Switching between healthy and unhealthy foods increases diabetes risk, researchers say

A new study reveals that switching between low-calorie and regular foods can do more harm to a person’s health than not eating a healthy diet at all.

Researchers at Georgetown University in Washington DC have found that an unbalanced and altered diet can harm a person in the long run and even increase their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

“Yo-yo” diets have become commonplace among some Americans who are constantly trying to eat healthier to lose weight and improve their health, but are constantly unable to do so.

However, this study reveals troubling results and shows that maintaining an unhealthy diet may be preferable to repeated unsuccessful attempts to be healthy.

Presenting their findings at this year’s American Physiological Society annual meeting, the researchers collected data from 16 rats for the study.

The rodents were divided into two such that the first group was fed a normal diet. A second group was given a restricted diet of 60% of normal calorie intake for three weeks, followed by a normal diet for three weeks. This cycle was repeated three times.

The rats were then screened for heart and kidney function. Their blood was also tested to measure insulin resistance.

Rats fed the yo-yo diet were found to suffer from decreased heart and kidney function and problems controlling blood sugar levels.

“We found that animals that went through several cycles of weight loss and body weight improvement eventually had reduced heart and kidney function. They also had increased insulin resistance, which could be a cause of diabetes,” said study author and Georgetown postdoctoral fellow Dr Aline de Souza.

“Although animals may appear healthy after ‘recovering’ from the diet, their hearts and metabolisms are not healthy.”

While the research is still in its infancy, researchers fear that many Americans who continually change their calorie intake, whether for health or emergency reasons, may harm themselves.

Among non-white women in the United States, the population group most likely to suffer from weight-related problems, a 2014 study found that 63% of them participate in a “weight cycle,” meaning they gain and lose weight consistently.

Previous research has also found possible negative effects of the diet. WebMD warns that it can cause inflammation and increased stress and increase the percentage of fat in a person’s body.

A high percentage of Americans are obese, diabetic, or overweight, according to official data from the CDC.

“Our data support the need for more human studies to find out whether people who follow highly restrictive diets to lose weight are at higher risk of developing heart problems later in life,” said De Souza.

“We need to do more research in this area, but the findings suggest that the more restrictive the diet, the worse the health outcomes can be.

“Weight loss diets require careful consideration of long-term health, especially when you consider rapid weight loss as an option.”

Researchers also fear that the worldwide wave of food insecurity fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic may force some to follow low-calorie diets out of necessity.

When these people return to their previous lives, they fear that the yo-yo may cause permanent damage to some of their bodily processes.

Weight issues have become a regular part of life for many Americans as officials warn that the nation is suffering from an obesity crisis.

Official data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 70 percent of Americans are overweight and almost half are obese.

Diabetes and heart disease are the biggest problems in America, with 16% of Americans suffering from the former and the latter being the leading cause of death in the country.