Set-Point Theory: Fact or Fiction?

It’s not uncommon to hear both lay persons and professionals matter-of-factly refer to the “starvation response” (also called metabolic adaptation) and “set-point theory” as if they were accepted facts. The supposition of these theories is that the body reacts to reduced energy intake, or weight loss, by lowering its basal metabolic rate in an attempt to maintain the current weight or return to a higher weight.

These theories however, have not survived sound scientific investigation, and those researchers who are familiar with this area of medical literature have known that for almost 20-years. Three comprehensive reviews of the literature in 1992, 1994, and 1995[i]^,[ii]^,[iii] all reached the same conclusions that:

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Does Yo-yo Dieting Ruin Your Metabolism?

The majority of clients I’ve worked with over the years had matter-of-factly accepted the notion that they had a “low metabolism,” possibly secondary to yo-yo dieting.

Several comprehensive reviews of the literature (including one by a National Institutes of Health expert panel), however, have concluded that the negative metabolic and body composition side-effects frequently attributed to yo-yo dieting are not supported by careful review of the data. The conclusions: yo-yo dieting does not have a lasting negative effect on resting energy expenditure (REE), or muscle tissue/lean body mass (LBM), and does not make future attempts at weight loss more difficult (at least from a physiological standpoint).

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