Past studies have associated yo-yo dieting with increased risk of poor heart health. For individuals with pre-existing heart disease, however, new research finds that the health consequences of repeatedly losing and gaining weight may be even more severe. 
 
 
 
 Researchers have found that yo-yo dieting may have serious health implications for people with coronary heart disease. Researchers have found that yo-yo dieting may have serious health implications for people with coronary heart disease. 
 
 Researchers found that people with coronary heart disease who had experienced large fluctuations in weight over an average of 4.7 years were at much higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and death than people who experienced little change in body weight. 
 
 Lead study author Dr. Sripal Bangalore, of the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, and colleagues recently reported their results in the New England Journal of Medicine. 
 
 Yo-yo dieting - also known as "weight cycling" or the "yo-yo effect" - is defined as repeated cycles of weight loss and weight gain. 
 
 A number of studies have documented the possible health risks of yo-yo dieting. One study reported by Medical News Today last year, for example, uncovered a link between weight cycling and greater risk of death from heart disease. 
 
 The new research from Dr. Bangalore and colleagues builds on those findings, revealing how yo-yo dieting may impact the health of individuals who have pre-existing coronary heart disease. 
 
 Coronary heart disease (CHD) - also referred to as coronary artery disease - is the most common form of heart disease among men and women in the United States. Each year, the condition kills more than 370,000 people in the country. 
 
 CHD is characterized by atherosclerosis - the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries, which are those that supply the heart with oxygen-rich blood. This plaque buildup may block the blood supply to the heart, which can lead to angina (severe chest pain) or heart attack. 
 
 Largest weight fluctuations linked to 124 percent more deaths 
 
 For their study, Dr. Bangalore and colleagues analyzed the data of 9,509 men and women with CHD aged between 35 and 75 years. 
 
 As well as CHD, all subjects had high cholesterol levels and a history of other heart problems. Around half of the participants were undergoing intensive cholesterol-lowering therapy. 
 
 Over a median follow-up period of 4.7 years, participants were monitored for changes in body weight, and the researchers looked at whether these changes were associated with poorer outcomes. 
 
 Subjects with the greatest changes in body weight experienced a weight fluctuation of up to 3.9 kilograms (around 8.6 pounds) during follow-up, while those with the smallest body weight changes had weight fluctuations of 0.9 kilograms (around 2 pounds). 
 
 The team found that for individuals who were overweight or obese at study baseline, there were 117 percent more heart attacks, 124 percent more deaths, and 136 percent more strokes among those who experienced the largest changes in body weight, compared with those who experienced the smallest body weight changes. 
 
 Additionally, the researchers found a link between changes in body weight and increased risk of new-onset diabetes. 
 
 These findings remained after accounting for participants' average body weight and the presence of common risk factors for heart disease, the authors note. 
 
 Findings raise concerns about weight fluctuation in people with CHD 
 
 Dr. Bangalore and team say that their study is only observational, so it is unable to prove cause-and-effect between yo-yo dieting and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death among people with CHD. 
 
 Additionally, the authors point to a number of limitations. For example, they were unable to pinpoint precisely why subjects lost or gained weight during follow-up. As such, it is possible that pre-existing heart problems led to weight changes. 
 
 Still, the researchers believe that their results warrant further investigation. 
 
 "Our findings suggest that we need to be concerned about weight fluctuation in this group that is already at high risk due to coronary disease. Even though this analysis was not designed to find out the causes of increased risk with body weight fluctuations, we need to examine how we can help Americans keep weight off, rather than having it go up and down." Dr. Sripal Bangalore 
 
 Learn how yo-yo dieting may be triggered by changes in gut microbes. ||||| Photo 
 
 For people with coronary artery disease, rapidly losing and regaining weight — or “yo-yo” dieting — may increase the risk for deadly heart attacks and strokes, a new study suggests. 
 
 Scientists prospectively followed 9,509 men and women with stable coronary artery disease, examining them and recording their weight an average of 12 times over five years. The median body weight variation over the period was 3.8 pounds per visit. 
 
 After adjusting for other risk factors, they found that compared with the one-fifth of people with the lowest weight variability, the one-fifth with the highest had a 78 percent higher risk of new onset diabetes, a 117 percent higher risk of heart attack, a 136 percent higher risk of stroke, and a 124 percent higher risk of death. The study, sponsored by Pfizer, is in The New England Journal of Medicine. 
 
 “It’s important to lose weight,” said the lead author, Dr. Sripal Bangalore, an associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine, “but this data says you have to keep it off. Many times people are motivated until they lose the weight, and then they feel they can take it easy. Maybe this information can be used as motivation to keep the weight off.” ||||| Obesity is becoming increasingly widespread in the United States, and so are a variety of dieting options. Many people who lose weight, however, quickly regain it. New research suggests that rapidly and repeatedly losing and regaining weight may increase the risk of death from heart disease. 
 
 
 
 Weight cycling may be dangerous for your heart, new study suggests. Weight cycling may be dangerous for your heart, new study suggests. 
 
 Obesity increases the risk for some of the leading causes of death in the United States, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Being obese or overweight is also linked to an overall lower quality of life and poorer mental health. 
 
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that more than one third of Americans are obese, but efforts to lose weight are also significant. 
 
 Twenty-four percent of American men and 38 percent of American women have reportedly been trying to lose weight, and the number of obese individuals who are trying to lose weight is five times higher than those of a normal weight. 
 
 While some of these people lose weight quite quickly, they may be just as quick to regain it. This is popularly referred to as "weight cycling" or "the yo-yo effect." 
 
 A previous study reported that 7 percent of men and 10 percent of women can be classified as severe weight cyclers, defined as deliberately losing a minimum of 5 kilograms and regaining it at least three different times. 
 
 New research suggests yo-yo dieting can be bad for your health; it may have negative effects on your heart, even if you are not overweight. 
 
 The effects of weight cycling on postmenopausal women 
 
 A new study presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2016 suggests yo-yo dieting may increase the risk of death from heart disease among older women of normal weight. 
 
 Although some rat studies have suggested that weight cycling disrupts metabolism and normal physiology, the effects of rapid weight regain have so far been unclear. 
 
 Fast facts about heart disease About 610,000 Americans die yearly of heart disease. That is 1 in 4 deaths every year 
 
 Coronary heart disease is the most widespread type of heart disease, accounting for 370,000 deaths every year 
 
 About 735,000 people in the United States have a heart attack every year. Learn more about heart disease 
 
 "Weight cycling is an emerging global health concern associated with attempts of weight loss, but there have been inconsistent results about the health hazards for those who experience weight cycling behavior," says lead author Dr. Somwail Rasla, of the Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. 
 
 For the study, Dr. Rasla and team divided 158,063 postmenopausal women into four categories: stable weight, steady gain, maintained weight loss, and weight cycling. 
 
 They followed up on the participants for 11.4 years and found that women who had a normal weight at the beginning of the study but then lost and regained weight had a much higher risk of sudden cardiac death, compared with women who kept a stable weight throughout the period. 
 
 In fact, women of normal weight who subsequently experienced the yo-yo effect were 3.5 times more likely to die from sudden cardiac arrest than women whose weight remained stable. 
 
 Women considered overweight or obese at the start of the study, and who experienced weight cycling, presented no increase in any kind of heart disease-related death. 
 
 No increase in death was reported by women who gained weight but did not lose it, nor women who lost weight but did not gain it back. 
 
 Evidence in this study suggests that being overweight in midlife increases the risk of death from two types of heart disease: coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac death. 
 
 In coronary heart disease, fat and other substances gradually block the blood vessels and stop the blood flow from reaching the heart. In sudden cardiac death, the heart's electrical system to the heart suddenly malfunctions and causes death. 
 
 Further research needed for issuing recommendations 
 
 The researchers note some of the limitations of their study. 
 
 Firstly, the research is just observational, meaning that it only shows an association between weight cycling and heart problems, but it does not establish a causal relationship. Further research would be needed to explain the mechanism behind the association. 
 
 The study also relied on self-reporting, which always runs the risk of being inaccurate. 
 
 Finally, the cases of cardiac death were relatively infrequent and the study included older women, so a wider-sized demographic would be needed to clarify the risks of weight cycling. 
 
 "More research is needed before any recommendations can be made for clinical care regarding the risks of weight cycling, since these results apply only to postmenopausal women and not to younger-aged women or men," Dr. Rasla says. 
 
 Until more research backs specific recommendations for yo-yo dieting, the American Heart Association remind us of the seven steps for reducing the risk of heart disease: manage your blood pressure, control your cholesterol, limit sugar intake, get active, eat a healthy diet, keep a normal weight, and stop smoking. 
 
 Learn about how a high-protein diet may raise heart failure risk for older women.
– Losing weight is one thing, keeping it off quite another. And now researchers are finding that among those with coronary heart disease (CHD)—which the Mayo Clinic reports develops from damaged or diseased blood vessels typically caused by blockage and inflammation—yo-yo dieting may dramatically increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, and death. Reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers say they followed nearly 10,000 men and women with CHD between the ages of 35 and 75 for about five years, monitoring changes in body weight and other health outcomes. The takeaway? "It's important to lose weight, but this data says you have to keep it off," lead researcher Dr. Sripal Bangalore at the New York University School of Medicine tells the New York Times. The highest weight fluctuation was on average 8.6 pounds over five years, while the smallest body weight changes averaged closer to two pounds, reports Medical News Today. Those who were already overweight or obese at the beginning of the study and who experienced the highest level of weight fluctuation experienced 124% more deaths, 136% more strokes, and 117% more heart attacks, meaning these CHD patients were more than twice as likely to suffer these negative outcomes in just a few years than people with CHD whose weight only fluctuated two pounds. This doesn't pinpoint a cause, as pre-existing heart problems could be the culprit, but researchers hope to study this correlation further. (Yo-yo dieting is bad for women's hearts in general.)