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Weight loss is one of those topics whose secrets seem to be revealed nearly every day while paradoxically remaining shrouded in mystery.
After some hard-earned lessons, I’ve come to understand that when it comes to weight – no matter how insistently your friends or family or society at large tells you there is one size that ensures you health and attractiveness – it is truly to each their own.
But it’s one thing to intuitively believe something, and another to empirically know it to be true. That’s why I asked Dr. Kim Pfotenhauer, an obesity and diabetes specialist at Michigan State University, to explain the complex biology behind weight loss. She describes the different models that scientists have developed to understand how the body resists weight change to protect you from starvation.
“Weight balance is complex,” Pfotenhauer writes, “and one size – or theory – does not fit all.
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Each person’s body has a different sweet spot for weight that it tries to maintain.
Francesco Carta fotografo/Moment via Getty Images
Kim Pfotenhauer, Michigan State University
Your body adjusts your food intake and activity to maintain a balanced weight and avoid starvation. Researchers have proposed several theories explaining how this works.
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Health + Medicine
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Liana Woskie, Tufts University; Kimberly Turner, University of Pittsburgh
Changes in how healthcare is managed have had a meaningful effect on what contraceptive options are available to women.
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Jordyn Tovey, University of Michigan
Sensationalizing extreme behaviors like self-starvation and ‘bonesmashing’ rather than treating them as mental health symptoms can prevent boys and young men from getting much-needed care.
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International
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Luisa Blanco, Pepperdine University; Institute for Humane Studies; Isabella Elias, Pepperdine University
Short-term humanitarian aid won’t go far in alleviating Cuba’s long-term energy crisis.
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