Slow weight loss to improve your health quickly

To weight loss, you probably have heard that it is preferable to perform a slow diet to weight loss compared to a rapid diet . Weight loss’s speed influences the metabolic response (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar).

Some studies have shown that slow weight loss is beneficial for a person , while other research has verified the impact of rapid weight loss on metabolic health , they found a few and some of them contain methodological limitations. For example, the comparison between different rates of weight loss has not been studied.

Our research group has published an article on the subject . We retrospectively matched 10 patients who lost the same amount of weight, but for a different period of caloric restriction (5 weeks vs. 15 weeks). In other words, a group of five persons lost 6.0 kg in 5 weeks (group of rapid weight loss) while another group lost 6.3 kg in 15 weeks (group of slow weight loss ).

The results show that the group of slow weight loss had lost more total body fat, trunk and the legs and arms after losing 6.3 kg. In addition, individuals in the group of weight loss have maintained their lean body mass compared to the group of rapid weight loss. Finally, individuals in the group of slow weight loss improved 2 times their diastolic blood pressure and levels of plasma triglycerides.

In short, a slow weight loss seems better for losing weight , keep lean body mass and improve the metabolic health. The major limitation of this study is certainly the low number of participants. However, this study shows that weight loss improves metabolic health and the rate of weight loss (Slow: 0.4 kg per week in the case of this study), can further improve metabolic health in the short term. It is necessary more studies to explore .