A Link To “The Science Of Obesity” 2018 From The Endocrine Society

Resource (1) below is an excellent and complete resource on the current state of the art of obesity science and management.

Although progress has been made in obesity management there have been no breakthroughs such as we have had in hypertension and hypercholesterolemia.

Table 4, pp 18 + 19, compares trials in which many different macronutrient diet variations were been studied. All the different diets seemed roughly eqully effective. However, it is possible that different individuals might respond more favorably (more weight loss and more prolonged weight loss) to one type of diet than another. As of now there are no ways to select one diet over another for a given individual.

Some observations from the article on exercise:

There is a significant body of evidence supporting the
effect of physical activity in both short-term and longterm
weight loss in adults.

And the article observes:

Current data indicate that some (but not all) individuals
can achieve modest long-term weight loss with any one of the diets evaluated herein. Additional research is needed to identify optimal diets for weight control and long-term health, which should extend beyond macronutrient composition and examine
food quality and overall dietary patterns, as well as
factors that can improve long-term compliance.

Two recent studies have concluded that the current
epidemic of obesity is more the result of an increase of
energy intake than a decrease in energy expenditure, but this is not the universal opinion.

The effects from diet are significantly greater
than those from exercise, but increasing physical activity
may have important benefits on improving BP
and cardiometabolic risk factors.

The medications that have been approved for chronic treatment of obesity have limited effectiveness and high discontinuation rates.

So there are as yet no magic bullets. Diet, exercise, and medicines can all help some.

Bottom line is that we all just have to keep trying to do our best. But weight loss miracles await future breakthroughs.

Resources:

(1) The Science of Obesity Management: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement. [PubMed Abstract] [Full Text HTML] [Full Text PDF]. Endocr Rev. 2018 Mar 6. doi: 10.1210/er.2017-00253. [Epub ahead of print] from The Endocrine Society.

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