Your friends and family will likely applaud your substantial weight loss — but your cells may resist change.
New research finds that obesity can trigger genetic modifications within fat cells that allow the cells to store “memories” of being overweight in their nucleus and make it easier for the body to regain pounds.
“We’ve found a molecular basis for the yo-yo effect,” said Ferdinand von Meyenn, professor of nutrition and metabolic epigenetics at ETH Zurich University in Switzerland.
Yo-yo dieting — a continuous pattern of losing and gaining weight — is common in American culture thanks to the popularity of fad diets and quick weight-loss solutions.
In examining mice, ETH Zurich researchers noticed that obesity causes genetic changes in the nucleus of fat cells that remain even after losing weight through dieting.
They confirmed these changes in humans by analyzing fat tissue from people who had undergone stomach reduction or gastric bypass procedures.
Their findings were published Monday in the journal Nature.
What’s unclear from the new study is how long fat cells can remember obesity.
“Fat cells are long-lived cells. On average, they live for 10 years before our body replaces them with new cells,” said Laura Hinte, a doctoral student in von Meyenn’s group.
It’s also unknown if other cells, like those in the brain, blood vessels and other organs, can remember obesity.
“Other body cells might also play a part in the yo-yo effect,” von Meyenn said.
Unfortunately, the researchers say drugs can’t change the modifications within the cell nucleus and erase the “memory” of obesity.
“Maybe that’s something we’ll be able to do in the future,” Hinte shared. “But for the time being, we have to live with this memory effect.”
Von Meyenn added: “It’s precisely because of this memory effect that it’s so important to avoid being overweight in the first place. Because that’s the simplest way to combat the yo-yo phenomenon.”
His advice comes as the obesity epidemic continues to grow — research finds that more than 40% of US adults and nearly 20% of US children are obese.
Being overweight or obese significantly raises the risk of more than a dozen types of cancer, including breast, colon, kidney, liver, pancreatic and ovarian cancer.
It also raises the odds of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, breathing problems, joint issues and depression.
