Energy balance
High dietary restraint is associated with controlled eating and frequent dieting but does not cause adverse metabolic or psychological health effects, whereas high disinhibition (episodic overeating) is associated with extreme adiposity, blunted thermic effect of food, and reduced physical activity.
Focusing on strict dietary control (restraint) does not inherently harm your metabolism or health. The primary driver of obesity and metabolic inefficiency (like a blunted thermic effect of food) is episodic overeating (disinhibition), not the act of dieting itself. Successful weight management likely involves maintaining restraint to prevent these episodes of loss of control.
Thus, Dietary Restraint was not associated with significant adverse effects upon physical or psychological health. High Disinhibition, however, was associated with adiposity and significant disturbances of eating.
Why this rating
Randomized factorial design with objective metabolic measures (RMR, TEF) and body composition, though self-report bias exists for intake.
Source
The Association of Body Weight, Dietary Intake, and Energy Expenditure with Dietary Restraint and Disinhibition
Olga J. Lawson et al. · Obesity Research · 1995
DOI 10.1002/j.1550-8528.1995.tb00131.x
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