Presence of fat hurts weight loss

PAMPLONA, Spain, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Increased body fat results in higher levels of inflammatory substances in the blood, which hinders the loss of weight, researchers in Spain said.

Estibaliz Goyenechea Soto, a scientist at the University of Navarra School of Pharmacy, examined how the individual genetics of obese patients can help or hinder weight loss when dieting and influence the subsequent long-term maintenance of their weight loss.

Some overweight or obese people have mutated or altered genes that initially make it difficult to lose weight and later make it easier to regain lost body weight in a period of six months or a year.

This problem occurs similarly in patients who have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their blood.

This genetic predisposition, along with external and personal factors such as inadequate dietary habits or physical inactivity, predispose patients to obesity.

The study involved 180 overweight or obese patients, who followed a low-calorie diet for eight weeks and were evaluated after six months and again a year after the end of the dietary intervention.

The researchers said genetic and plasma biomarkers may predict the response of obese patients to specific diets that could result in developing customized therapeutic strategies based on the genetic characteristics of each person.