Body Weight Cycling with Identical Diet Composition Does Not Affect Energy Balance and Has No Adverse Effect on Metabolic Health Parameters

Abstract

Background: Body weight (BW) cycling, the yo-yo effect, is generally thought to have adverse effects on human metabolic health. However, human and animal experiments are limited in number and do not provide clear answers, partly due to large variations in experimental design, parameters measured, and definitions of BW cycling. Here, we examined the effect of repetitive BW cycling versus single- and non-cycling control groups, without alterations in diet composition, on steady state BW and metabolic parameters. Methods: We induced well-defined BW cycles on a semi-purified high fat diet in C57BL/6J mice, a well-described animal model for diet-induced obesity, and measured energy expenditure and relevant metabolic parameters. Results: Our setup indeed resulted in the intended BW changes and always reached a stage of energy balance. A history of weight cycling did not result in increased BW or fat mass compared with the control group, nor in deteriorated serum concentrations of glucose, adipokines and serum triglyceride and free fatty acid (FFA) concentrations. If anything, BW tended to be reduced, presumably because of a reduced overall energy intake in BW cycling animals. Conclusion: Repeated cycling in BW without changes in diet composition does not lead to impaired metabolic health nor increased BW (gain).

Metabolic effects of the dietary monosaccharides fructose, fructose–glucose, or glucose in mice fed a starch‐containing moderate high–fat diet

“…For the analysis of hepatic metabolism and respiratory exchange ratio measurements, as performed with indirect calorimetry, this period suffices as differences will arise immediately. In addition, in this mouse strain, an intervention period of 5 weeks was sufficient for stabilization of bodyweight upon switches between high‐ and low‐fat diet (Hoevenaars et al, ), and upon moderate caloric restriction of medium‐high–fat diets (Duivenvoorde, Schothorst, Bunschoten, & Keijer, ; Palm, Schram, Swarts, Schothorst, & Keijer, ). Therefore, we consider the intervention period as sufficiently long, although it should be emphasized that our conclusions on BW and food intake are for a medium‐to long‐term period.…”

From Association to Causality: the Role of the Gut Microbiota and Its Functional Products on Host Metabolism

“…The loss of these flavonoids was due to their increased degradation by the action of flavanone 4-reductase in HFD-altered microbiome, and the exacerbated weight regain was reduced by orally administering these metabolites to postdieting mice. However, weight gain was not exacerbated in another weight-cycling mouse study (cycles of ad libitum food intake and calorie restriction) in which the composition of the diet remained identical throughout (Palm et al, 2017); in this case, it is possible that the diet used did not contain any flavonoids.…”

Body mass cycling and predictors of body mass regain and its impact on cardiometabolic health

“…Furthermore, BM cycling decreased adipose pAKT, a measure of insulin sensitivity, and increased both fasting glucose and glucose area under the curve (AUC) after glucose tolerance test (GTT) [19]. However, BM cycling induced by 20% CR reduced adipocyte size after two cycles without changing food efficiency or fasting glucose, leptin, and adiponectin [20]. Intermittent fasting (IF) cycles with a 2:1 ratio (2 days of ad libitum feeding and 1 day of fasting) decreased FM in both obese and lean mice, without any change in FFM unlike previous studies with 1:1 IF cycles.…”