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Scientists have reconfirmed a known theory that we ever so often disregard. They say that skipping meals will make the fatty tissue around your waste line flourish, leading to what is generally called a “flabby belly”. This is something we’ve heard of many times before, but we still ignore it every single time we need to drop a few pounds for a special occasion.
Even the study confirms that over a short period of time, the fasting method is rather successful as a weight-loss method. However, on a long run, it has devastating effects, because it greatly influences the hormonal system, thus being a strong predisposing factor for type 2 diabetes.
The study was conducted at the Ohio State University and was performed on mice. The animals were separated into two groups so as to compare several theories and effects.
In the first part of the study, one group of mice was administered a restricted diet and the other was provided with an unlimited amount of food. The restricted diet included half of the calories used for the unlimited one and was given to the mice for three consecutive days. After that, several calories were added day by day, until the two groups reached the same quota.
The researchers observed that despite the fact the the mice in the restricted group initially lost weight, by the time they reached the full number of calories, they weighed almost as much as the unlimited group.
The main difference between the two categories however was that the restricted group mice had much more fatty tissue in their abdominal area. The abdominal fatty tissue in mice was obviously linked to abdominal fat in humans.
In the second part of the study, the scientists noticed that the mice in the restricted diet group had acquired a gorging habit that got more and more serious up to the point where they would consume their entire amount of food in only four hours, leaving themselves to fast for the rest of twenty hours.
It was at this point that the researchers pinpointed the cause of the abdominal fat. By using a very modern technique, they were able to track down glucose levels in the blood and they realized that the liver was producing glucose despite insulin release, that normally stops it.
This leads to excess glucose in the bloodstream that is eventually stored as fatty tissue in the abdominal area. As for the vicious cycle of gorging and fasting, it appears to be triggered by the fluctuating levels of insulin. The tendency observed in insulin levels is that they get higher and higher until they reach a peak value, only to plummet abruptly afterwards.
Taking all into account, Professor Martha Belury, the lead author of the study, surprisingly does not advice people to stick to small frequent meals, as she understands how that could be an inconvenience to some people.
“But you definitely don’t want to skip meals to save calories because it sets your body up for larger fluctuations in insulin and glucose and could be setting you up for more fat gain instead of fat loss.”, she says, making the most terrifying point for those who were planning to stay clear of several meals to look better for an upcoming event.
Despite the fact that the majority of people know that skipping meals and basically taking any kind of half measure will eventually lead to their failure to lose weight, there still is quite a prolific market for these incomplete techniques that leave people depressed, fat and considerably unhealthier.
There is basically no way to escape the diet and exercise method if you want to slim down, as that is still the only one proven successful by the scientific community. This new study reveals the dangers of cheating your way to weight-loss, in the hope that it will open people’s eyes to this frequent mistake.
Image Source: myfooddiary
