We think operating income growth could be slightly higher at 29%, also at the high end of managements updated guidance. This increased our fair value estimate from DKK 570/$84 to DKK 600/$86, but share prices are still 45% higher than our increased valuation.

While we continue to see Novo Nordisk as a wide-moat firm, with strong intangible assets surrounding its cardiometabolic business, we think the high obesity drug demand and scarcity of supply have driven share prices above their intrinsic value. We assume that Novo Nordisk is capable of growing GLP-1 sales across indications from roughly $24 billion in 2023 to nearly $75 billion by 2031, prior to the patent expiration for semaglutide, the molecule in Ozempic and Wegovy. We think current share prices do not properly account for expected price declines and competition, let alone the risk of patients discontinuing therapy due to tolerability, cost, or long-term safety issues.

Read more of Karen Andersens analyst notes here.

We dont expect to make any changes to our CHF 379/$55 fair value estimate for Roche following the companys first-quarter results. Roches pharmaceutical and diagnostics divisions each grew at a 2% rate at constant currency, with 7% underlying constant-currency growth after removing the headwind from reduced covid-related antibody and diagnostic sales.

Management maintained its guidance for mid-single-digit constant-currency sales growth and core earnings per share growth for the full year. We expect covid and foreign-exchange headwinds to subside for the remainder of the year, allowing Roches underlying growth to become more apparent to investors. While this is not a year for significant new launches, we expect significant pipeline data amid a pipeline reshuffling that prioritizes higher-impact programs in immunology (Roivants TL1A) and obesity (Carmots CT-388).

Beyond 2024, we think Roche is capable of mid- or even high-single-digit annual growth (and core operating margins remaining in the mid-30s), with higher growth possible if these in-licensed programsor in-house programs like Alzheimers disease drug candidate trontinemab or oncology drug candidate tiragolumabreach the market. We think Roches pharmaceutical innovation and diagnostics dominance support a wide moat.

Read more of Karen Andersens analyst notes here.

We are holding steady to our fair value estimate and wide moat rating for Pfizer following first-quarter results that largely matched our expectations. The company is tracking well to meet its goal of $4 billion in cost cuts by the end of 2024, which should improve operating margins. We believe the market is underappreciating the margin expansion based on the cost cuts, and we view Pfizer as undervalued.

Following overinvestment during the pandemic, Pfizer is reducing costs to adapt to the slowing demand for covid products. While we still expect a tail of close to $8 billion annually for Pfizers covid vaccine Comirnaty and treatment Paxlovid, this is down from the over $50 billion sold in 2022. Following the cost-cutting, we expect operating margin to return to over the 30% range more typical of Pfizer before the pandemic.

Read more of Damien Conovers analyst notes here.

Amgens first-quarter product sales grew 22%, or 6% excluding the October 2023 acquisition of rare-disease firm Horizon Therapeutics, slightly ahead of our expectations. Management narrowed its top- and bottom-line guidance for the full year. In conjunction with earnings, Amgen announced that it has completed an interim analysis of a phase 2 trial of obesity drug candidate maritide (AMG 133). Although Amgen did not disclose many details, management was encouraged enough to announce that the program will move to phase 3 in obesity, obesity-related indications, and diabetes, an area where theoretical concerns about blood sugar effects of the drug had previously made development less appealing. We think the most likely scenario is that interim data showed manageable tolerability, solid safety, efficacy that rivals the top drug candidates in development (around 25% weight loss), and a differentiated dosing profile (monthly or perhaps quarterly dosing).

We had previously included a 30% probability of approval and $4 billion in probability-weighted sales by 2033 in our Amgen valuation. Given this confirmation of positive phase 2 results, were raising our probability of approval to 60%, which raises our sales estimate to $8 billion by 2033. Weve also included higher capital expenditures beginning in 2025 to support a 2027 launch; we see Amgens strong experience with antibody manufacturing as lending credibility to its ability to supply the market. In addition, if dosing is in fact quarterly instead of the once-weekly dosing for current obesity treatments, manufacturing could be less demanding.

Read more of Karen Andersens analyst notes here.

Excerpt from:
Obesity Drug Stocks: Where to Invest Now - Morningstar

Up to 70 million Americans are sleep-deprived. But those hours of lost sleep add up to a bigger health deficit than you may realize, says sleep medicine specialistNancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, MS.

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Sleep is foundational to health and wellness, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. We know that getting enough sleep and getting enough good sleep is necessary for cardiovascular health, metabolic health and even brain health.

Exactly how is a lack of sleep harmful to your health? Lets take a look at what happens to your body when you dont get enough rest.

There are lots of reasons why you need sleep. It allows your body to:

Sleep is an active process for every organ of the body, including the brain, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. We need sleep so we can restore nutrients, clear toxic materials and recharge for the next day.

Even missing as little as 1.5 hours can have an impact on how you feel, causing short-term problemslike:

During periods of sleeplessness, hidden health hazards accumulate that cant be covered up with concealer or reversed with caffeine. Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer notes. Everything from your cardiovascular system to your immune system feels the impact.

Beyond feeling groggy feeling and sleeping past your alarm,sleep deprivationaffects many parts of your body and brain.

So, what exactly happens when you dont get enough ZZZs? Lets take a look at the many possible effects of sleep deprivation.

If your internal batteries feel depleted by the early afternoon, thats a clear sign of lack of sleep and no, a late-day cup of coffee wont cure it.

If you wake up in the morning and you arent refreshed, and you feel exhausted or are yawning excessively during the day, those are all signs of insufficient sleep or another sleep disorder, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer states.

Sleep deprivation causes fatigue, low energy and excessive sleepiness, which can affect your ability to do things you love and simply complete day-to-day tasks.

If youre stumbling through the day with fewer than seven hours of sleep, youre likely to start literally stumbling.

A 2021 study found that sleep deprivation had a significant negative effect on gait (the way you walk), while other studies have found that a lack of sleep can affect your sense of balance. Both can put you at risk for accidents, falls and injuries.

Its no big revelation that a night of bad sleep can make you feel irritated, emotional and short-tempered the next day. And chronic sleeplessness can quickly morph into mental health concerns.

Mood disorders like depression and anxiety are also connected with chronic insomnia and sleep deprivation, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer cautions.

For example, research shows that people with insomnia are twice as likely to experience depression. It also shows that about 80% of people with depression experience insomnia.

In other words, sleeplessness can be a symptom of mental health issues, but it can also be a contributor to them, which creates a frustrating chicken-and-the-egg cycle.

Wait, where did I put my keys?A lack of sleep affects your ability torememberand react, which can cause your brain to go blank on the most routine of tasks.

Deep stages of sleep are responsible for learning and memory. These include rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and deep non-REM sleep (also known as Delta sleep or slow-wave sleep, or SWS).

When sleep is interrupted or cut short by going to bed too late or not getting eight hours in bed at night, your brain isnt able to properly catalog its memories, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains.

She points to studies that show that students who pull all-nighters dont do any better on their tests the next day: Even though theyve put in more hours, theyve deprived themselves of the sleep that was needed to really ingrain those memories into their brains, she says.

Sleep deprivation can also cause neurological disturbances like:

Deep sleep allows our brains to clear the toxins that accumulate during our waking hours, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains, so that we dont develop neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers disease.

Research shows that this process takes seven to eight hours (and sometimes more). In other words, if youre losing sleep, so is your brain.

If youve ever walked into the office and been told, You look tired! (Ugh, rude) you know what we mean: When you dont get enough sleep, it can show on your face.

Sleep deprivation can cause:

Theres also a link between lack of sleep and an increase in the amount of cortisol in your body. Cortisol can break down collagen, the protein that keeps skin smooth, which means a lack of sleep could mean more wrinkles.

When you burn the candle at both ends, your immune system takes a hit. You may be more prone to getting sick and slower to bounce back from viruses like the cold or flu.

Thats because when you sleep, your body producescytokines, proteins that send signals to other cells to keep your immune system functioning (which is a good thing!). But when youre sleep-deprived, your body instead starts to make more white blood cells. This creates an imbalance that weakens your immune system over time.

After consecutive days of not getting enough sleep, you may start to become more susceptible to certain illnesses, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains. Plus, as lack of sleep affects your immune systems ability to fight against illnesses, it may take you longer to recover.

In the short term, even a couple of bad nights sleep can make you feel hungrier especially for sweets and snacks. And chronic sleep deprivation is a risk factor for weight gain and obesity.

Why?Lack of sleep disrupts these key hormone levels in your body:

Lack of sleep makes it harder to lose weight, too. A review of studies on sleep deprivation and weight found that people who got enough high-quality sleep were more likely to be successful in their weight loss efforts than people who were sleep deprived.

Are you stressed because you cant sleep, or are you having trouble sleeping because youre stressed? This is another Which came first? scenario with the same result: You, mega-frazzled and unable to catch that shut-eye you so desperately need.

It all comes back to cortisol, the stress hormone: Sleep deprivation may raise cortisol levels, which can contribute to weight gain, heart disease, anxiety, signs of aging and so much more.

On the other hand, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says, a good nights sleep naturally reduces cortisol levels.

Sure, you wouldnt drive while drunk, but would you drive while exhausted? You shouldnt. Sleep deprivation puts you at a higher risk for car accidents.

Driving after 20 hours without sleep is like driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08%, the legal limit in most U.S. states. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that drowsy driving accounts for thousands of crashes, injuries and fatalities each year.

Not getting enough sleep also hurts your heart.

Sleep deprivation can lead to hypertension (aka high blood pressure). And one study found that people diagnosed with sleep deprivation have a higher risk of hypertensive heart disease, which is the result of long-term unmanaged high blood pressure.

Plus, untreatedsleep apneaand other chronic sleep disorders put you at a higher risk for health conditions like arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythm), obesity and Type 2 diabetes, which can all contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Studies on these topics are all evolving, but there's a lot of evidence to suggest that short sleep meaning less than seven hours on average for adults is harmful to your health, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says.

Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with an increased risk of other conditions, too.

When your body doesnt get the restoration it needs, that leads to a buildup of toxins and inflammatory markers that we believe underlie the development of a number of chronic diseases, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer warns.

Not getting enough sleep raises your risk for:

Theres good reason to teach kids healthy sleep habits from an early age: Chronic sleepiness in kids and teens has seriously dangerous effects on their development.

A lack of sleep can lead to:

Unless youve really been making a point to get enough sleep, chances are high that youre not getting enough. Recent studies show that at least 30% of American adults are sleeping less than seven hours per night

But most people need at least that much, according to a report from theNational Sleep Foundation. It breaks down sleep recommendations into nine age-specific categories, with a slight range that allows for individual preferences:

Genetic, behavioral andenvironmental factorshelp determine how much sleep each individual needs. But Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says a minimum of seven hours of sleep for adults is a step in the right direction to improve your health.

If you eat well and exercise regularly but dont get at least seven hours of sleep every night, you may be undermining all of your other efforts. And were not being dramatic! Sleep isnt a luxury; its a necessity.

Adults need seven to eight hours of sleep each night not just once in a while, Dr. Foldvarey-Schaefer says. If youre not getting that, youre likely chronically sleep deprived. Its the most common cause of tiredness in our society today.

Heres how to start taking steps to get better sleep:

Tried everything and still cant seem to wake up well-rested? It might be time to bring in the professionals.

If you snore (or suspect you do) or otherwise just cant seem to get a good nights sleep, make an appointment to chat with a healthcare provider. They may recommend a sleep study to rule out any sleep disorders and get to the root of the problems so that you can finally start getting the beauty rest you reserve.

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13 Effects of Sleep Deprivation - Health Essentials

So, you want to lose weight? Easy, says one diet go on a

There are infinite weight loss diets out there. Just type in #weightloss on any social media platform and youll be met with everything from intermittent fasting diets, juice cleanses and detox teas to plant-based diets and anti-inflammatory diets.

You can pay, quite literally, thousands of pounds to attend luxury weight loss retreats in far-flung corners of the world featuring super-healthy menus overseen by in-house nutritionists, 24-hour broth fasts and fat-cell-freezing CoolSculpting treatments. But one of the oldest arguably, most restrictive (and unsustainable) diets out there? The Cambridge Diet.

Not entirely sure what it is? This is what our expert nutritionists think of this meal-replacement programme...

Visit our weight loss diets reviewed and debunked by experts page for more expert advice on weight loss, or read more about how many calories you should eat per day to hit your healthy weight goals and how this weight loss calculator can help to count your macros.

The Cambridge diet which has been rebranded as the 1:1 diet remains one of the most restrictive diets out there, says Hannah Alderson, registered nutritionist and hormone specialist.

Launched in the mid-80s in the UK a catalyst era for the diet culture that followed into the 90s/00s it gets its followers onto a very very low daily calorie intake primarily made up of ultra-processed shakes, soups, bars and meals, she explains.

Think: specifically designed cookies and cream bars, golden syrup flavour porridge, chicken flavour noodle soup (you just add water to a pre-made packet), cherry and strawberry flavour smoothies.

Simply put, its a very low-calorie meal replacement plan, designed for significant calorie reduction and rapid slimming, adds registered dietitian and BetterMe contributor, Amanda Pasko.

The Cambridge Diet was named after the University of Cambridge, where it was developed by Dr Alan Howard, who began exploring the concept of very-low-calorie diets for morbidly obese patients, she explains.

The popularity of this diet tends to be cyclical; many people turn to it in the spring and early summer when they want to quickly get in shape for the warm season.

The core concept of the diet is to replace most or all of a person's daily food intake with 35 specially formulated meal replacement products, such as shakes, soups, bars, and porridge, explains Pasko. All of which are approximately 200 calories or under.

These products are designed to be low in calories, thus creating a significant calorie deficit, but still high in essential nutrients. On the Cambridge Diet, the body doesn't get enough calories to meet its energy needs, so it starts burning fat stores to keep functioning and induces a state of "ketosis," or the use of fat, rather than glucose, for energy.

Alderson describes this extreme energy deficit as a type of starvation tactic for the body. Your weight will drop but so will your basal metabolic rate, she says, and the understanding of how to navigate real life and real food when the diet is over. Hence why there can often be weight gain after the restriction has come to an end.

The Cambridge Diet is generally split into short stages, each lasting roughly two weeks, Pasko continues. It tends to begin with the most extreme calorie deficit and gradually increases in calorie content before concluding with a lower-calorie but less extreme maintenance plan with optional use of the Cambridge Diets meal replacement products.

I can not tell you how many clients have walked into my clinic having been let down by this diet, says Alderson. As a nutritionist and hormone specialist, there is not one instance where I would recommend this diet to anyone its one thing to drop your calories this low, but quite another to do it via pro-inflammatory ultra-processed food, for example birthday cake and cookie and cream bars. Its not made up of real food and the sole focus is on calories alone.

Alderson describes the Cambridge diet as a short term solution, not a long term one to weight loss, adding that it's outdated with no real interest in your hormone health or nervous system, which is paramount to long term fat loss success.

Victoria Repa, a certified Health Coach, CEO, and founder of the health & wellness platform BetterMe, agrees. Everyone has unique dietary needs influenced by genetics, metabolism, and lifestyle. A one-size-fits-all approach, like the Cambridge diet, may not address these individual differences, potentially leading to adverse health outcomes.

Well, theres a long list. The Cambridge diet does not teach any of the participants how to put food together themselves, or how to cook from scratch, it forgets the fundamentals of the endocrine and nervous system, the nutritional quality of food and the individual nutritional status of each client, insulin sensitivity, circadian rhythm, gut ecology and most worryingly of all it is being pushed out local consultants who have no nutritional qualifications, says Alderson.

Such low-calorie diets can have side effects, including fatigue, dizziness, hair loss, and muscle loss due to inadequate nutrition, adds Repa. Since the diet restricts caloric intake to a range well below the average requirement for a healthy adult, it can be difficult to sustain, leading to a yo-yo effect, where a previously suppressed basal metabolism leads to rapid weight regain once normal eating patterns resume.

Repa also points out that the Cambridge diet's rapid weight loss can create unrealistic expectations, causing frustration and disappointment when the weight returns. These diets can undermine long-term health and well-being without a sustainable approach to lifestyle and dietary habits.

Will you lose weight on a scale fast? Yes, BUT most of it will be water and lean muscle, says Alderson.

Will you keep the weight off once you return to eating actual food? No. Will you learn how to create a positive relationship with real food and understand a framework of how to eat for the rest of your life in the real world? No. Could you keep this way of eating up? Honest truth is probably not.

The Cambridge diet and any type of crash diet like this does not work as a long-term fat loss solution its not a sustainable eating pattern. Long-lasting change requires you to go beyond just food. The human body isn't designed to lose weight, it's designed to survive. Throughout human history, starvation has been its greatest threat. This is why dieting doesn't work in the long run. Your body will eventually outsmart calorie restriction in order to make sure it doesn't starve, she continues.

The bottom line: Given the extreme calorie deficit of the Cambridge diet, you are pretty likely to see quite quick weight loss if you try this diet. However, its not a sustainable or healthy approach.

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Cambridge diet: Everything you need to know + is it healthy? - Women's Health UK

Weight-suppressant drugs have helped millions to lose weight. But once they're stopped, people tend to regain most of what they shed. What does this mean for their long-term health?

As director of the Washington Centre for Weight Management and Research, Domenica Rubino has become frustrated with growing perceptions over the last three years that weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, are permanent cures for obesity.

"Obesity is not like an infection where you take antibiotics and you're done," says Rubino, sighing. "It's not any different than hypertension or diabetes or the many other chronic illnesses that we deal with, where you have to use chronic medication."

For over the past three years, the arrival of a new class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, so-called for their ability to mimic the action of the natural GLP-1 gut hormone that promotes satiety, has transformed the weight-loss field.

Initially, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy, the brand name for a GLP-1-based medicine called semaglutide, for chronic weight management in June 2021. The insatiable demand saw Mounjaro or tirzepatide arrive at the end of 2023 and now a newer, reportedly more effective drug called retatrutide is in the pipeline.

There is no question that GLP-1 drugs are effective at helping people lose weight. A landmark clinical trial of semaglutide, published in 2021, found that participants experienced an average of 15% weight loss over the course of 68 weeks while those on placebo lost 2%. Some of those taking the drug, however, shed as much as 20% of their starting weight. The purported health benefits now appear to be even more far-reaching, with the latest data from a trial called Select, published in 2023, showing that semaglutide can slash the risk of heart attacks and strokes by a fifth in patients with an existing history of cardiovascular disease.

But given their high prices a month's supply of Wegovy costs $1,350 (1,062) and onerous side effects which can include nausea, stomach pain and heartburn , the question has always been, what happens when people stop taking them?

Various studies have attempted to examine this particular question, and all seem to point to the same answer the pounds swiftly pile back on. In one trial, around 800 people received weekly semaglutide injections accompanied by dietary adjustments, a prescribed exercise regime and psychological counselling, all of which helped them to lose nearly 11% of their starting weight over four months. But when a third of the participants were subsequently switched to a placebo injection for another year, they regained 7% of the lost weight.

The same trend was seen after the 2021 trial, known as Step 1. After 68 weeks of semaglutide injections, the average patient lost more than 15% of their body weight, but within 12 months of treatment ending, patients regained two thirds of their prior weight loss on average. This was associated with a similar level of reversion to the patients' original baselines in some markers of their cardiometabolic health a category which includes conditions such as diabetes and heart attacks.

Both Rubino and other experts around the world have seen similar patterns when administering GLP-1 drugs in their clinics. "There will be a small proportion of people, 10% maximum, that are able to maintain [all] the weight they've lost," says Alex Miras, a clinical professor of medicine at Ulster University.

The trajectory of weight regain is typically faster than the time it takes people to lose the weight in the first place, according to Miras. "People put most of it back on in the first three to six months," he says.

Miras and others are keen to emphasise that this could have been expected. For all chronic illnesses, from rheumatoid arthritis to asthma to high blood pressure, patients usually relapse as soon as their treatment stops. But understanding why this happens with semaglutide, tirzepatide and other GLP-1 drugs could be crucial to understanding their longer-term health consequences and how best to prescribe them in future.

The main theory for why the majority of patients regain weight so rapidly when they stop taking medication is because the regions of the brain relating to appetite are still dysregulated, priming the person to overconsume. GLP-1 drugs only mask this dysregulation, and when their effect is removed, their food cravings soon return.

"People don't always appreciate this," says Rubino. "I try to explain that these are chronic medications, but I think everybody secretly feels, 'Yeah, but you know what, I'm different, and once I hit my weight goal, I'll be ok.' But the reality is, the brain is quite powerful."

But this may not be the only explanation. Martin Whyte, an associate professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Surrey, explains one possible theory as to why people tend to regain weight after they stop these medications. The doses of GLP-1 provided by semaglutide and tirzepatide are far greater than the body would naturally expect to receive, he says, which may suppress the body's ability to secrete GLP-1 on its own. As a result, people's hunger may return even more voraciously when they cease their doses, he explains.

"What may be happening, and we don't know for sure, is that when you stop them, your body's left in a GLP-1 deficit which has a major impact on the satiety signal going to the brain," says Whyte.

The potential physiological consequences of this weight regain is currently one of the biggest health concerns for practitioners in the field. In one trial, those switched to placebo injections not only began to reaccumulate body fat, but their waist circumference

also began to revert back to its original size. Excess fat in this area is linked to numerous problems ranging from heart disease to insulin resistance and fatty liver disease.

Miras says that many people who regain weight after medication or dieting experience a change in their body composition which could potentially be even worse for their long-term health than if they had simply maintained their existing weight.

"Weight regain is usually accompanied by accumulation of fat and less muscle," says Miras. "So you end up going back to a higher fat mass and a lower muscle mass. That's not good from a metabolic perspective because having more muscle is good for reducing risk of diabetes and heart disease," he says.

However, there is not yet any direct evidence that someone's body composition would be worse after stopping weight-loss drugs than before they started.

But while these are the general trends, responses to GLP-1 drugs can vary considerably on an individual level. To begin with, not everyone benefits from the medications. The groundbreaking 2021 clinical trial of semaglutide still found that almost 14% of participants failed to even lose 5% of their body weight, even after taking the drug for more than one year.

While trials suggest the weight loss achieved while taking semaglutide can be maintained while still taking the drugs, we also know that some people start to regain some weight, even before they stop. Miras points to data from people taking an earlier GLP-1 formulation known as Saxenda or liraglutide. "At one year, weight loss is about 8%, but by three years, it's gone down to 6%," he says. "So that seems to happen, and we see it with bariatric [obesity-management] surgery too."

Rubino says that some people can regain weight after quitting semaglutide, but still retain some of the metabolic health benefits achieved while taking the drug, such as improved blood sugar control. Often that improved blood sugar control will persist for a while ( up to three years according to one study), and there could be many reasons for that, says Rubino.

"That person may be able to be more active after losing the weight, perhaps they're sleeping better and having fewer sleep apnea events (which have been linked as a risk factor for type two diabetes). All of these factors can dynamically affect someone's metabolic complications," she says.

Some of this variation could also be because there are different subtypes of obesity. Until relatively recently, scientists viewed obesity as a single disease, but now experts around the world have begun to realise that it is far more complex.

And there may also be other lasting beneficial effects. One study of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and obesity treated them with semaglutide injections for 16 weeks, in addition to the diabetes drug Metformin. Over the course of treatment, the study participants lost weight, their cardiometabolic parameters improved and their free testosterone levels which tend to be elevated in women with PCOS decreased. Two years after they stopped taking semaglutide, their weight and free testosterone levels remained significantly lower. However, the participants' cardiometabolic markers had returned to the levels they were at when the study began.

However, the popularity of GLP-1 drugs has presented a unique opportunity. According to data released by Novo Nordisk earlier this year, 25,000 Americans are signing up for Wegovy each week. With such a large sample size, scientists may be able to learn more about the different types of obesity, through the prism of how people respond to the medicines both while taking them, and after their treatment ends.

Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovy, provided the following statement to the BBC.

"There is no evidence to indicate that patients will completely regain all the weight after stopping the medication. Novo Nordisk reported the results from the STEP 1 extension trial on the impact of treatment withdrawal, which found that one year after withdrawal of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4 mg and lifestyle intervention, participants regained two-thirds of their prior weight loss. These findings also confirm the chronicity of obesity and suggest ongoing treatment is required to maintain improvements in weight and health."

A new European consortium known as Sophia (Stratification of Obese Phenotypes to Optimize Future Obesity Therapy), led by scientists at University College Dublin, is now attempting to investigate this in more detail. "We want to try and get different predictors whether it's blood tests or psychological tests which can help us understand how a patient is likely to fare with each of these drugs," says Miras. "At the moment, I give them a drug for three months and if they lose weight, it means I was lucky. We're completely shooting in the dark."

Miras predicts a future where such information will be used to identify the most suitable weight loss drug for a particular patient, the likelihood that they will become resistant to it over time, and different combinations of drugs which could be used to keep their weight under control.

One thing seems certain though, many people with obesity will ultimately have to remain on medication permanently to avoid relapses, says Whyte. According to Rubino, clinical trials are now being planned to assess whether higher doses of GLP-1 drugs can be used in the acute phase to help patients lose weight, followed by lower "maintenance" doses, which come with fewer side effects and can be prescribed on a long-term basis.

While concerns have been raised at the sheer cost of medicating obesity to the healthcare system the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK currently only covers Wegovy for a two-year period the coming wave of lower-cost generic alternatives could make this more viable.

Novo Nordisk's patent for Saxenda expires later this year , and rivals Teva, Pfizer and Mylan are all expected to launch generic versions of liraglutide later in 2024. Generic alternatives to Ozempic are expected to become available within the next decade.

"While liraglutide isn't nearly as efficacious as semaglutide, the costs will likely come down as patents expire," says Whyte. "So people might soon start thinking about that as a longer term option, and as the overall costs of GLP-1 drugs come down, they will become easier to prescribe as chronic medications," he says.

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What happens when you stop taking weight-loss drugs? - BBC.com

Panera Bread is pretty much everyone's best friend. Hence, when dieting, you'd never want to stop visiting. The good news is, you don't have to! There are a ton of amazing menu options at Panera for those who are looking to watch their calories and waistlines and slim down. In fact, we chatted with a registered dietitian who shares the best Panera soup and salad combo for weight loss.

The key to successful, long-term dieting is to make lifestyle changes that work best for you and not deprive yourself of fun foods. Panera Bread has many locations, making it very convenient for a pit stop, and their meals are seamless to order and enjoy. Panera is also an excellent spot to meet up with a friend. So let's get to the menu and learn about some great soups and salads to add to your meal rotation while dieting.

"When it comes to Panera, there are so many great and yummy options to choose from," says Lena Bakovic, MS, RDN, CNSC, from Top Nutrition Coaching. "Panera has a good selection of salads and soups which are nutrient dense and contain protein and fiber, both nutrients which are helpful with fullness/satiety, and work to prevent over-eating throughout the day and into the evening." 6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Bakovic shares her top salad and soup options to order at Panera: the Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken and Turkey Chili. She explains both are excellent choices for those who want to slim down or manage their weight because they're chock-full of nutrients.

The 15 Healthiest Menu Items at Panera

"[These meals] are high in vitamin and mineral content, and they also contain good amounts of protein and fiber, which help to keep us feeling full for longer and prevent over-eating," Bakovic explains.

Panera's Fuji Apple Chicken Salad will cost you 550 calories while providing a whopping 30 grams of protein and five grams of fiber. On the other hand, the Turkey Chili is filled to the brim with veggies such as kidney beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, and edamame. It also packs a mean protein punch of about 21 grams with its blend of dark-meat turkey (raised without antibiotics) and will only set you back around 300 calories.

The Best Panera Lunch Order for Weight Loss

It's very easy to track your calories at Panera, as everything is right at your fingertips. Whether you want to review the nutrition facts and calorie counts in advance before heading to Panera or decide what you're in the mood for when you arrive, the process is seamless.

The Best Wendy's Order for Weight Loss

The challenging part of visiting Panera is avoiding the decadent pastries and desserts. However, Bakovic stresses mindfulness of ingredients in whatever you order.

"There are several items on Panera's menu that are high in fat, and specifically saturated fat content," says Bakovic. "Saturated fat can raise 'lousy,' or LDL cholesterol, levels and is not an ideal choice within the context of heart health. Likewise, because fat is calorically-dense, the higher fat menu items are also high in calories, which can make it more challenging for an individual seeking a healthy caloric deficit to achieve weight loss in a sustainable way."

The Best Dunkin' Order for Weight Loss

Another tip from Bakovic? Always ask for your dressing on the side. This is a great habit to use regularly wherever you dine.

"[This can] help decrease the fat and sugar content of a salad," Bakovic says. "That way, you can be in control of how much dressing you are adding to your salads."

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Alexa Mellardo

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What to Order at Panera for Weight Loss - Eat This, Not That

What Is It?

Intuitive eating (IE) is not so much a diet plan as an approach to eating based on ones internal needs, whether physical, emotional, or other influencers. When these needs are recognized, they may determine ones food choices. Because the method is based on an individuals needs at one moment in time, it does not focus on specific foods, a calorie level to reach, or even eating at certain times. It has been used as an approach to lose weight as well as a treatment strategy for those with disordered eating patterns. The term intuitive eating was introduced in 1995 as the title of a book authored by registered dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. However, the concept of eating from an emotional response was described by researchers prior to that date. [1]

IE is the antithesis of restrained eating that demands rigid control. Many commercial diets follow a restrained eating model, with meal plans that include specific foods and/or measured portions. In contrast, IE focuses on body cues such as hunger and fullness, which may be physical hunger and fullness from an empty or filled stomach, or cues caused by emotional or external triggers. IE is flexible, with no restrictions on types of foods to eat, amounts, or specific mealtimes.

IE is sometimes described as this basic concept: learning to eat when hungry and stopping when full. Yet, in our society physical hunger is not the only reason we eat. Our appetites and cravings are continuously stimulated by visual cues (cooking shows, food advertisements), emotional cues (feeling sad, lonely, stressed, bored), olfactory cues (smelling freshly baked bread), or social cues (Sunday family dinners, sharing a restaurant meal with friends). IE seeks to identify the specific cause of the hunger, and to respond with awareness and intention. Eating in response to triggers other than from physiological cues may cause a feeling of lack of self-control, guilt, or self-condemnation. Practicing IE concepts may help to prevent these negative feelings. Intuitive eating encourages self-care and a positive body image.

Weight loss is not a focus of IE. However, eating excess calories can occur from emotional cues, so if one learns to respond appropriately to emotional eating cues, weight loss may follow naturally.

Including these considerations when eating can help to increase appreciation, enjoyment, and understanding of the food.

Intuitive eating often integrates concepts of mindful eating but also considers eating specifically in response to hunger and satiety cues, nurturing a positive body image, addressing non-physiological reasons for hunger, and physical activity. It usually does not involve meditation nor gratitude.

There is a growing body of research on IE. Small, short-term controlled trials or cross-sectional studies using IE concepts have consistently shown benefits for psychological wellbeing (e.g., reduced depression and anxiety; increased body satisfaction, self-acceptance, and quality of life). [3,4] IE interventions have also shown a decrease in certain behaviors such as binge eating and restrained eating/dieting. A limited number of studies have shown improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol. [5] Randomized trials show conflicting results of IE interventions and weight loss or decreased body mass index; some show no weight changes while others show modest weight reductions.

Intuitive eating is an alternative approach that was developed in response to the negative mental and physical health effects caused by traditional diets for weight loss, which involve the deliberate long-term restriction of food. IE allows internal cues to guide ones eating choices and patterns rather than a meal plan or designated rules.

Research has shown that IE can lead to greater psychological wellbeing, increased pleasure when eating, and body satisfaction. However research also shows that permission to eat all foods with no food rules can sometimes lead to unhealthful food choices with more high-calorie palatable foods. Therefore a certain level of restraint and nutrition knowledge may be beneficial when starting an IE plan (if the desired result is to improve overall health and wellness). Still, in the long run, continued dietary restraint increases the risk of ignoring natural physiological signals to eat. Therefore a combination of IE practices with basic nutrition knowledge may lead to more positive outcomes than either approach alone.

It may also be beneficial to use IE strategies to heighten ones awareness of internal cues of not just feeling full versus hungry but to also note how the body feels after eating healthful foods of fruits and vegetables versus highly processed high-calorie snack foods, which may lead to eating patterns that promote wellbeing. [3]

Last reviewed November 2023

The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products.

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Intuitive Eating The Nutrition Source - Harvard University

Researchers say they have found a new "Trojan horse" therapy for obesity that could lead to greater weight loss than that offered by medications currently on the market.

Ozempic 2.0?

Researchers say they have found a novel use for GLP-1 the hormone the body naturally produces after eating. Medications like Ozempic mimic GLP-1 to make people feel full, reducing their cravings.

This new therapy has GLP-1 acting like a Trojan horse that smuggles special molecules directly to the brains appetite-control center.

In a study testing a single drug delivering both the hormone and the molecules, mice who took it lost more weight than those taking existing medications.

The effect of GLP-1 combined with these molecules is very strong. In some cases, the mice lose twice as much weight as mice treated with GLP-1 only, explained senior study author Christoffer Clemmensen, an associate professor at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Novo Nordisk makesOzempicand Wegovy.

People tend to shed 15% to 20% of their weight on Ozempic or similar drugs, although about of users lose only about 10%, according to Columbia Universitys Department of Surgery.

Clemmensen said the new therapy could pave the way for patients to achieve the same effect with a lower dosage. Plus, it could be an alternative for people who do not respond well to these drugs.

Common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting and constipation.

Our studies in mice show side effects similar to those experienced by patients treated with the weight loss drugs available on the market today, including nausea, Clemmensen said.

But because the drug is so effective, we may be able to lower the dosage and thus mitigate some of the side effects in the future though we still dont know how humans respond to the drug, he added.

The drug still has to undergo three phases of clinical trials on human participants. Clemmensen said it may take eight years for it to be available to the public.

Clemmensens findings were published last week in the journal Nature.

I consider the drugs available on the market today as the first generation of weight-loss drugs, Clemmensen said. Now we have developed a new type of weight-loss drug that affects the plasticity of the brain and appears to be highly effective.

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Better than Ozempic? 'Very strong' new weight loss drug is 'so effective' - AOL

There is some evidence that a low-carbohydrate diet may help people lose weight more quickly than a low-fat diet (31,32)and may help them maintain that weight loss.

The low-carb diet was most beneficial for lowering triglycerides, the main fat-carrying particle in the bloodstream, and also delivered the biggest boost in protective HDL cholesterol.

If interested in trying a lower-carbohydrate diet, try to include some fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for essential vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. (1) Learn more about healthy diets for weight loss.

Research shows that a moderately low-carbohydrate diet can help the heart, as long as protein and fat selections come from healthy sources.

1. Mozaffarian D, Hao T, Rimm EB, Willett WC, Hu FB. Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men.N Engl J Med. 2011;364:2392-404.

4. Halton TL, Willett WC, Liu S, et al. Low-carbohydrate-diet score and the risk of coronary heart disease in women.N Engl J Med. 2006;355:1991-2002.

31. Foster GD, Wyatt HR, Hill JO, et al. A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for obesity.N Engl J Med. 2003;348:2082-90.

32. Samaha FF, Iqbal N, Seshadri P, et al. A low-carbohydrate as compared with a low-fat diet in severe obesity.N Engl J Med. 2003;348:2074-81.

33. Sacks FM, Bray GA, Carey VJ, et al. Comparison of weight-loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.N Engl J Med. 2009;360:859-73.

34. Halton TL, Liu S, Manson JE, Hu FB. Low-carbohydrate-diet score and risk of type 2 diabetes in women.Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87:339-46.

35. Appel LJ, Sacks FM, Carey VJ, et al. Effects of protein, monounsaturated fat, and carbohydrate intake on blood pressure and serum lipids: results of the OmniHeart randomized trial.JAMA. 2005;294:2455-64.

36. Jenkins DJ, Wong JM, Kendall CW, et al. The effect of a plant-based low-carbohydrate (Eco-Atkins) diet on body weight and blood lipid concentrations in hyperlipidemic subjects.Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:1046-54.

The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products.

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Low-Carbohydrate Diets The Nutrition Source - Harvard University

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