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Metabolic Science Shows Human Body Programmed to Prevent Weight Loss

Melanie Levi
/
Flickr

Stories of extraordinary weight loss make gripping television, but the kind of fast and furious weight loss viewers love to see doesn’t tend to last.

“The body was equipped to defend against weight loss, and that makes maintenance of weight loss during dieting an exercise extremely difficult," says Dr. Allyn Mark of the University of Iowa. "This is true not only with the contestants in the biggest loser…but it’s also true of individuals who diet to lose modest amounts of weight.”

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Mark and Charles Brenner, founding co-directors of the Obesity Research and Education Initiative at the University of Iowa. They talk about the latest research in metabolic science and the long term consequences of calorie restriction.  

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa