14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent paper in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, scientists with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, US, explain how, as part of a research project, they had obese individuals gain even more weight.
This might sound like a foolish thing to do, seeing how several previous studies have linked being overweight to having a higher risk of developing all sorts of medical complications, but the researchers reassure that the participants in this study were never in danger.
Thus, they say that they only had them gain a fairly small amount of weight, and that they only did so hoping to better understand how accumulating more body fat affects metabolic functions in the case of already obese individuals.
What the investigation entailed
As detailed in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Washington University School of Medicine researchers worked with a total of 20 volunteers. These people all qualified as obese at the beginning of the study and were asked to gain an additional 15 pounds (about 6.8 kilograms).
The participants in this study gained this weight over the course of several months and were closely monitored during the entire time that they were busy getting even plumper. The focus was on how the extra fat that they accumulated during this study affected their overall health condition.
The researchers detail that the volunteers were at all times supervised by a nutritionist and stress that, although they gained weight by consuming fast food on a regular basis, their wellbeing was never in danger. This is because their meals were carefully planned and selected for them.
A rather peculiar outcome
The Washington University School of Medicine specialists say that, as surprising as this may sound, the obese folks who were in good health condition at the beginning of the investigation did not develop any metabolic trouble after gaining even more weight.
The volunteers who were already experiencing health issues such as insulin resistance, abnormal blood lipids, high blood pressure, and excess liver fat, on the other hand, got worse. Otherwise put, the weight gain took its toll on their wellbeing.
Hence, the researchers theorize that, although a major health threat, obesity does not always cause metabolic trouble that can translate into diabetes, heart disease and stroke. On the contrary, it appears that some obese people are and stand to remain perfectly healthy throughout their life.
“This research demonstrates that some obese people are protected from the adverse metabolic effects of moderate weight gain, whereas others are predisposed to develop these problems,” explained senior investigator Samuel Klein, MD, as cited by Science Daily.
For the time being, the scientists behind this research project cannot say why some obese individuals develop all sorts of medical complications and others stay healthy. They suspect that genetics, diet, lifestyle, emotional health or even gut microbes might have a say in the matter.