Losing weight can lower your chances of heart attack and type 2 diabetes — even if you gain some back.
And Oxford University researchers found that those who shed pounds still enjoyed health benefits five years later, even if they regained a percentage of the weight.
Weight loss programs can help people lose and maintain a healthy weight by encouraging lifestyle changes. But regaining some weight when the help and advice stops is common.
The scientists wanted to test whether the subsequent health benefits of weight loss, such as lower blood pressure, persisted after the interventions ended.
They combined the results of 124 studies involving more than 50,000 participants who either took part in diet or exercise interventions such as meal replacements or intermittent fasting or were offered financial incentives to lose weight.
The average age of the participants was 51, and the body mass index was 33, which is considered obese.
On average, people lost between 5 and 10 pounds (2-5 kg) while weight regain was usually 0.7 pounds per year (0.32 kg).
Compared to those following a lower-intensity program and those not undergoing a weight-loss program, participants who lost weight through an intense weight-loss program had fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
And these lower risk factors persisted for at least five years after the weight-loss program ended, according to the findings, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Those who lost weight had lower systolic blood pressure - pressure in the arteries when the heart beats - and lower levels of "bad" high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
The researchers found that levels of HbA1c, a protein found in red blood cells used to test for diabetes, decreased by 0.26% at both one and five years after participating in the intensive weight-loss programme.
This, they said, indicates a lower risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes, as it appears to remain low even after weight regain.
Professor Susan Gibb, from the University of Oxford and co-author of the study, said: 'For people who are overweight or obese, losing weight is an effective way to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
She added: "Our findings should provide reassurance that weight loss programs are effective in controlling cardiovascular risk factors and are very likely to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease."
Source: Daily Mail
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