Posted on 06/16/2025 6:56:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new study by Harvard and Ben Gurion University researchers found that nearly one-third of individuals who followed a healthy diet did not lose weight, but still saw meaningful improvements in cardiometabolic health. Credit: Stock Healthy eating can significantly improve metabolic health even without weight loss.
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New research from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Ben Gurion University in Israel reveals that nearly one-third of people who stuck to a healthy diet didn’t lose any weight, but still saw impressive health improvements.
Even without shedding pounds, participants experienced key benefits to their cardiometabolic health. These included higher levels of HDL cholesterol (often called the “good” cholesterol), reduced levels of leptin (a hormone that drives hunger), and less visceral fat, which is the deep belly fat that can surround vital organs.
“We have been conditioned to equate weight loss with health, and weight loss-resistant individuals are often labeled as failures,” said lead author Anat Yaskolka Meir, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School. “Our findings reframe how we define clinical success. People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That’s a message of hope, not failure.”
The study was recently published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Diverse Diets and Participants
To conduct the study, researchers tracked 761 people in Israel who had abdominal obesity and participated in three large-scale, workplace-based nutrition trials: DIRECT, CENTRAL, and DIRECT-PLUS. These participants followed healthy diets with strong commitment and received detailed metabolic assessments throughout.
Each participant was randomly assigned to one of several diet plans, including low-fat, low-carb, Mediterranean, or green-Mediterranean diets. They followed these plans for 18 to 24 months, allowing scientists to observe long-term changes in weight and metabolic health.
The study revealed that across all of the clinical trials and all of the diets:
36% of participants lost more than 5% of their initial body weight (considered clinically significant weight loss),
36% lost up to 5% of their body weight,
28% lost no weight or even gained some weight, and were considered weight loss-resistant.
Weight loss was associated with a variety of health improvements:
The researchers calculated that each kilogram lost was associated with a 1.44% increase in HDL cholesterol, a 1.37% decrease in triglycerides, a 2.46% drop in insulin, a 2.79% drop in leptin, and a 0.49-unit reduction in liver fat, along with reductions in blood pressure and liver enzymes.
Weight-Resistant Participants Also Improved
The study also found, however, that participants who were resistant to weight change—who tended to be older and/or women—showed many of the same improvements. They had more good cholesterol; lower levels of leptin, leading to less hunger; and less harmful visceral fat.
“These are deep metabolic shifts with real cardiometabolic consequences,” said Yaskolka Meir. “Our study showed that a healthy diet works, even when weight doesn’t shift.”
The researchers also utilized cutting-edge omics tools and discovered 12 specific DNA methylation sites that strongly predict long-term weight loss.
“This novel finding shows that some people may be biologically wired to respond differently to the same diet,” said corresponding author Iris Shai, principal investigator of the nutrition trials and adjunct professor of nutrition at Harvard Chan School. “This isn’t just about willpower or discipline—it’s about biology. And now we’re getting close to understanding it.”
The study had some limitations, namely that the majority of participants were men. The researchers noted that future similar studies should focus on women.
Reference:
“Individual response to lifestyle interventions: a pooled analysis of three long-term weight loss trials”
by Anat Yaskolka Meir, Gal Tsaban, Ehud Rinott, Hila Zelicha, Dan Schwarzfuchs, Yftach Gepner, Assaf Rudich, Ilan Shelef, Matthias Blüher, Michael Stumvoll, Uta Ceglarek, Berend Isermann, Nora Klöting, Maria Keller, Peter Kovacs, Lu Qi, Dong D Wang, Liming Liang, Frank B Hu, Meir J Stampfer and Iris Shai, 5 June 2025, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
DOI: 10.1093/eurjpc/zwaf308
Other Harvard Chan co-authors included Lu Qi, Dong Wang, Liming Liang, Frank Hu, and Meir Stampfer.
The study was funded by the German Research Foundation (project 209933838).
Forgive me commenting before full read. It seems to me that most people who follow a truly healthful diet will see some weight loss. Especially if other lifestyle changes are adopted as well.
Even though the experts keeping moving the goalposts for when a person is considered obese there is no doubt that being severely obese is associated with major health problems. Your weight is not the only measure of health, however it can be the canary in the coalmine. Attention should be paid not only to weight gain but sudden weight loss.
If someone is obese they should not give up on a healthier diet just because they don’t lose weight. Adopting eating habits that are unhealthy just because it leads to weight loss is a bad idea.
The article never really describes what the headline implies.
But, if you can’t outrun a sloth, I’d say your health outlook is not good.
Whatever works for you. I am doing some basic calorie and portion counting. Learning that half a bag of chips is not a “serving” is eye opening for some people.
After a while, you change habits and your body reacts.
I was in a store trying on a new shirt a few weeks ago and the woman helping me actually said I looked tall and slim. I stopped what I was going and I guess my jaw dropped a little. I had never heard that comment…
I am down 90 pounds from my all time high.
I guess there is nothing like a former fat guy for preaching about the ills of weight gain! Ha Ha.
I don’t eat added sugar but did lose 15+ lbs recently in a few weeks just cutting back on shelled walnuts. Even not being overweight and on a fasting diet that was hard. It also didn’t make me any healthier or change any lipid markers. The Mediterranean Diet that this Harvard study used to measure long term calorie reduction has huge health benefits, no doubt but it is not a weight loss diet per se. E
If all depends on what they are looking at to determine if they are “healthier” or not.
If they look at certain levels of minerals or vitamins in the blood, sure. You can get hezlthier by eating better and getting those levels up without losing weight.
If they are looking at your bones and joints carrying extra weight, and stuff like muscle mass retention, O2 saturation and lung capacity, nope.
I agree. I only eat in a 2-3 hour window every morning but do try to walk before eating and in the gym as soon after as possible. :)
This is true. It’s not true that everyone with a weight problem is just eating too much; there are hormonal and metabolic disorders that make it much harder for some people to lose weight, and those need to be addressed.
Hospital food is the worst.
Bottom line is older people just don’t need that much food, it’s better to give your digestive system a break, so that the body can focus on cleaning up other things.
It is not weight alone which determines whether you are in good shape or not. For instance, at 195 lbs. I weight exactly what I did thirty-five years ago. The difference is that then I was all muscle and 12% body fat. The last time I was tested, I was now double that.
It was pretty normal when I was a Candy Striper in 1957-1961. Government always go overboard. Maybe RFK Jr. should look into this, too.
For some reason when I was in the hospital after finding out I was diabetic my blood sugar stayed above 200 most of the time. I wonder if the hospital diet had anything to do with it?, mmm.
The dietician was more considered with fats then with carbs. I was a bit gobsmacked when I was told it was o.k. to have pancakes and potatoes at breakfast because they would simply reduce my carb intake at lunch. I knew then that I’d better not rely on the hospital dietician for advice on getting my blood sugar under control.
Burning fat and gaining muscle mass will increase your weight.
Yes you do!
Great news for Lizzo.
You also don't want to interrupt the vagal nerve messages to and from your digestive organs.
I hope you aren’t stuck in it right now. LOL.
My former GP MD Dr had the amount of One Gram sugar packets taped up in her exam rooms for a can of Coca Cola and a small bottle of Orange juice.
The amount of sugar in both was similar.
The Coke was still more, but not by a lot.
Bkmk
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