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Dieting May Be Harmful To Your Health, Study Warns

Exercise is the Key to Keeping Weight Off

April 12, 2007

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Low carb, low fat, low calorie -- whatever the diet, a new study suggests it might actually do more harm than good.

Researchers at UCLA analyzed the results of more than 30 studies involving thousands of people who went on diets to lose weight. That found that more than two thirds who lost weight regained it, putting themselves at risk of a heart attack in the process.

Constantly losing pounds and putting them back on is called "the yo-yo effect."

Doctors say repeated change in body weight eventually puts additional stress on the heart and leads to other health problems. Among the potential ailments stemming from repeated weight loss and regain are cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and altered immune function.

"You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more."

In fact, the researchers concluded that for many people, it would have been healthier for them to not try to lose weight by dieting at all. Exercise, on the other hand, appears to be more helpful. The researchers identified exercise as a key factor leading to sustained weight loss.

"Studies consistently find that people who reported the most exercise also had the most weight loss," the authors said.

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