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posted by janrinok on Tuesday September 10 2019, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-been-weighing-on-my-mind dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Why people gain weight as they get older

The scientists studied the fat cells in 54 men and women over an average period of 13 years. In that time, all subjects, regardless of whether they gained or lost weight, showed decreases in lipid turnover in the fat tissue, that is the rate at which lipid (or fat) in the fat cells is removed and stored. Those who didn't compensate for that by eating less calories gained weight by an average of 20 percent, according to the study which was done in collaboration with researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden and University of Lyon in France.

The researchers also examined lipid turnover in 41 women who underwent bariatric surgery and how the lipid turnover rate affected their ability to keep the weight off four to seven years after surgery. The result showed that only those who had a low rate before the surgery managed to increase their lipid turnover and maintain their weight loss. The researchers believe these people may have had more room to increase their lipid turnover than those who already had a high-level pre-surgery.

"The results indicate for the first time that processes in our fat tissue regulate changes in body weight during ageing in a way that is independent of other factors," says Peter Arner, professor at the Department of Medicine in Huddinge at Karolinska Institutet and one of the study's main authors. "This could open up new ways to treat obesity."

Prior studies have shown that one way to speed up the lipid turnover in the fat tissue is to exercise more. This new research supports that notion and further indicates that the long-term result of weight-loss surgery would improve if combined with increased physical activity.

"Obesity and obesity-related diseases have become a global problem," says Kirsty Spalding, senior researcher at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Karolinska Institutet and another of the study's main authors. "Understanding lipid dynamics and what regulates the size of the fat mass in humans has never been more relevant."

P. Arner, et.al. Adipose lipid turnover and long-term changes in body weight. Nature Medicine, 2019; 25 (9): 1385 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-019-0565-5


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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday September 10 2019, @01:27PM (9 children)

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday September 10 2019, @01:27PM (#892192) Homepage Journal

    Man, one of the few benefits of getting older is people don't get to bitch so much if you've got a bit of a spare tire. Like right now I could get down to the weight I was in my mid-20s pretty easily (I stay within thirty pounds of it just by not eating sugar unless I really, really want to) but I quite enjoy being able to eat whatever the hell I feel like eating. I'm not talking having a whole pizza three meals a day but if I take a notion that I want to eat a dozen tacos myself one evening, I'm gonna do it and not look back.

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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday September 10 2019, @01:54PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday September 10 2019, @01:54PM (#892208)

    In my early 20s I could eat 7/8 of a Dominos regular pepperoni pizza and feel "satisfied".

    By my late 20s, if I ate more than 2/8 of a Dominos regular pepperoni pizza for lunch, I'd feel overstuffed all afternoon.

    Difference: active lifestyle, biking every day, water skiing twice a week vs. office job.

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    • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday September 10 2019, @03:08PM

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday September 10 2019, @03:08PM (#892231) Homepage Journal

      The years definitely make a difference too. I do every bit as much stuff now as I did in my 20s but I feel no need to eat an entire pizza in an evening. Most of the time. I did last week but I'd been out fishing all day and hadn't put anything in my stomach except coffee and water since the day before.

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @04:08PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @04:08PM (#892258)

    Hate to break it to ya but within THIRTY POUNDS of your weight in your mid-20's makes you OBESE and there is no way in hell you could "EASILY" get back that weight. It would take a LOT more work than you seem to think...and that's exactly why you're obese now...it starts with your thinking patterns. A challenge to you: Hit the park EVERY SINGLE DAY for a brisk 5K walk for 6 straight months and see how much of that 30 lbs you've lost. It's not going to be anywhere close to 30 lbs...10 maybe.

    • (Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday September 10 2019, @06:25PM (2 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday September 10 2019, @06:25PM (#892294) Homepage Journal

      Speak for yourself. Average BMI for someone my height, weight, and waist size is 27.5 and I carry around a lot more muscle than the average person. Yes, I've put on four inches around the waist since I was eighteen but I've also added three or four across the shoulders. And given the utter lack of portion and content control I exercise over my diet at the moment, I wouldn't bet against me weighing whatever I like inside six months were I you.

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      • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday September 11 2019, @09:32AM (1 child)

        by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday September 11 2019, @09:32AM (#892596) Journal

        Average BMI for someone my height, weight, and waist size

        People with your height and weight have exactly the same BMI as you because the BMI is, by definition, a function of height and weight. No averaging needed.

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        • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 11 2019, @11:09AM

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday September 11 2019, @11:09AM (#892615) Homepage Journal

          Fair nuff. In which case it's not really a useful metric at all unless you're near average in muscle mass to fat mass ratio as well, which I'm not. I'm not hugely bulked up except for my legs but I've got plenty of muscle and it's all working muscle rather than show muscle (More dense and slower to fade. Bodybuilders would know what I mean.).

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @06:30PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 10 2019, @06:30PM (#892296)

      Hate to break it to ya but within THIRTY POUNDS of your weight in your mid-20's makes you OBESE

      Not necessarily. 30lb is about 13.6kg. If I was 180cm and weighed 70kg, then my BMI was 21.6. Perfect. Now I gained 13.6kg, so now my weight is 83.6. My BMI becomes 25.8. Barely in overweight category. 180cm is 5' 11" for those still stuck in weird units.

      To be obese, you need to have BMI of at least 30, which would be 97kg or a weight gain of 27kg (almost 60lb!). That's almost 40% weight gain. Now you see how fat you have to be to actually qualify as OBESE, and not just overweight? Of course, if you started overweight in your 20s and gained that weight, you may as well be obese now.

      Anyway, this is BMI, which is statistics only not for individuals. But we don't really have much better generic tools for that anyway.

      • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday September 10 2019, @09:15PM (1 child)

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday September 10 2019, @09:15PM (#892382)

        BMI is not a great tool, but you may be right about us not really having anything better, I wouldn't know.

        I do remember, however this guy, [wikipedia.org] at the peak of his professional sports career being most surprised to find out he was obese.

        Maybe there is a way of adjusting the numbers to account for athletic Pacific Island body types?