Most people who try to diet by restricting calories lose and regain weight only to make themselves fatter. Food restriction causes binging. Healthy people do not willingly leave the table hungry or go to bed hungry. Studies on rats show that each time that they regain fat, they do so at a faster rate.

Research at the Cooper Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas shows that men who are always dieting are more likely to suffer heart attacks, high blood pressure and diabetes. Other studies support this finding. Every time that you gain weight rapidly, your liver makes extra fat that blocks and stiffens arteries to cause heart attacks and high blood pressure. Losing weight rapidly increases your chances of forming gall stones. Your liver removes breakdown products of metabolism from your bloodstream and converts them to bile which is stored in your gall bladder. Bile contains cholesterol that forms gall stones, and bile acids that keep the cholesterol soluble to prevent stones from forming. Bile acids are made from food. Restricting food prevents your liver from making bile acids, causing cholesterol to form stones.

Research from Indiana University School of Medicine shows that yoyoing could also cause an existing uterine, breast or prostate cancer to spread. Dr. Robert Bigsby injected three estrogen-like hormones into mice for three straight days: beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, an estrogen form stored in fat; DDT, the estrogen insecticide form stored in fat; and beta-HCH, the estrogen form from the insecticide Lindane. All three estrogens stimulated the inner lining of the uterus to grow. Much of the estrogen was stored in the body as fat. When an animal is put on a fast, fat breaks down and releases estrogen into the bloodstream. When the mice fasted, DDT stayed in the fat, but the compound that came from the insecticide, Lindane, was released from the fat into the bloodstream, causing the uterus to enlarge. This means that fasting raises blood levels of estrogen, which could spread an already active uterine or breast cancer throughout the body.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, follow a sensible eating pattern and exercise program that you can maintain for the rest of your life.

For journal references on this article see report #N255 at http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/archivenutrition.html

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports at http://www.DrMirkin.com.

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