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).
“It’s wafer thin!”
That is basically what I do for the most part.
We just try not to buy all the bad stuff.
No soda in the house except for a couple bottles of Mexican Coke if someone wants a Rum drink.
No candy, ice cream, chips, basically any type of junk food.
Occasionally we have dessert out at a restaurant.
The one thing that you have to check is protein bars.
They may have 20 grams of protein, but also tend to be loaded with sugar/carbs.
That doesn’t mean I don’t eat any carbs.
For example, this morning I had Fage zero fat, Greek yogurt.
I put about two tablespoons of Wyman’s wild blueberries on top of it.
They are sold in freezer bags. They come from Maine and Canada.
IMHO they taste better than cultivated blueberries.
The contents of the bag says one thing:
Wild blueberries.
I blame Anita Bryant.
She and the orange growers in Florida promoted OJ has a healthy drink.
“Healthy” is a range of things.
It’s an amalgamation of a bunch of metrics.
Weight is simply the most important”understandable” for the masses.
I
Congratulations
That is impressive.
Losing the weight gives you self confidence too.
I love when I can put on a pair of pants or shorts and think I have not worn these in five or maybe ten years.
Then putting on a pair of shorts that I bought a year ago and realizing these are way too big now.
Plus, using a hole in the belt that I haven’t used in years or maybe never prior.
It makes you feel good about yourself.
I have had numerous people ask me how much weight I have lost.
How did you do it?
We are all facing certain death.
At least once..............
I may be wrong but I think visceral fat is the last to go. I don’t think it burns off until the visible fat goes.
Brace yourself for the usual posters to tell you how you are just stuffing yourself constantly full of junk food and that your doctor is a liar.
Seems like I see the same names in comments for every article posted that refers to weight loss. They seem obsessed with letting the world know how perfect their exercise and eating routines are and how disgusting is anyone who is overweight.
It depends what IF diet you follow. Eating 2-3 hours a day like I do doesn’t get into ketosis and is more difficult to follow over the long term than the Mediterranean. What is the
overall health benefit to cutting out legumes, fruits and whole grains to achieve an ultra-low-carb diet except maybe to lower triglyceride levels while cutting out a bunch of nutrients (and increase LDL on keto) ?
“Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health & Veganism”
Fixed it. They believe there are people who cannot lose weight because they first reject Keto, Carnivore and Fasting...and if you eliminate those, many people won’t lose weight.
“Except you need fiber.”
Nope! No need for it at all.
When microbes inside the digestive system lack the natural fiber they rely on for food, what happens ? Starved, they begin to munch on the natural mucus that lines the gut, eroding it to the point where dangerous invading bacteria can infect the colon wall.
I do Keto, but I do include lots of fruits (berries) and vegetables, as those also tend to be low-glycemic.
A whole bunch of things. Excercise for the first 30. I went on Mounjaro for the second 30. And weight watchers with my wife for the last 30. The shot was fine, but i plateaued pretty fast.
Without the weight watchers style “tracking” I am sure it wouldn’t have stayed off. I had to relearn how to “eat.”
The shot was mostly for my diabetes, which went from way out of control…to “normal.”
Everyone finds their own way….
I may not have to give up kefir then (only the occasional banana and high protein pretzels :). Everything else (salmon, popcorn ?, kale...is basically compliant.
I've INTENTIONALLY lost 75 pounds in the last 18 months. I FEEL GREAT... and I've LEARNED that to a very large degree "LONGEVITY of LIFE" is mainly controlled by the type of DIET and EXERCISE you adhere to within YOUR life.
For some people, this is the only joy they have in life. But sure, you’ll live longer lol.
My whole body would be shaky and weak. Wouldnt be able to go to work. Either that or never enjoy my weekends lol
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