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Adipose tissue retains an epigenetic memory of obesity after weight loss

(www.nature.com)
263 points paulpauper | 8 comments | 14 Apr 25 04:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.493s | source | bottom
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paulpauper ◴[17 Apr 25 07:33 UTC] No.43714036[source]▶
The more you research/learn about obesity, the worse it is, much like smoking. One of the most depressing stats is that dieting does not get easier with time. The probability of eventually regaining all the weight eventually converges to 100%. Even if you're successful for 2 years, people still regain by year 4, 5, etc. The body never resists trying to regain the weight. GLP-1 drugs are the best hope yet.
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1. agos ◴[17 Apr 25 08:14 UTC] No.43714260[source]▶
absolutely. and yet people will still say "just eat less"! Imagine telling a person who smokes "just smoke less"
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2. _Algernon_ ◴[17 Apr 25 10:26 UTC] No.43714944[source]▶
That's... A completely reasonable thing to say..
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3. agos ◴[17 Apr 25 11:04 UTC] No.43715143[source]▶
the "just" is doing a lot of work, too much. Most people with an addiction or weight problem are very well aware of what they should be doing (or not doing), but they'll be fighting with their body telling them constantly that they really, really need to eat or smoke. This is the hard part and telling someone "just do it" is not helpful in the least
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4. mattlondon ◴[17 Apr 25 12:03 UTC] No.43715559[source]▶
Yeah I often think that I am addicted to food. They say men think about sex every 7 seconds - I think about eating every 7 seconds!

If I start eating badly, it is very very very hard to stop. I will crash off the rails into a spiral of binge-eating for the rest of the day until I feel physically sick (which takes a while).

You just can't start.

With alcoholism or smoking it is plausible (although hard) to go cold-turkey and just eliminate the things that lead you to the binges. You can make lifestyle changes to avoid them. But you still have to eat, so for me I am always one meal away from losing it and pigging out. I never feel full (the food challenges of "if you can finish this meal it's free" are a walk in the park for me - anyone for dessert?). It takes continuous and immense will power to stop - I am hovering around 95kgs at 1.85m which I know is "bad" but tell me something I don't know. It's hard.

5. confidantlake ◴[17 Apr 25 23:56 UTC] No.43723534[source]▶
Ultimately this is true though right? If you want to quit smoking at some point you need to smoke less.
6. asoneth ◴[18 Apr 25 02:14 UTC] No.43724276[source]▶
That depends on your definition of "reasonable". Every single person I have met who is struggling to lose weight is attempting to consume fewer calories. Telling them to "just eat less" provides no novel information or actionable strategies. At best it makes you sound like the kind of person who most people avoid because you prefer being right to being helpful.
7. kbelder ◴[18 Apr 25 21:25 UTC] No.43731997[source]▶
That is the key to stopping smoking.

Telling them they can't possibly smoke less through willpower is incredibly harmful. Same with eating.

8. schrectacular ◴[19 Apr 25 11:40 UTC] No.43735751{3}[source]▶
Unfortunately it's also the only advice that works, in a trite and tautological way. You either find the willpower (in the addiction research it seems that some sort of "religious awakening" or "higher purpose" seems to be key) or you struggle with your addiction to the end.

The comment elsewhere about HAVING to eat was eye opening to me. For some reason I never made that connection - the cocaine addict doesn't have to do just a tiny line a few times a day. They can kick it permanently. A food addict has to face their temptations every meal...