Research

Energy balance

Dieting acts as a self-imposed famine that triggers physiological starvation responses, leading to long-term weight gain and obesity rather than sustained weight loss.

Stop dieting. The paper argues that dietary restriction acts like famine, triggering biological mechanisms that cause long-term weight gain. Instead of restricting calories, focus on accepting your body's natural weight regulation, as lifetime maintainers do not use dieting strategies.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The basic premise of this article is that dieting is a self-imposed, voluntary famine... Because weight suppression and disinhibition provoke long-term weight increase, dieting is a major factor producing the obesity epidemic.
Ann E. Macpherson-Sánchez · American Journal of Public Health · 2015

Why this rating

The paper synthesizes longitudinal observational studies, the Minnesota Experiment, and clinical reviews, though it is a theoretical review rather than a new primary trial.

Source

Integrating Fundamental Concepts of Obesity and Eating Disorders: Implications for the Obesity Epidemic

Ann E. Macpherson-Sánchez · American Journal of Public Health · 2015

DOI 10.2105/ajph.2014.302507

narrative_reviewCited 46×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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