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Right, I thought thats what you were talking about. It's only a theory, and it's not that well supported in the literature[1]. Even presupposing it's true, the
by girvo 12y ago
Right, I thought thats what you were talking about. It's only a theory, and it's not that well supported in the literature[1]. Even presupposing it's true, the literature shows that it can be changed -- you're not stuck for it for life[0]. The issue I have with set-point theory are rather numerous, to be perfectly honest, but the key part is that it's used by some to "give up" and assume that being obese is "natural", which considering the massive negative effects it has on your body, doesn't sit right with me.
I'm happy to be proven wrong, but all of the research I've read on it shows that for the most part it's not a given that it's a real phenomenon. Human nutrition and metabolism is super complex, for sure, but those sorts of twee "too easy" explanations are rarely correct.
[0] http://jn.nutrition.org/content/127/9/1875S.short http://jn.nutrition.org/content/127/9/1875S.short
[1] http://www.fasebj.org/content/4/15/3310.short http://www.fasebj.org/content/4/15/3310.short
- ars 12y agoI didn't say it can't be changed, just that it's very very difficult. > but the key part is that it's used by some to "give up" and assume that being obese is "natural" You are not born with any particular set point, you gain one based on your life (although there are tendencies). But once you have it, it's very hard to change. I think of it like hysteresis - you need to work extra hard to get past it, but then it settles on a new value. > I'm happy to be proven wrong My personal experience of trying to change my weight for a full year, all sorts of methods, and eventually gave up for a while and one day weighed myself just to see how I ended up: The exact, to the 1/5 of a pound! weight I started with a year ago! So I'm quite certain it's real, and yes, I'm giving up - somewhat.