Everything about the Yo-yo-Effect!

Who doesn't know it, the mostly feared Yo-yo-Effect? As soon as you have starved yourself down a few kilos during a jerk-shock diet and then eat normally again, the scales often show more pounds after the diet than before. Nutritionists call this a Yo-yo-Effect. Nowadays we also speak of weight-cycling when the weight often goes downhill and then steeply uphill again.

About 82% of all women have tried out diets in the last two years [ABDA; Germany; infas; 3,372 respondents; 16 years and older] - but success is usually only short-term - and due to the famous Yo-yo-Effect the kilos then add up from diet to diet, the initial weight for a crash cure increases from year to year, and losing weight becomes more and more difficult. The already high risk of diabetes among overweight people who cycle also rises to 80 percent, as scientists in the EPIC study [Ärzte Zeitung App, 27.11.2014] concluded.

Learn here how to effectively avoid the Yo-yo-Effect!

If you decide to change your metabolism with Metabolic Balance, you don't have to fear the Yo-yo-Effect. Metabolic Balance is not a short-term diet, but a change in diet according to the latest scientific findings, which can be applied permanently.

And this is exactly the difference to other diets, which are all aimed at short-term weight loss. Those who lose weight in the long term with the help of an optimally coordinated metabolic changeover will also benefit from the long-term effect: the weight can be kept stable. And there is a simple medical explanation for this.

Protein stops the Yo-yo-Effect

The founder of Metabolic Balance, Dr. Wolf Funfack, already knew this decades ago as a result of his intensive nutritional studies: Protein stops the Yo-yo-Effect!

Most diets are carbohydrate- and/or calorie-reduced and nutritionally very one-sided. And this is the reason for the Yo-yo-Effect: With this type of diet, the body supplies itself with its own proteins, i.e. it makes use of its reserves - the muscle protein. When such diets are completed, the body tries to restore the protein deficit that has developed in the body. At the same time the fat depots are refilled until the body has restored its 100% protein level.

Das Minnesota-Experiment

Already in 1950 scientists were working on the Yo-yo-effect. The best explanation of this phenomenon is the Minnesota experiment [Dullo, A.G. et al Am.J.Clin.Nutr. 1997; 65: 717-723 Poststarvation Hyperphagia and body fat overshooting in humans] by Prof. Ancel Keys.

American soldiers drafted for military service were given the choice of either being on the front line in Europe or participating in a diet experiment. Thus 32 healthy, normal-weight men were isolated in a metabolism laboratory for 56 weeks. The experiment was carried out in 3 phases.

Reduce and increase calorie intake again

In the first 24 weeks the soldiers received only 50% of their actual calorie requirement with a nutrient distribution of 17% fat, 25% protein and 58% carbohydrates. During these 24 weeks the soldiers reduced 70% of their original body fat and 17% of their total protein content - and were constantly hungry and dissatisfied.

In the 2nd phase, the soldiers received again 100% of their calorie requirement with the same nutrient distribution as in phase 1. The 2nd phase lasted 11 weeks. In this phase the body fat increased by 50%, so that the soldiers had a body fat of 80% at the end of the phase. The body protein of the soldiers increased in the same period however only by 5%, i.e. there was still a deficit of 12% of their own body protein.

The fat level rises, but the protein reserves are much slower.

In the third and last phase (8 weeks) the soldiers were free to choose what and how much they wanted to eat. The average nutrient distribution was 35% fat, 14% protein and 51% carbohydrates. The result of this phase was that the soldiers consumed 50% more calories than would have been necessary due to their body weight. In addition, the soldiers had already built up a total of 174% body fat by this time, i.e. 74% more body fat than at the beginning of the diet experiment. However, the total protein of the soldiers was only 98%.

The human being has a protein memory and reacts to the loss of the body's own protein with increased hunger until the original protein content of 100% was restored.

Happy and slim without Yo-yo-Effect

Those who follow one-sided diets such as cabbage soup diets or juice cures do not lose fat, but usually only muscle mass. During the diet, the mood drops to zero because the organism does not get what it needs. And afterwards the mood doesn't get any better, because then the Yo-yo-Effect sets in.

The positive protein effect was also confirmed by the Europe-wide research project Diogenes (Diet, Obesity and Genes) on weight loss: Result - a protein-rich diet prevents weight gain better than diets without protein. And a balanced, protein-rich diet also offers other advantages. On the one hand, it counteracts muscle loss during a diet and on the other hand, it provides a long full stomach. The study results also show that the study participants gained less weight after a reduction diet if they increased the protein content.

Dr. med. Wolf Funfack explains it exactly: "That's how the Yo-yo-Effect occurs!

With all these, carbohydrate-reduced as well as calorie-reduced diets, the body uses a lot of protein. The reason is: There are certain organs in our body, the brain, the reproductive organs and the red blood cells, which are only dependent on the use of glucose. These cells cannot burn fat to produce energy. Muscle cells, on the other hand, are also able to burn fat when there are too few carbohydrates available. But the brain can only burn carbohydrates. This can also be seen from the fact that the brain is almost the only organ (including the reproductive organs) that can absorb glucose into the cell, even without insulin being involved.

We have noticed with insulin resistance that the muscles simply re-form the insulin receptors and no longer absorb sugar when they are full. However, if there is no sugar in it, the cell needs insulin so that the insulin can open these doors and glucose can enter the cells. This is different in the brain, where you can see how important glucose is for the brain. If we now eat hypocaloric food, i.e. with few calories and few carbohydrates, the brain gets too little glucose. And to prevent this from happening, the body has the ability to rebuild glucose from the body's own protein. This process is called gluconeogenesis. In this process, the body's own protein is converted into glucose through biochemical processes. The loss of the body's own protein leads to increased appetite, as the body wants to restore reserves as quickly as possible.

Sustainably avoid the Yo-yo-Effect with Metabolic Balance

During the conversion of metabolism with Metabolic Balance, the individual nutrition plan ensures that all three food components - proteins, fats and carbohydrates - are present in sufficient quantity and in a balanced ratio so that the body does not have to burn its own protein to produce glucose. This means that practically no Yo-yo-Effect can occur. 

The healthy diet according to the Metabolic Balance method is not a short-term fashion diet, but a sustainable metabolic program that should be integrated into life permanently. For more vitality and health. And who decides after a nourishing conversion to fall back again into old unhealthy patterns and eats like before - he does not need to be surprised naturally, if he cannot maintain the desired weight. But those who have recognised that a healthy diet is an elixir of life will be rewarded with good health, increased vitality, new self-confidence and the desired weight.

Immerse yourself in our world of recipes and see how Metabolic Balance helps you avoid the Yo-yo-Effect in a tasty way.

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