The weight loss myth we’ve ALL been fooled by: Renowned obesity scientist and author debunks bold, decades-old claim that you can lose weight by targeting specific areas
It is one of the most common requests for weight loss.
But targeting fat loss from specific parts of the body – be it your thighs or stomach – is impossible, claims an obesity scientist.
Advertisements for exercises, pills and supplements often claim that they will burn (also called ‘spot reduction’) fat in one part of the body, usually the abdomen.
However, it is ‘simply not possible to pinpoint the location of fat loss’, a leading weight loss expert has claimed.
Dr. Nick Fuller, author and senior lecturer in obesity treatment and management at the University of Sydney, branded targeted fat loss a ‘myth’.
Instead, factors outside our control – such as genes, gender and age – and how much fat and muscle a person has determine the areas and order in which our bodies store and lose fat.
Dr. Nick Fuller (pictured), an author and senior lecturer in obesity treatment and management at the University of Sydney, said factors outside our control influence the areas and order in which our bodies store and lose fat.
Research has also shown that genes may be up to 60 percent responsible for the distribution of body fat, Dr. Fuller argued. Gender and age can also play a role, with changes in muscle mass, metabolism and hormone levels affected by the aging process. “Women tend to lose weight from their faces, calves and arms first, as these have the least impact on fertility, while holding on to the fat stored around the hips, thighs and buttocks,” he added .
To write The conversationhe added: ‘Our muscles do not have direct access to specific fat stores during exercise and cannot burn them.’
Instead, they use a process called lipolysis to convert triglycerides – harmful fats in the blood – into free fatty acids and a substance called glycerol, “which then travels through our bloodstream to our muscles.”
“As a result, the fat stores we use for energy during exercise come from all over our body – not just the areas we target for fat loss,” he said.
Additionally, research suggests that training specific muscles has little impact on reducing fat in that area.
A Research from 2015 among 45 women who followed a weight-loss diet found that those who also did abdominal exercises saw no greater improvement in reducing belly fat compared to those who dieted alone. The researchers inside Iran concluded ‘there were no significant differences between the groups’.
Research shows that genes, gender and age all influence where people gain and lose fat as their weight fluctuates.
Genes can be up to 60 percent responsible for the distribution of body fat, meaning where a person’s parents store fat is often also an indication of where they store that fat, Dr. Fuller said.
Gender also plays a role. For example, women store more fat than men – to support pregnancy and breastfeeding – and tend to lose weight on their face, calves and arms first, as this has the least impact on fertility, according to Dr Fuller.
Age affects where the body stores fat, with postmenopausal women and middle-aged men tending to build up fat around their midsection, which they find difficult to move, he said.
Furthermore, pills and supplements that claim to burn fat are not supported by substantial evidence, Dr. Fuller claimed – even when advertisements claim they are backed by clinical studies and scientific evidence.
Two recent studies from researchers at the University of Sydney investigated this More than 120 studies of herbal and nutritional supplements claiming to help with weight loss found that ‘insufficient evidence’ behind the claims.
Therefore, spot reduction is a “myth” and it is impossible to control where the body loses fat, he said.
Instead, people can just try to achieve overall fat loss, which will change body shape and help with long-term weight management, Dr. Fuller added.
“This is because your metabolism – how much energy you burn at rest – is determined by how much muscle and fat you carry,” Dr. Fuller said.
Someone with higher muscle mass will have a faster metabolism than those who are the same weight but have higher fat mass, he said.
Those who want to look slimmer should lose weight in “small, manageable chunks” that they can maintain, with each period of weight loss followed by the time spent maintaining their weight, until a target weight is reached, he said .
A lack of exercise, combined with an unhealthy diet, is blamed for Britain’s growing obesity epidemic.
The latest NHS data shows that 26 percent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 percent are overweight but not obese.
These rates are also high among children, with a quarter of children in reception classes in England now considered overweight, and one in ten obese.
A landmark study published in May found that Britain’s bulging waistline drains billions of pounds from the cash-strapped NHS every year, with twice as much being spent on obese patients as on those of a healthy weight.
Costs per patient rise dramatically the heavier people are, as they accumulate “obesity-related conditions” such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease, according to research involving nearly 2.5 million people.
WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?
Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole grains, according to the NHS
• Eat at least 5 portions of varied fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and vegetables count
• Basic meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole wheat
• 30 grams of fiber per day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 whole wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of whole wheat bread and large baked potato with skin on
• Provide some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soy drinks), opting for lower fat and lower sugar options
• Eat some beans, legumes, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish per week, one portion of which is fatty)
• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consume them in small quantities
• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water per day
• Adults should have less than 6 grams of salt and 20 grams of saturated fat for women or 30 grams for men per day
Source: NHS Eatwell guide