"A moment on the lips, forever on the hips," goes the old saw, cautioning against taking that brownie at the dessert buffet.
It turns out there's something to that warning.
Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism, say going overboard on food, even for just a short period of time, can have long term effects on your body weight and fat storage even after the initial weight is lost.
Their study found that a four-week episode of increased energy intake and decreased exercise can cause increased weight and fat mass more than two years later when compared witho control individuals.
Lifestyles compared
Asa Ernersson worked with a team of researchers in Sweden to investigate the long term effects of a sedentary and gluttonous lifestyle. The team capped the physical activity of 18 individuals and used excessive food consumption to increase their energy intake by an average of 70 percent for four weeks. A separate control group ate and exercised as normal.
The intervention group gained an average of 6.4 kg in body weight, which was mostly lost six months later. However, one year later the intervention group showed an increased fat mass compared with baseline; the differences were even greater after two and a-half years.
"The long term difference in body weight in the intervention and control groups suggests that there is an extended effect on fat mass after a short period of large food consumption and minimal exercise," Ernersson said.
The study provides interesting new evidence to suggest that even a short period of excessive eating and a lack of exercise can potentially change an individual's physiology, causing it to be harder to lose and keep off weight.
"The change of fat mass was larger than expected when compared to the controls, it suggests that even short-term behavioral changes may have prolonged effects on health," Ernersson said.
