Hormonal
High-fat diet (HFD) consumption triggers rapid hypothalamic inflammation (within 24 hours) and neuronal injury, which causes leptin resistance and an upward resetting of the body fat set-point, thereby driving obesity pathogenesis.
If you struggle with weight regain after dieting, it is likely due to biological defenses (leptin resistance) triggered by high-fat diets, not just a lack of willpower. This suggests that long-term management may require addressing the underlying hypothalamic inflammation rather than just caloric restriction.
diet-induced increases of inflammation beget a state of leptin resistance that promotes weight gain, which in turn triggers further inflammation and leptin resistance, eventually resulting in the biological defense of an elevated level of body fat.
Why this rating
The paper is a review of rodent models and observational human data; it explicitly notes conflicting results and the difficulty in dissociating cause from effect in humans.
Source
Hypothalamic Inflammation: Marker or Mechanism of Obesity Pathogenesis?
Joshua P. Thaler et al. · Diabetes · 2013
DOI 10.2337/db12-1605
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